November 26, 2020—Ottawa—The Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino announced today that the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act is now in force. This Act provides a statutory framework to regulate immigration and citizenship consultants, and will make the forthcoming College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants the official regulator of immigration and citizenship consultants across the country.

The coming into force of the Act means that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is one step closer to the opening of the new College, which is anticipated in 2021. The College will be an arms-length institution mandated to regulate the profession in the public interest by protecting both the public and consultants in good standing from dishonest actors who take advantage of vulnerable people.

The new College will be subject to significant government oversight to ensure public protection. This includes government authority to establish a code of professional conduct for licensees of the College, to set the composition of the College Board of Directors, and appoint up to a majority of directors.

With today’s announcement, the Minister is honouring his mandate commitment to advance the full implementation of the new professional governance regime for immigration and citizenship consultants

While coming into force of the Act is a required step, opening the College will also require the appointment of public interest directors to the College board by the government. A notice of opportunity is posted on IRCC’s website for interested parties to apply for the public interest director positions on the College board.

The board’s mandate is to manage the activities and affairs of the College. The selection process for the public interest directors is open, transparent and based on merit criteria. It will help ensure that capable, diverse and well-qualified Directors are put in place.