Canadian Society for Immigration Consultants Wins Federal Court Ruling

September 23 2008 by Charlotte Norman

In what has been labelled as a landmark ruling, the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (CSIC) has been reaffirmed by the Federal Court of Appeal as the ruling regulating body for Canadian immigration consultants.

Speaking of the decision, the Federal Court said that "Immigration consultants have a valuable role to play in assisting individuals caught up in the immigration system."

The court further branded the organisation as the "gatekeeper to the profession of immigration consultant[s]".

The controversial case first came about following action from the Law Society of Upper Canada whom decided to implement legal action on the CSIC, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (CIC) and the Attorney General of Canada, their reasoning behind this movement was the contention of the CSIC's authority to regulate immigration consultants.

Despite this action the Federal Court ruled in favour of the CSIC and further established its opinion of the benefit which such a body as the CSIC can bring to immigrants wishing to live, work or study in Canada.

The official ruling stated that "it was entirely appropriate for the Minister responsible for the administration of the immigration system to take the initiative in designing and putting in place the legal, financial and institutional means of tackling the serious public policy issues presented by unregulated immigration consultants - thus creating CSIC."

The CSIC are an independent body, their ultimate responsibility is for regulating the activities of immigration consultants who are members and who provide immigration advice for a fee.

Tabitha Holland a Canadian immigration consultant from www.globalvisas.ca, a registered CSIC client said that the decision was a step forward for Canadian immigration as a whole and that it would be viewed as wholly positive throughout the industry.

Immigration issues and Canada have gained increased publicity in recent years with immigration numbers steadily growing. Canada's immigration department has also actively been involved with promoting the country in order to attract skilled workers, in order to aid the countries current crisis of a declining skills pool and ageing population.

Speaking of the decision CSIC's Chairman, John Ryan said "This is terrific news for CSIC with the clear winner being consumers of immigration services. This decision hopefully ends a long-standing legal quagmire and allows us to continue the business of regulating the profession with renewed zest and zeal."

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