Evidence of meeting #53 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was iccrc.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Acting President and Chief Executive Officer, Registrar and Corporate Secretary, Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council
No, I believe Mr. Jade has covered it.
One issue, as I've mentioned, is that under CNCA there are a lot of restrictions to how we operate. That may not have been the will of the government in 2011. But Mr. Jade has pointed out where we are in 2017, with the committee's concern about ghost and fraudulent representatives. All we can do right now is to refer to CBSA and rely on them to take whatever action they do or do not deem appropriate. That's the extent of what we can do.
Liberal
Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON
I have a quick question. Anyone can comment.
Right now there is no regulation on what fees the registered consultants can charge for different services. Was this considered when the system was designed? Based on the experiences you have, should regulation of fees be introduced?
Clinic Director, Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic
As a lawyer—I'm a bencher at the law society; I can speak as bencher—I think it's a difficult question. I think it would be a challenge to regulate fees among licensed practitioners.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj
Thank you.
I'd like to thank the panellists for appearing before this committee this afternoon. Just before we suspend, I have two quick questions for Mr. Barker.
You mentioned that you test and review the knowledge and competence of your certified members on a yearly basis. We also heard from previous witnesses that a certified member sometimes will have five or six uncertified people acting as consultants in their office, and that some have subsidiary offices overseas.
How do you guarantee that those individuals actually have the competence, the knowledge, and the honesty to conduct themselves according to the mandate?
Acting President and Chief Executive Officer, Registrar and Corporate Secretary, Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council
It is very clear that those staff are not licensed in their own right and, therefore, may not represent clients. They would be functioning as administrative staff. We do allow consultants to register what we refer to as an “agent”, which is a person on the ground overseas who would receive documents and payments from clients, which are then remitted to the licensed consultant. The rules are very clear that those agents or administrative staff must follow the direction of the licensed practitioner and may not provide advice that is not authorized. It would be no different from someone working in a medical office, where any act they perform is under the authority of the physician who has the licence to practise.
Chair of the Board of Directors, Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council
Could I add a very quick point?
Chair of the Board of Directors, Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council
I'm sorry to interrupt. If a complaint is made, the member is responsible for all actions of that staff member or that agent.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj
Thank you for that clarification.
One quick question. We also know that in all the multicultural media, immigration consultants, both lawyers and ghost consultants, advertize in those pages.
Mr. Barker, have you ever thought that your agency should advertise the fact that you can provide recourse to people who have been victimized?
Acting President and Chief Executive Officer, Registrar and Corporate Secretary, Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council
We have. Through our fraud prevention activities in several local ethnic papers and media, we do provide information about using only an authorized representative. This year, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, we have picked approximately six languages. Last year, it was different languages again, so we're reaching out in ethnic papers, as well as social media worldwide to use—
Acting President and Chief Executive Officer, Registrar and Corporate Secretary, Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council
Authorized representatives.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj
Sure, authorized representatives, but also that you can provide recourse in case of abuse or victimization.
Acting President and Chief Executive Officer, Registrar and Corporate Secretary, Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council
Again, if it's an unauthorized person, and we received information, it just gets referred to CBSA.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj
Individuals need to know that they have recourse. In that advertising, you're saying, “Please just use certified consultants”, but you should also advertise that if someone feels victimized or abused by those consultants, here's a number they can call.
Acting President and Chief Executive Officer, Registrar and Corporate Secretary, Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council
Information on the complaints process is actually included in the retainer agreement entered into between a licensed consultant and the client.
Liberal
Acting President and Chief Executive Officer, Registrar and Corporate Secretary, Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council
Not specifically, no.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj
Thank you.
With that, we will suspend, and go in camera for a bit of committee business.
[Proceedings continue in camera]