The College’s Annual General Meeting included a Question and Answer session. To allow as many questions to be answered as possible, we combined questions and edited for clarity where appropriate.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Q&A session.
Q: How many RCICs do you think are too many and should there be a limit to the number of people that are licensed each year?
There are no plans to limit the number of new licensees. The number of active licensees has remained steady over recent years, with the number of new licensees being similar to the number who have retired or left the profession. Our attrition rates are published in the Annual Report each year.
Q: What can be done about those RCICs who are selling labour market impact assessments (LMIAs) and who have brought disrepute to the industry? What about RCICs who are suspended and are still practising?
Job selling is one of the most serious allegations the College handles. There have been several job selling related matters handled by the College recently which resulted in action by the Tribunal, including immediate suspensions and revocations. These are publicly reported and available on our website.
Licensees who engage in illegal activities such as job selling are not only subject to regulatory penalties by provincial and federal authorities as well as criminal sanctions in some cases, but also disciplinary measures from the College up to and including permanent licence revocation, restitution and fines if the allegations are proven.
Suspended licensees who continue to practise are in breach of their suspension order and similarly are subject to all of the disciplinary measures available to the College. We encourage you to report any such activity to the College.
Q: When making a complaint about a licensee, why must a complainant’s identity be disclosed, even when substantial evidence has already been provided? This could expose the complainant to retaliation and therefore discourage them from making a complaint.
We understand complainants may be vulnerable and reluctant to come forward. There are occasions when the identity of the complainant is not relevant, for example notifying the College of criminal convictions or other matters of public record against a licensee and we can action a complaint even if the source is anonymous. However, complaints handling and discipline processes must be fair to all parties, including the licensees, who have the right to defend themselves from actions which impact their livelihood. This includes knowing the nature of the allegations made against them and the right to question the evidence.
Q: How can the College be more proactive in providing support for licensees?
There is a difference between a regulator and an advocacy organization. The College is the regulator and exists to regulate licensed immigration consultants in the public interest and to protect the public. We do not have an advocacy role.
There are professional associations, such as CAPIC, who work to advance the interests of their members.
Q: What is the latest timeline on the College’s transition period?
The exact date that the College will end its transitional phase and the Transitional Board of Directors will be replaced by a permanent Board is still to be decided.
This will happen when the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC) issues an order to formally bring the transition phase to an end.
Before that happens, the College looks forward to welcoming the new College Act Regulations and the associated By-laws. Once those are in place, the College will have the complete suite of legislative, statutory, and regulatory provisions needed to fulfill its purpose to regulate Canada’s Immigration and Citizenship Consultants and protect the public interest.
The Board of Directors has installed new executive leadership to support the upcoming post-transition phase, and the College is continuing its work to complete these steps.
Q: A group of licensees have submitted a number of unauthorized practitioner (UAP) reports and we would like to know the progress of these reports. And overall, how successful is your work to take down UAP sites and social media accounts?
Thank you for reporting UAPs. The College reviews these and takes the appropriate action where possible. We have had some great successes in getting thousands of UAP sites and social media accounts taken down.
The College’s purpose is to regulate licensed immigration consultants in the public interest. The problem of UAPs requires an all-hands-on-deck, multi-pronged approach. One of the key objectives of the College’s Strategic Plan is to “combat unauthorized practitioners by enforcement, licensing, and awareness.”
The College works with government and law enforcement partners to combat UAPs.
The College takes a threefold approach to protecting the public from UAPs and immigration fraud – increasing the competency of licensees, regulating licensees through compliance with standards of practice, and raising public awareness of our Public Register of regulated, licensed immigration consultants.
Indeed, raising public awareness about the dangers of UAPs is our most effective way to make an impact. Our fraud prevention campaigns have driven millions of people to the Public Register. Our 2025 Fraud Prevention campaign continued the success of previous years. Between March 3 – April 28, 2025, the campaign delivered 210M impressions and 1.5M clicks across all countries and channels.
Beyond raising awareness and requesting the shut down of UAP websites and social media accounts, the College has the power to send cease and desist letters ordering individuals who are not licensees of the College to stop illegal immigration consultant activities, and to request court injunctions against persistent UAPs.
