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Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/1149701
www.canadianlawyermag.com 53 Despite the ICCRC's stricter powers, the report shows misconduct among consultants is still prevalent, with international students, live-in caregivers and temporary foreign workers being the most vulnerable to abuse. The committee's witnesses repeatedly accused the ICCRC of failing to deal with unauthorized practitioners, known as ghost consultants, who often shield themselves from detection through oral contracts, cash payments and not using their names in documents. In a presentation he gave at the May CBA conference in Winnipeg, Ravi Jain, an immigration lawyer and partner at Green and Spiegel LLP in Toronto, included examples of disciplinary actions taken by the ICCRC, which detailed the wrongdoing he says is rampant among consultants. The list includes charging exorbitant fees, misrepresenting fees, failing to keep proper records, forging documents, taking money and providing no services, advising clients to lie on their applications leading to a denied application, lying about job opportunities, withholding passports and threatening clients with deportation if they report misconduct. "Whatever these complaints are, it's scratching the surface, because the vast majority of people will not complain. And this experience is born out with MP offices and lawyers and law offices across the country. Because we know 99 per cent of people who've been harmed by consultants, they refuse to allow us to proceed with a complaint. Because if there's no immigration benefit, they're not going to waste their time," Jain says. Claudia Molina, an immigration lawyer *Source: Statistics Canada IMMIGRATION INCREASING IN CANADA* 303,257 Number of people who immigrated to Canada in 2017/2018 323,192 Number of people immigrated to Canada in 2015/2016 30 Years since Quebec and Ontario saw as much growth 79.6% Amount of Canada's population growth that due to immigration