Bill C-35 an Act to Amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (formerly called the Cracking Down on Crooked Consultants Act) came into force effective June 30, 2011.
As per Bill C-35 the new Federal law, it is now illegal for Employment/Recruiting and Educational Agents for a fee - to represent clients (ie. employers, employees or students), handle and process their Labour Market Opinion (LMOs), Work Permits, Study Permits or process immigration related matters (eg. PR applications) unless they have a license as: an Immigration Consultant (ie. registered member of ICCRC), a Lawyer (ie. registered member of the Law Society of Alberta or any other provincial Law Society) or a Paralegal who is a registered member of the Law Society of Ontario.
Under Alberta’s Fair Trading Act, the Employment Agency or Recruiters license from Service Alberta allows agencies to do recruiting work but it does not authorize recruiters to do immigration or any immigration related work (eg. LMOs, AEOs, etc.)
Stiff penalties of up to two (2) years imprisonment and/or up to $100,000 in fines are stipulated for persons convicted of offences covered by Bill C-35.
Who are considered authorized representatives?
Under Bill C-35 only members in good standing of the following organizations are recognized by the Canadian government as authorized representatives to do immigration or immigration related work :
1. Members of Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC).
2. Licensed Canadian lawyers and members of the Chambre des notaires du Québec.
3. Ontario Paralegals who are members in good standing of the Ontario Law Society.
NOTE: At this time, only the Province of Ontario’s Law Society, the Law Society of Upper Canada, (www1.lsuc.on.ca/LawyerParalegalDirectory/index.jsp) admits paralegals as members.
Important Notice from Service Alberta
Last month, letters were sent out by Service Alberta to Employment Agencies in Alberta regarding the impact of Bill C-35.
Listed below are excerpts from the Notice sent out by Service Alberta in Dec. 2011:
“As a result of the amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), the policies related to the preparation of the labour market opinion (LMO) and arranged employment opinion (AEO) processed by Service Canada have changed.”
“The amendments to IRPA change the regulatory regime for who can represent employers, TFWs, immigrants or any other person in matters related to immigration processes, including LMOs and AEOs.”
“Only lawyers and paralegals in good standing with a provincial or territorial law society, notaries in good standing with the Chambre des notaries du Quebec and immigration consultants in good standing with the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council will be able to charge fees for immigration processes, including LMO and AEO applications.”
“Employment Agencies that provide any of the following services are impacted:
1. Representing an Employer in an LMO or AEO application
2. Communicating with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) or Human resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC)/Service Canada on behalf of the client.
3. Explaining and providing immigration advice
4. Providing guidance on how to select the best immigration stream and completing the appropriate forms
5. Representing the client in an immigration application or process
6. Advertising that they can provide immigration advice”
“Any employment agency that provides any of the above services to an employer or to a person seeking employment and collects fees from the client, regardless of whether the fees are for that immigration related service must be authorized under IRPA”
NOTE: “Authorized under IRPA” means the person doing the work must be an authorized representative as defined by Bill C-35 (ie. a licensed Immigration Consultant who is a member in good standing with ICCRC, a licensed lawyer or registered member of the Chambre des notaires du Québec or a Paralegal in Ontario who is a member in good standing of the Law Society of Ontario).
Only the Employer and authorized representatives can sign the last 2 pages of the LMO application forms. (eg. HRSDC Form EMP 5512 (Low Skill jobs) and HRSDC Form EMP 5517 (High Skill jobs) and HRSDC Form EMP 5520 – Annex to Appointment of Representative Form).
Due to Bill C-35, employment agencies – who plan to legally continue to perform immigration related work need an authorized representative in their staff. The other option is to outsource the immigration related services to an authorized representative.
See the samples of the LMO form pages as shown below:
NOTE TO EMPLOYERS and FOREIGN WORKERS: If the Employment Agent or Consultant with whom you are dealing with and paid fees to - refuses or does not fill out and sign the last 2 pages of the LMO forms and the Annex to Appointment of Representative Form to indicate that they are a paid representative, chances are they are not an authorized representative and should be reported to Service Canada and the ICCRC for investigation of possible illegal activities.
You can report suspected illegal activities to ICCRC at:
5500 North Service Road, Suite 1002
Burlington, Ontario, L7L 6W6
Tel: 1-877-836-7543 (toll free)
Fax: 1-877-315-9868 (toll free)
Email: info@iccrc-crcic.ca
Legal Disclaimer:
This news article is designed for general information only. The information presented in this article should not be construed to be formal legal advice or the formation of a consultant/client relationship. Each individual situation is different and people should seek proper advice on their specific cases with a licensed immigration consultant of their choice.
(About the writer: Jon Salvador is a licensed immigration consultant and a member in good standing with the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC). He has more than 20 years of management and business experience in Canada. Prior to establishing his immigration consulting company, he worked for a U.S. based computer company and then at TELUS, the 2nd largest telecom company in Canada in various management positions. He is originally from Manila, Philippines and graduated from DLSU (De La Salle University) in Manila with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. He also studied Business Management at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. If you would like to request articles on other immigration topics for future “Alberta Filipino Journal” publications, you can contact Jon at (403) 241-6276 or at jon@nuerainc.ca or the publisher of this newspaper.
