Ottawa tightens rules for immigration consultants, as clients remain skeptical

Canada is overhauling the way immigration consultants are regulated, amid skepticism that the new rules taking effect today won’t do much to protect immigrants.

Ottawa announced the regulations back in May, promising to “enhance oversight” and “reinforce the role” of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC).

This comes as recent immigration fraud cases, including a scheme targeting international students in Ontario involved registered consultants.

“The consultants are not doing their role properly,” Abhishek, an Indian national who says he was scammed by one of them, told OMNI News. “They need to guide people, but instead … they are selling their products.”

Abhishek, whose identity OMNI News has agreed to protect, came to Canada in 2022, but when he turned to an immigration consultant for help, he said he was asked to pay up to $100,000 for a way to stay in the country.

“Sometimes I feel really sad that I have no options left,” he said. But his story is not uncommon.

Eoin Logan, a civil litigation lawyer in British Columbia, represents clients who file complaints against consultants through the CICC, and told OMNI News that they often feel discouraged.

“They are also afraid of filing these complaints because they are afraid that there is going to be some backlash in terms of their immigration,” he said.

“I have clients who made a complaint against one consultant here, and she actually filed a fraud tip to the Canada Border Services Agency against her own individual clients.”

Still, Logan is hopeful the new regulations will have a positive impact, even as he wondered why the CICC is not using the powers it already has at its disposal, including the ability to audit consultants before a complaint is even filed.

“It’s what I like to call the $24-million question,” he told OMNI News. “If the College isn’t exercising these powers, is it because they don’t have the budget to do it? Their budget is $24 million a year. Is it that they don’t have the resources? Do they need to hire more staff to do it? Or is it that they don’t have the will to do it?”

According to CICC data, between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, the College heard 1,211 new complaints, but took only 15 disciplinary actions. The year before, that number was down to 11.

Ottawa says the measures implemented Wednesday will improve transparency in misconduct investigations, give the CICC the power to impose increased penalties for consultants who break the rules, and create a compensation fund for complainants.

Logan added that the compensation fund could be a game changer, but it is still not clear whether it will effectively let victims recover losses they might have incurred due to a consultant’s misconduct.

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