According to the Globe and Mail, Mr. Alykhan Velshi (communications director for federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney) has stated that the federal government will introduce legislation to “crack down on crooked consultants” by the end of the parliamentary session next month. He would not comment on the specifics, but said the government is taking aim at several issues, including barriers to sharing information on problematic consultants, the lack of specific sanctions, and the regulatory loophole that has led to an increase in unlicensed consultants, nicknamed “ghost agents.”

Under the six-year-old system, an immigration consultant must be accredited with the federal regulator, the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (“CSIC”), to present an application, including appearing before an immigration tribunal. However, if consultants limit their tasks to filling out paperwork and providing advice, no credentials are required and CSIC has no jurisdiction over them. That leaves ghost agents free to make promises that licensed consultants cannot make, said Phil Mooney, past president of CSIC.

“They make false promises about everything,” said Mr. Mooney, an immigration consultant in Burlington, Ont. The RCMP could pursue fraudsters, but that rarely happens, he said. Two years ago, the House of Commons standing committee on immigration and citizenship recommended replacing CSIC with a regulator similar in structure to a provincial law society with added powers, including authority over currently unlicensed consultants.

CSIC chair Nigel Thomson said he strongly agrees with any move to bring ghost agents under regulatory scrutiny, particularly since his organization estimates that ghosts account for more than half of all immigration consultants in Canada. But he said the immigration committee didn’t fully understand his organization’s limited mandate, and that instead of being wound down, it should be granted investigative authority to pursue ghost agents, among others. Mr. Thomson said the government has not consulted CSIC.

The Globe and Mail article is available here.