Cracking the Whip on Unauthorized Immigration Representatives

Last year, a notorious immigration consultant – Brijesh Mishra – was charged by Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) for various immigration-related offences[1] under Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (“IRPA”).[2] Mishra’s actions undeniably jeopardized the future of 700 Indian students who face the prospect of deportation. In the wake of these developments, former Canadian Immigration Minister Sean Fraser created a special task force in June last year to investigate if the subject students were innocent or complicit in defrauding Canada’s immigration system.[3] 

This appalling incident is only the tip of the iceberg. Innumerable Brijesh Mishra-like unauthorized representatives continue to operate from the dark underbelly of a wider immigration web, far away from the clutches of Canadian regulatory bodies. Having said that, many immigrant applicants are regularly being duped or misled by such representatives in India and many other countries.

While CBSA has already charged Mishra under section 91 of IRPA, rampant violations of this section continue to occur in India. For reference, subsection 91(1) of IRPA mandates that no person shall knowingly, directly or indirectly, represent or advise a person for consideration — or offer to do so — in connection with the submission of an expression of interest or a proceeding or application under IRPA. Although CBSA cannot by itself rescue each immigrant applicant, here are two ways for the latter to exercise caution to avoid falling into insidious immigration traps.

First, most immigrant applicants do not conduct due diligence of their selected immigration representative. They are unaware of the ambit of subsection 91(2) of IRPA. Under this section, only a licensed lawyer who is a member in good standing of a law society, or a member in good standing of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (“College”) is authorized to represent and advise an immigrant applicant for consideration. In most cases, immigrant applicants fail to review the directory on official websites of the appropriate law society or College to verify if their immigration representative is even registered with the appropriate law society or College. Further, a thorough search indicates that neither Mishra nor his firm were registered with the College or any law society, thereby contravening section 91 of IRPA.

Second, most immigrant applicants are unaware of CBSA’s dedicated helpline for reporting suspicious and unauthorized immigration activities. For reference, CBSA’s toll-free helpline for reporting such matters is 1-888-502-9060, Monday to Friday from 9 am to 9 pm. In addition, CBSA has a 24/7 secure web form[4] that could be used to report such incidents.

The third option involves inter-governmental coordination to help enforce an expanded crack down on unauthorized immigration representatives. The proposed idea is to have coordination – between the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the appropriate foreign ministry of another country, such as India in this case – to decline issuance of local business registration numbers to unauthorized immigration representatives in India that are not registered with any law society or College. Enforcing this option may require steady coordination between various departments. However, once a dedicated framework is in place, it could be a panacea for the current ills in the immigration ecosystem.  The G20 Summit last year was a missed opportunity to bilaterally discuss this issue with select countries that account for high immigration volumes into Canada.

The above multi-pronged approach would ensure that IRPA does not remain a paper tiger, as this legislation does contain strict penalties for those flouting its mandate in the form of hefty monetary fines and potential incarceration. This approach would further send a strong message that all perpetrators will be brought to justice, and that Canadian regulatory bodies are ready to take the bull by its horns. One can only sympathize with the plight of those 700 Indian students, and many more uncovered tribulations of immigrant applicants.

[1] “CBSA investigation leads to criminal charges for immigration offences including fraudulent letters for Canadian post-secondary institutions to Indian students”, Canada Border Services Agency (23 June 2023), online: https://www.canada.ca/en/border-services-agency/news/2023/06/cbsa-investigation-leads-to-criminal-charges-for-immigration-offences-including-fraudulent-letters-for-canadian-post-secondary-institutions-to-indi.html

[2] SC 2001, c 27.

[3] Nicholas Keung, “Ottawa pauses deportations for Indian students caught in fake admission-letter scandal”, Toronto Star (14 June 2023), online: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/ottawa-pauses-deportations-for-indian-students-caught-in-fake-admission-letter-scandal/article_5eb7b845-2b79-5d44-a8db-70cdf6fbcfc5.html

[4] “Tip Submisson”, Canada Border Services Agency, online: https://bwl-lsf.cbsa-asfc.cloud-nuage.canada.ca/tip-sub-en.html