Addressing Ghost Consultants

Meurrens LawImmigration Consultants

For years, Canadian politicians have been grappling with the issue of how to end untrained and unregulated people from providing immigration advice, a practice commonly known as “ghost consulting.”  There appears to be a general consensus that tens of thousands of people each year are scammed by ghost consultants.  As well, even though they are not licensed, ghost consultants harm the reputation of the immigration consulting profession broadly. The Government of Canada has launched numerous attempts at cracking down on ghost consultants, including, requiring licensing, creating the designated the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council, and creating videos. As well, in June, 2010, the previous Conservative Government of Canada stepped up Canada’s efforts to regulate immigration consultants by introducing Bill C-35, also known as the Cracking Down on Crooked Consultants Act.