Clients who lost money to rogue immigration consultants can now seek redress thanks to regulations that entered into force on July 15, 2026. The new rules oblige the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) to maintain a compensation fund and empower victims to recover losses stemming from dishonest acts going back to November 23, 2021—the date the College assumed regulatory control. Under the framework, claimants must first exhaust the CICC’s complaints process and secure a finding of professional misconduct before accessing the fund. Qualifying “dishonest acts” include theft, fraud, misappropriation of funds and knowingly providing false or misleading advice. The CICC can pursue the offending consultant to recoup payouts, helping to replenish the fund over time. The measure plugs a long-criticised gap in Canada’s immigration-advice ecosystem. Until now, victims—many of them temporary foreign workers or students—had limited avenues outside civil court to recover fees lost to bad actors. For corporate mobility programs, the fund offers additional protection when outsourcing casework to external representatives, though due-diligence screening of vendors remains essential. The regulations also strengthen oversight with new Discipline, Complaints and Capacity Evaluation Committees and require the CICC to file annual reports to the immigration minister. In extreme cases, the minister may appoint an administrator to take charge of the College—an accountability lever welcomed by stakeholder groups. Employers and relocation providers should update service-level agreements to reference the compensation mechanism and ensure that any consulting partners hold active CICC licences. They should also brief foreign hires on how to verify a consultant’s status and on the steps to file a complaint if they suspect misconduct.
Source: CIC News
