Here are the recent Tribunal Actions by the College. Visit the Disciplinary Proceedings and Tribunal page to view the full decisions.
• Mumtaz Ali Khan, of M. Khan & Company in Delta, British Columbia, had their licence suspended for 8 months following findings of professional misconduct by the Discipline Committee. The committee found that the RCIC failed to maintain adequate office administration systems to avoid accepting new retainers on Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) matters which conflicted with the licensee’s other scheduled hearings. They found the RCIC was not diligent in their submission of some medical notes with irregularities which supported numerous change of date and time applications for their clients. Therefore, the licensee did not uphold the standards of the profession and perform their professional obligations honourably and with integrity. The licensee was found to have breached their record keeping obligations under the Code. The RCIC submitted two Use of a Representative forms to the IRB, which included the licence and contact information for an immigration lawyer in B.C., in addition to their own information. The RCIC acknowledges, even if inadvertent, these submissions could have misled their clients and the IRB and were in breach of the licensee’s obligations to properly prepare, sign and submit documents related to applications. The matters were resolved with an Agreed Statement of Facts and Joint Submission on Penalty. The licensee was subject to an interim suspension at the time of the settlement. The RCIC undertook to improve these business practices and was ordered by the committee to be suspended for 8 months (less time served under the interim suspension), to pay a fine of $5,000 and costs of $8,000 to the College.
• Sunita Dave, a former licensed RCIC in Calgary, Alberta, appealed the Registrar’s decisions denying relicensing and new licensing applications to the Registrar Appeal Committee. The Appellant’s licence had been permanently revoked in 2019 following admissions to multiple allegations of professional misconduct, and a joint submission on penalty prohibiting future readmission. The Appellant argued that the Registrar erred by treating the permanent revocation as an absolute bar to relicensing, and by failing to consider passage of time and present Good Character. The College argued that the By-laws prohibited relicensing where a revocation order expressly barred readmission. The committee dismissed both appeals, finding that the relicensing appeal was filed out of time and that the Registrar made no palpable or overriding error in denying the new application. Costs in the amount of $10,100 were awarded to the College.
• David Cabuhayan, of CanApprove Immigration Consulting Services in Vancouver, British Columbia, appealed a Registrar’s decision to revoke their licence for failure to pay annual membership dues to the Registrar Appeal Committee. The Appellant argued the invoice did not exist, they did not receive adequate notice of the revocation and the College failed to consider compassionate circumstances. The College argued that the invoice had been properly issued and that multiple notices and deadlines had been provided over several months before the licence was revoked. The committee dismissed the appeal, finding that the Appellant received adequate notice, failed to request compassionate relief prior to the revocation and did not establish any palpable or overriding error in the Registrar’s decision. Costs in the amount of $1,000 were awarded to the College.