Canada strengthens regulation of immigration consultants

What changed

The federal government has announced new regulations strengthening oversight of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC), the body that licenses regulated Canadian immigration consultants (RCICs). The new rules are set to take effect July 15, 2026, with an additional change to the College's public register scheduled for April 2027.

The regulations give the CICC expanded investigative authority and the ability to impose stronger penalties on licensees who break the rules, and they set out new requirements for how the College conducts and documents misconduct investigations. Starting in April 2027, the College's public register at register.college-ic.ca is set to display additional information about each licensed consultant, intended to make it easier for the public to verify who is actually authorized to charge for immigration advice. The regulations also establish a framework for a compensation fund for people who suffer financial loss because of a dishonest act by a CICC-licensed consultant, though the operational details of that fund depend on the College finalizing its by-laws. Separately, the rules give the Minister of Immigration explicit authority to intervene, including appointing new leadership, if the College's board fails to meet its legal obligations.

Why it matters

Only RCICs, lawyers, and Quebec notaries are legally permitted to charge a fee for immigration or citizenship advice in Canada, but unlicensed or so-called "ghost" consultants, people who prepare or advise on applications without authorization, continue to operate and cause real financial and immigration harm to the people who rely on them. These regulatory changes are aimed squarely at that problem: giving the regulator sharper teeth to discipline licensees who cross the line, more transparent public information to help people confirm a consultant's status before paying for services, and a path toward compensation for people harmed by a licensed consultant's dishonesty.

Because the compensation fund's details are still being finalized through the College's by-laws, exactly how claims will be assessed and paid is not yet fully settled, and applicants should not assume the fund covers every type of loss until those by-laws are published.

What this means for you

If you are working with, or considering working with, an immigration representative, these changes reinforce a basic step that protects you regardless of when the new rules take effect: confirm that the person you're paying is actually licensed, by checking the CICC's public register directly rather than relying on a business card, website claim, or social media profile. From April 2027 onward, that register is expected to show more detail, but the ability to check a licence status already exists today.

Our firm operates under the existing regulatory framework, and we support measures that make it easier for prospective clients to verify credentials and that give the regulator stronger tools against unlicensed practice. If you have questions about a representative's status, a complaint about service you received elsewhere, or simply want to confirm our own licensing before retaining us, we are glad to point you to the College's verification tools directly.