Q: The College says it has had 5,390 UAP websites and social media pages shut down. What methodology was used, given there is no public UAP complaint system?
Any member of the public can report a suspected UAP via our website. We have streamlined this process in the last few days based on licensee feedback.
Our methodology for social media and website takedowns includes requesting that web hosts or social media platforms shut down pages based on breaches of the platforms’ own terms-of-use policies.
We track these internally and report aggregate figures regularly.
We are confident these shutdowns disrupt communications with potential victims. We encourage UAP reports to also be filed with the CBSA and provincial law societies in the event of a UAP presenting themselves as a lawyer.
Raising public awareness about the dangers of UAPs is one of the most effective ways to combat UAPs. Beyond raising awareness and requesting the shut down of UAP websites and social media accounts, the College can and does utilize cease and desist letters for persistent UAPs and files injunction applications where there is sufficient evidence to present of ongoing unauthorized conduct.
Q: The financial statements show that the College pays rent for an office space. We know that the College is a remote-first organization and that staff work remotely. Why can licensees not attend the office for services? Could this expense not be reduced and licensing fees be reduced as a result?
Although the College operates as a remote-first organization, with employees based across Canada, the College’s office is required for operational purposes including space to hold regular meetings with external partners, Board meetings, staff events and hot desks for staff to work on site. The organization regularly reviews office needs against commitments – and works to adjust. In 2025, the College reduced year-over-year office rent expense by about $0.2M.
Concerning fees, the board reviews fees every year. We aim to balance the need for fair fees – encouraging a strong, robust base of licensees, which is in the public interest, with the need to ensure the financial health of the organization, which is also in the public interest.
Q: The College recently went through some senior leadership changes. What details can you share about why this happened?
Transitions are a normal part of organizational evolution. The College remains stable, focused, and committed to fulfilling its public protection mandate. Our governance, oversight, and operations continue without disruption.
New executive leadership was installed to support the upcoming post-transition phase.
The College’s mission and mandate remain constant and strong and the College’s leadership and Board are united in ensuring continuity and accountability.
Q: CBSA officers have refused to allow RCICs to be present during interviews with their clients and have even disparaged the RCIC’s role in front of their clients, even when official summonses stipulate the client's right to be accompanied by a representative of their choice. Does the College have an official and effective reporting mechanism for these incidents, and what action is being taken to remind the CBSA that RCICs have legal representative status equivalent to that of lawyers under the law?
The College’s purpose is to regulate licensed immigration consultants. The College has no influence over law enforcement and their operations.
Q: Official professional identification cards would be essential for formally identifying us to authorities like the CBSA and would strengthen our legitimacy. What is the precise timeline for issuing professional cards to all members?
The College does not plan to introduce photo IDs for licensees at this time. Your listing on the Public Register, coupled with government-issued ID, can be used when necessary to formally identify yourself.
Q: Is the College considering formally contacting IRCC to request that RCICs be added to the list of eligible sponsors in form PPTC 191? This update would be consistent with the recognized role of RCICs in the Canadian immigration system and would help reduce unjustified delays in the processing of protected persons' applications.
The College engages regularly with IRCC although it is not our role to influence government policy.
Q: In previous years, the College included a one-hour continuous professional development (CPD) session related to Professionalism and/or the Code of Professional Conduct as part of the AGM agenda. I noticed that this session was discontinued starting in 2024. Could you please clarify if there is a specific reason why it was removed?
When we have something specific to communicate to licensees – such as the Code of Professional Conduct Interpretation Guide – we will hold information sessions and give CPD credit if those sessions meet CPD requirements.
For example, right after this year's AGM, a Licensee Education Session was held. It was open to all in-person attendees and will count towards Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours.
Many providers are offering CPD sessions that meet the professionalism or Code of Conduct requirement. Check under the ‘Upcoming CPD Events’ tab and select the ‘Professionalism’ option to find the relevant upcoming courses available.
Q: Why does the College take an extended period of time to respond to emails and other communications, and why are phone lines unavailable or calls not returned?
We are taking steps to address communications from licensees more promptly. The latest statistics for some departments show that over the last few months, the College has responded to many incoming emails within 48 hours on average and we are exploring various methods to improve our responsiveness.
