Immigration Consultant

Someone counts as a paid representative when they get money or any other kind of reward for helping you. If money or a reward changes hands, that person must be authorized, no matter what title they use.

Here is who the government allows to charge fees, the people listed as authorized to be paid:

• Consultants on immigration or citizenship matters who hold membership in the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants
• Legal professionals, including lawyers and notaries, provided they belong to a law society in a Canadian province or territory, or to the Chambre des notaires du Québec
• In Ontario only, paralegals are also on the list, provided they belong to the Law Society of Ontario

Anyone who charges for Canadian immigration advice without one of these licences is breaking the law, so even a friend who asks for payment needs to be licensed.

The title RCIC stands for Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant. This is the profession the College oversees. You can check a consultant's licence by name, company or College ID with our licence check or on the College's own Public Register.

When you look someone up, two columns on the register matter most.

The first one is called Entitled to Practise. It tells you if the person may give immigration services right now. An RCIC showing "No" there is barred by law from offering advice or services, even if the listing still shows them.

A "No" can show up for different reasons. One is a status called Leave of Absence. That means the licensee has paused their work for a fixed period and has promised not to offer services until they come back.

The other column is labelled Type. It tells you the licence class, since the College issues several licence classes, each with its own practice scope. A Class L1 RCIC has just started out and has not yet finished the first-year mentoring program run by the College. Even so, an L1 licensee may still practise to the same full extent as an L2 licensee. By-Law 2021-2, section 10, has more detail on each class.

Sorting things out at the start prevents confusion later. When you hire a paid representative, the government suggests a few steps:

1. Go over what services you will get and what the fee will be, so you are both clear on the job.
2. Ask for a written agreement before any work starts.
3. Read it over. Check that it names every service you will get and states the fee you agreed on.

Did you talk about something that is not in the written agreement? Ask them to add it before you sign.