New rules let clients of immigration consultants recover losses dating back to 2021
Canada’s new regulatory framework for immigration consultants will allow clients to claim compensation for losses incurred since 2021.
On July 15, 2026, regulations took effect mandating the creation of a compensation fund available to clients of professionals licensed under the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC).
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Eligible clients can reclaim losses resulting from licensees’ dishonest acts “committed on or after November 23, 2021,” the first day the CICC took charge as regulator.
The regulations define a dishonest act as a licensee “knowingly providing false or misleading information or advising an individual to provide such information.”
Dishonest acts also include theft, fraud, misappropriation of funds, and flouting procedures for professional liability insurance.
To be considered as a client eligible for compensation, an individual must either have hired a licensee of the CICC, or have “reasonably concluded that the licensee had agreed to provide” them services. It is required that the client “did not voluntarily participate in or contribute to the dishonest act.”
The regulations mandate that payments to victims be issued from a separate fund maintained by the CICC, in addition to allowing the College to pursue licensees to recoup disbursements from the fund, plus fees and expenses.
Under Canadian law, all persons who accept payment for immigration advice must be licensed, either by a provincial or territorial law society, for example, as an immigration lawyer, or by the CICC, as a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) or Regulated International Student Immigration Advisor (RISIA).
The CICC operates as an independent, self-governing regulatory body under the federal legislative framework established by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act.
The new regulations reform CICC governance with the creation of a Discipline Committee, Complaints Committee, and Capacity Evaluation Committee, and require the College to submit an annual report to the federal government.
The report must include details on the cases relating to the compensation fund, complaints about licensees, the College’s finances, and the composition of the College’s membership.
The regulations also authorize Canada’s immigration minister to appoint an executive administrator to take control in place of the College’s board.
The regulations took effect as scheduled, at the end of the 90 day period following their publication in the Canada Gazette on April 16, 2026.
They culminate from draft regulations which were initially published in the Gazette on December 21, 2024.
In theory, Canada’s immigration system is designed to enable self-representation.
In practice, many applicants choose to hire professional representatives for help navigating what appears to them a Byzantine maze of bureaucracy.
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