The Government of Canada has made announcement that it would implement rigid regulations. The motto behind this step is to enhance the working conditions of applicants who come to work in the country on temporary basis as well as the care-givers in the nation.

The Federal government has confirmed that the employers have been exploiting and mistreating people who come here. According to Chair Nigel Thomson from the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants, the new stringent regulation would see to it that the temporary workers don’t face any hassles here and it would be made sure that employers play their rules.

In order to take care of this issue, the Federal government has implemented these rigid rules to take care of the employees who are live-in caregivers, plus the ones who work on temporary basis. The steps would save them from potential exploitation from their employers.

The rules came into implementation in April 2010. In accordance with these regulations, the employers would be required to give the contracts which have properly demonstrated wages, benefits and hours of duties, including the leaves which would be granted to these employees.

Also, starting from April 2011, new regulations will apply a stricter and accurate assessment to employments for these categories before the employers are granted the authority to hire. It will take care whether the employer who is hiring the workers are following the guidelines or not.

Now, that’s a good thing Canadian government is considering, for it will not harm and shatter the dreams of many people who intend to immigrate to Canada. As per new reports, Canada is all set to introduce a new legislation which would deter ghost or unscrupulous immigration consultants/agents from providing illegitimate advices to prospective immigrants. It would ensure that unlicensed immigration agents, including India-based ones will be facing tougher penalties for running false agencies.

The new legislation is likely to be introduced in the Canadian parliament this week, which will impose harder punishments for offering unlicensed immigration related services and advices. Along, Canada has also asked other countries, including India to oversee the immigration agencies that are offering services in various territories.

The step comes across as Canada has more unlicensed immigration consultants than those that are registered with the body that regulates immigration consultancies, Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants. According to Canadian immigration minister, the new Law would weed out immoral consultants who try to mislead prospective immigrants to Canada. Until now, lakhs of people have been misled by fraud consultants, in Canada, as well as outside the country. The law that is to be introduced soon, considers this as a serious offense, and as a result, unauthorized consultants may entitled to very harsh penalties.

There have been many cases where prospective immigrants ended up being victims of such immoral consultancies, which demand huge sum of money, but do not provide services in return. As for example, there are many consultancies in India, especially in Punjab that team up with their fraud partners in Canada and cheat on their clients by charging very large amounts of money.

Of late, there have been many instances in Canada where unauthentic immigration consultants cheated on or trying to mislead immigrants. They are not going by the rules and regulations set by the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants. In the most recent case, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has identified a Windsor immigration consultant who has cheated on many immigrants and charged up to $100,000 in order to submit petitions to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

The consultant Francesco Salvatore (Sam) Burgio is not legally permitted to provide services, still he continued to do so. He held a membership with Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants, but his membership was cancelled in 2006. The police has already identified more than ten victims of the consultant. Reportedly, he charged in between $2,000 and $100,000 just to submit prospective immigrants’ applications.

Currently, Canada has a total of 1,600 certified immigration consultants. The presence of immoral consultants and their illegal activities are harmful for both prospective immigrants and the image of the country’s immigration system. Canada’s immigration minister has appreciated the efforts of the associated that have tried to investigate the unauthentic consultants. He also urged the government and other law enforcement agencies to work together and identify immoral consultants.

Unregulated immigration consultants with their mistake and huge charges are posing difficulty for the prospective immigrants. There have been cases in Canada, as well as in the United States where people’s applications were not being submitted or had errors, because of which the dreams and future plans of their clients were shattered. Thus, it is very important for anyone intending to immigrate to any country should go through a background check and legal status before hiring an immigration consultant!

Quebec is one such concerned province in Canada that has recently rolled out a few regulations to the immigration consultants. This concern is for the potential immigrants who want to migrate to Canada. In an effort to discourage the unlawful immigration consultancy practices that have been cheating on many prospective immigrants, the provincial government of Quebec has recently announced what are the guidelines that from now onwards immigration consultants in Quebec should stick to.

As per the recent regulations proposed by the Quebec government, immigration consultants must clear a test and they have to register with the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants. Besides, they should have a clean background in this practice and fair knowledge of French language and should be residents of Quebec.

With this implementation, a public database will also help people identify which immigration consultants are accredited by the provincial government and those who are not recognized. The new guidelines for the consultants clearly indicate that the Quebec government will no more accept illegal immigration consultancy services that would deter prospective migrants from entering Canada. The government made it clear that all services will have to obey the guidelines, else they will have to stop their practices.

In appreciation of the guidelines, the Canadian federal government showed its keenness of implementing similar actions. However, the government is yet to reveal when it’s going to make this happen in the future!

The steps taken by the government of Quebec are undoubtedly commendable. Since, cases of cheating people by false or dishonest immigration consultants are common in many places. Hope, other countries and places would also take such steps in the near future and let lawful consultants provide services!

Many a times, Immigration Representatives are confused or interchanged with immigration consultants. For those with the above thinking, it is for them to know that there is a difference between the two. An Immigration Representative is authorized to represent an applicant by the Canadian High Commission.

However, it is not mandatory to hire the services of a representative. It is totally on the applicant since it doesn’t give any added advantage or additional points with a representative. However, he would be able to guide you better. These services would definitely help you in taking the right steps. You can avail their services to act on your behalf and present your case.

While selecting an Immigration Representative, you have to be very particular on whom to select. It is important to know that there are two types of Immigration Representatives. These are –

• Paid Representatives – These include established lawyers who are in good books with the Canadian Provincial or the Territorial Law Society. This category also involves Immigration consultants who are registered with the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants and the Notaries who are the members of Chambre des notaires du Québec as well.
• Unpaid Representatives – These representatives do not charge any fee for their consultation. These include your own friends and family or someone from the non – governmental or a religious group or organization.

In both the cases, the Government of Canada does not comply with unauthorized representatives presenting cases on behalf of the applicants.

In case of representatives, there have been many instances where in the applicants have been duped for money. So, it is always better to do a background check of the consultancy. This could be done by interacting with other clients and being informed in prior.

All in all, a well planned step would ensure a good of your money!