Good afternoon.
First and foremost, I want to thank the committee for giving me the opportunity to speak on behalf of the organization that I represent and the community that I'm so proud of.
The work that's been carried out predominantly by immigration consultants has affected the community that I represent vastly over a long period of many years. Though I understand that the regulation of the profession, and the professionals themselves, is at stake, I think it's important and applaud the fact that leadership has been taken to put some time and effort into trying find a resolution for many thousands of families who want to call this country home and who have unfortunately had negative introductions to the systems that we provide to legally make themselves proud Canadians.
In terms of offering solutions, I think education and communication are at the core. I understand that a lot of the education thus far of both legal and unscrupulous consultants has led to a lot of the issues confronting the individuals who apply for this type of service.
I do want to be careful with my comments going forward to differentiate between lawyers who are regulated by the province's bar association, and unlicensed consultants such as travel agents, etc., especially at the community level, who are not regulated by anyone; and those who are regulated Canadian immigration consultants. There are a number of issues.
Some lawyers may argue that they should be the only group to represent clients to Immigration and ESDC, but as we all know, those lawyers are not necessarily always competent in carrying out the work that's in front of them.
Ghost consultants, as they've been alluded to, include, for example, travel agents and community centres. A lot of the immigrants over the vast many years—I'm thinking of my own community specifically—have gone to services such as travel agents to do everything for them. Maybe it's to initially take care of their documentation, putting proper documentation in order with their homeland in the transfer of title and lands, or to do their income taxes on a regular basis. Lo and behold, all of a sudden there's an immigration need for a member of their family, and these same individuals who operate other businesses—that's their focus—become supposed immigration consultants.
They might be preparing these documents—and probably getting paid for the service in most cases—but in reality, when submitting them on behalf of these people, the fact is they do not have any jurisdiction and, obviously, they fall within the grey area of the law. Eventually, when things go really sour, that's when there's intervention by law enforcement such as the RCMP.
The competency of regulated consultants is probably the area that I'm more concerned about. It's not so visible today, but I remember a time on Dundas, College, and Bloor Streets, and in the more visible part of the community that I represent where, just like the sandwich shop signs that go up on a regular basis outside a restaurant promoting the daily specials, when a new immigration consultant would pop up almost every day because of the massive need and the influx of new individuals coming into this country.
Education has been very inadequate on all levels, and especially pertaining to those who require and are looking for the service. Some of these regulated consultants—and I call a lot of them unscrupulous—take advantage of the fact that a lot of these individuals just want to be sold a pipe dream of easy access to legalization, even though in most cases there has always been a concern about the time required and how much it costs to go through the system properly.
The complaints could be many. As a community leader operating a culturally based organization that represents a vast number of organizations—some 37—and thousands of families, we hear everything. Traditionally, we get to hear only about those situations that are grave and many times disheartening, in most cases when they're leading to a point of expiring with an individual being forced out of the country and deported.
[Technical difficulty—Editor] citizen, and my parents went through a process of legalizing themselves, because they had a vision that they wanted me and my brother to be raised in what I find to be the best country, Canada. Some of the stuff that's been going on is disheartening, because it really goes to the pulse and the heart of those who are weak. I think that for us as leaders in our communities, as elected officials, and as standing committees like this one, it's about time we took the time to look at a business. I think the immigration consulting business represents millions, if not billions, of dollars. It's clear that there needs to be a very firm hand on how the education process is happening and that responsible people have to have the proper accreditation to carry out this service. After all, they're representing our country.