The proposed Code of Professional Conduct for College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Licensees (Code or Code of Conduct) would establish strong ethical and professional standards that all licensees of the College must abide by. Additionally, the Code would be structured in such a way for both consultants and clients to understand the standards and obligations of a consultant in their professional capacity.
Rationale: The new College will be a fundamentally different organization from the current Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC), with expanded authorities necessary for the regulation of a profession and additional levers for government oversight to ensure strengthened regulatory outcomes. Consequently, a comprehensive and more prescriptive set of standards is necessary to establish strong and ethical professional standards that all licensees of the College must abide by and for which they would be held accountable in the context of the College's robust complaints and discipline regime
Benefits of the proposal include benefits to foreign workers as they will no longer be charged recruitment fees, as well as broader benefits to the public as the new Code of Conduct will help protect the public from unethical and/or unscrupulous behaviour by consultants, while increasing public confidence in, and the overall integrity and reputation of, the consulting profession.
