WHATSAPP
The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) has now replaced the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC) as the official regulator for Canada immigration and citizenship consultants. The College is authorized to regulate Canada immigration and education consultants, investigate professional misconduct and discipline its licensees.
A consultant can provide Canadian immigration advice for a fee or other consideration only if they have the license of the College, Canadian Law Society or the Chambre des notaires du Québec. A consultant providing services for moving to Quebec must be licensed by the College, recognized by the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI), and registered on the Registre québécois des consultants en immigration (French only).
How CICC helps immigration candidates?
The College maintains an online public register of Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs) and Regulated International Student Immigration Advisors (RISIAs). Immigration aspirants may verify the authenticity of a consultant by checking whether they are licensed and active, using RCIC’s register. Anyone can access this register on the RCIC website and check whether a consultant is authorized.
A common person may also submit a complaint to the College if they have a concern about the professional conduct or competence of a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) or Regulated International Student Immigration Advisor (RISIA). The complaint can be submitted online through the Online Complaints Portal on College’s website. They may also submit the complaint either by fax or email or post.
Legal Authority of CICC
The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act came into force recently, which provided a statutory framework to regulate immigration consultants of Canada. The College has the authority to regulate consultants, especially tools to investigate professional misconduct and discipline its licensees. It includes the power to enter the premises of a consultant for investigating as well as to compel witnesses to appear and testify before its Discipline Committee. The College can also request court injunctions to act upon unlicensed consultants.
The College regulates two types of consultants:
- Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs), and
- Regulated International Student Immigration Advisors (RISIAs)
The College regulates immigration consultants by
- Establishing and administering qualification standards, standards of practice and continuing education requirements for licensees
- Ensuring compliance with the Code of Professional Conduct and
- Undertaking public awareness activities.
- Licensing
The College makes sure that its licensees follow high standards of education, competence and professional ethics. The College also supports the lifelong learning needs of the licensees. All RCICs and RISIAs have to participate in ongoing learning opportunities every year if they want to maintain their licence. The Licensees also need to follow the Code of Professional Conduct of the College. Further, if the College receives a complaint against a licensee, the College will investigate on it.
CanApprove is registered with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants and follows all the standards of practice. If you need a reliable Canada immigration/ education consultant, look no further. Contact us to know more about our services.