Q: Why does the College reject proposed business names on the basis that they are “too similar” to existing ones, when no such names appear on the Public Register?
The approval or denial of business names is guided by the College’s Business and Business Name Registration Regulation.
Q: Can the College make it easier for licensees to retire? A number of colleagues have reported difficulty in completing the process.
Retiring as a licensee requires a number of important steps to be taken, such as informing your clients, transferring client files and completing all of the required paperwork. Information on the process and all of the relevant paperwork is available on the College Portal.
Q: Does the College take action on complaints made by licensees about other licensees? Many clients will not report the RCIC for fear of repercussions.
Yes, we do if it involves conduct that may be in breach of the Code of Professional Conduct. Anyone can file a complaint about a licensee through our website, and the same process will be followed regardless of who files the complaint. It is important to note that for complaints to be managed, it often requires the evidence and cooperation of the client to prove the allegations.
Q: There are students who graduate from the Diploma program who never get their licence but go on to practice, telling their clients they have the education, but they just need to get their licence and don’t feel they need it. What can CICC do about that?
Anyone, regardless of their education, who provides immigration or citizenship advice for a fee or other consideration without being a licensee of the College, a member of a law society or of the Chambre des notaires du Québec is operating illegally and is an unauthorized practitioner. The College encourages anyone, including licensees, to report possible UAPs via our website.
Q: Between 2023 and 2025, the amortization amount increased to $474,000, and excess revenue changed from $6.24M to $50,034. Can you explain?
There are two questions here – one on the change in amortization and one on the change in net income. We will address amortization first. There are two types of expenses – operating expenses and capital expenses. Operating expenses refer to expenses incurred in the current period. For example, office supplies – the organization purchases office supplies and uses them in the same year they are purchased. Capital expenses, on the other hand, refer to investments that yield benefits over multiple years. The amount of benefit that pertains to each specific year is referred to as amortization (which is another word for depreciation). For the College in 2025, the increase in amortization refers to the recognition of applicable expenses in the year from prior year investments – mostly IT expenditures and leasehold improvements. (Leasehold improvements are costs incurred to make a rented office space useable for staff).
On the change in net income – yes, net income went from about $6M in 2023 to just under $55K in 2025. In fact, the average net income for the four years ending with Financial Year 2023 was around $4M, before dropping to about $0.8M in 2024 and then about $55K in 2025. It is important to note that non-profit organizations like the College should not be running a surplus every year, consistently, across many years – nor should it consistently run a deficit across many years. On average, over time, the net income should be around zero. There needs to be a good reason for consistent surplus or deficits. The College has had a good reason for generating surpluses in prior years – this was to build the financial capacity of the organization to do the work it currently does. We have heard from the Minister and the Chair of the Board at the AGM key highlights of some of this work. The other key reason for the recurring surpluses is to ensure that there are resources available to maintain stability and good financial health. We now have reserves set aside – for the Compensation Fund, for work around Professional Conduct, for future IT capital expenditures, to provide additional insurance and to cover operating and other expenses in case of emergency. Given the financial capacity that has been built and the progress made in securing financial health, the need for ongoing surpluses has diminished – and that is reflected in the change in net income referenced above.
Q: The College’s 2024–25 Annual Report notes that over 5,300 UAP websites and profiles were shut down, which is excellent progress. However, on the College website, every “Report Unauthorized Practice” link redirects to the College Portal login page.
There is no text explaining what the login is for or confirming that users are in the right place. The public must create an account and log in before they can even access a form. This process is confusing, discourages public reporting, and appears inconsistent with the College’s duty to make reporting accessible. Will you make it simpler for the public and licensees to report UAPs to the College?
To effectively track and manage complaints about licensees or unauthorized practitioners, we only accept complaints via the College portal so that important information is provided by complainants.
We appreciate this feedback and the suggestions provided and have reviewed our website as a result. We are happy to confirm that we have made changes to our website to more clearly explain the process to members of the public who want to report a UAP.
This is done via the College Portal to ensure consistent management of the reports and tracking of progress. RCICs can also report UAPs using the same process. Thank you for your feedback on this issue.