Andrés Barrios says he is nonetheless within the means of restarting his life in Mexico, after failing to safe everlasting residency in Canada in 2021.
The 39-year-old had desires of working in Vancouver. As a substitute, he is now the lead plaintiff in a proposed class-action lawsuit that alleges his former immigration advisor collected hundreds of {dollars} in charges from dozens of migrant staff for an allegedly pretend COVID-19 associated immigration program.
These allegations have not been examined in courtroom and the advisor, Liza Lucion, denies them.
Barrios mentioned the results of the allegedly pretend program is that he and different newcomers needed to go away Canada altogether, their immigration desires dashed.
“It nonetheless shocks me,” Barrios informed CBC Information from his dwelling in Mexico Metropolis. “We felt anguish. We felt very offended, pissed off.”
The authorized problem comes as extra newcomers are selecting the companies of immigration consultants over legal professionals, based on a brand new survey commissioned by CBC Information.
The survey, carried out by market analysis agency Pollara in November, requested 1,507 individuals who arrived in Canada prior to now 10 years about their immigration experiences and located 33 per cent used consultants, whereas 16 per cent used legal professionals. A nationwide survey of that dimension would usually have a margin of error of +/- 2.5 per cent.
Immigration consultants say newcomers could favor consultants as a result of they’re handy and inexpensive. However in addition they say the School of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) hasn’t achieved sufficient to punish unhealthy actors within the business.
Additionally they say victims want higher recourse, together with a compensation fund promised years in the past that has but to come back to fruition.
“I’ve labored with glorious immigration consultants, however the issue is that there are unhealthy actors which might be unscrupulous,” mentioned Vancouver immigration lawyer Jae-Yeon Lim, who additionally teaches immigration regulation at Queen’s College to these looking for to change into consultants. She clarified that she was talking about her personal experiences with shoppers and never on behalf of her employers.
Kelly Ernst, chief program officer for the Centre for Newcomers, mentioned his group helps individuals who have skilled difficulties with each consultants and legal professionals.
“It is not a perform of consultants per se, nevertheless it’s extra of a perform of individuals representing one other particular person for cash after which that cash will get in the best way,” he mentioned of the issue.
3 extra lawsuits
Lucion’s licence was suspended indefinitely by the CICC in 2022, after the regulator acquired seven complaints in regards to the alleged COVID program scheme.
Lucion declined an interview with CBC Information. Her lawyer Melanie Samuels mentioned Lucion didn’t deliberately mislead shoppers, however that they misunderstood what she informed them.
“There’s, I believe, a profound misunderstanding of what occurred. In fact, they’re portray her because the satan, that she was attempting to loop them in for hundreds of {dollars}, and he or she truly did purposes. Whether or not they had been profitable or not, there is no assure in immigration anyway,” Samuels mentioned.
Lucion is dealing with three different lawsuits, together with one which alleges she stored practising regardless of her suspension, and that she suggested a girl to work illegally and not using a legitimate work allow.
Lucion has denied all the allegations in opposition to her. They haven’t been confirmed in courtroom.
Promise of a job
Eoin Logan, who represents a number of the folks suing Lucion, mentioned newcomers select consultants over legal professionals as a result of they imagine they’re cheaper and simpler to seek out.
There are over 12,000 immigration consultants as of 2022, federal authorities information reveals, in comparison with about 2,000 legal professionals who work primarily with immigration shoppers, based on the Canadian Immigration Legal professionals Affiliation.
In a lawsuit filed in 2024, Mexican citizen Diana Plascencia alleges she suffered extreme psychological misery after Lucion and Lucion’s then-husband Jose Guadalupe Garcia Hernandez promised her a job in information analytics in 2021 at Intercore, an organization they co-owned, that would result in everlasting residency — however ended up giving her a job as a building labourer.
Plascencia wouldn’t qualify for everlasting residency working the development job, based on Logan, who represents her.
Plascencia had a sound work allow that was going to run out in October 2021, the declare says. It says she stored working even after her work allow expired as a result of Lucion suggested her that her allow with Intercore was pending and it was OK for her to maintain working, based on the go well with.
Lucion filed a number of work allow purposes for Plascencia with out her data, the go well with alleges, which had been rejected by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Lucion denies this allegation.
‘A complete lie’: Lucion
The lawsuit additionally alleges Lucion continued to symbolize herself as a advisor and continued to request funds from Plascencia after her licence was suspended — an allegation that Lucion known as “a fabrication and a complete lie” in a counterclaim.
She denied advising Plascencia to maintain working after her allow expired.
She mentioned she did her due diligence when making work allow purposes and that the choice to just accept the purposes was as much as IRCC.
She mentioned Plascencia failed to supply certification to show she might do the analyst position and so was not routinely positioned in that job.
“We might be defending that, clearly, vigorously,” Samuels mentioned.
Immigrants and people who work with newcomers say that the regulation of immigration consultants is missing. It comes as a proposed class motion lawsuit is filed in opposition to a B.C. immigration advisor, and a ballot commissioned by CBC Information reveals extra newcomers are choosing consultants over legal professionals.
Lucion had beforehand introduced her intention to run for nomination as a Conservative candidate within the subsequent federal election however her lawyer mentioned she’s not pursuing that in gentle of the authorized challenges.
Hernandez, who’s not co-owner of Intercore, didn’t file a response to the declare and was ordered by a decide in December 2024 to pay Plascencia damages which have but to be decided.
His lawyer didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Overhaul of regulatory physique
In 2019, the federal authorities introduced an overhaul to the regulatory body for immigration consultants and the creation of the CICC, which opened about two years later.
Since 2004, two different our bodies weren’t in a position to successfully regulate consultants as a result of they lacked legislative authorities, the federal authorities mentioned in briefing notes obtained by CBC Information.
CICC was given powers to analyze complaints made in opposition to consultants and to publish the names of these being investigated on the school’s web site.
It has undertaken greater than 70 disciplinary actions in opposition to consultants, starting from fines and suspensions to revocations of licences, according to IRCC.
The school has issued about $300,000 in fines and ordered a complete of about $365,000 in restitution to be awarded to shoppers.
However legal professionals Logan and Lim have considerations in regards to the size of time the school takes to self-discipline consultants.
For instance, CICC suspended Lucion about 30 months after the school acquired complaints about her, throughout which she was in a position to proceed practising.
“The foundations on paper are good. There’s an excellent code of conduct. However the precise enforcement of those guidelines has been missing,” Logan mentioned.
In one other case, a advisor was disciplined in 2023 referring to complaints from 2016. (The regulator transitioned into the CICC for a part of that interval).
One other advisor was suspended in 2024 in relation to complaints made in 2019 and 2020.
“The affect is that they are re-traumatizing the victims via these prolonged processes … for one thing that ought to have been achieved in a extra expedient method,” Lim mentioned, including that victims could lose their authorized standing in Canada and have to depart earlier than the problem is resolved.
CICC declined interview requests from CBC Information. In an announcement, it mentioned its purpose is to deal with complaints in a good and environment friendly method.
“Procedural equity requires due diligence and cautious overview of the distinctive components of every criticism,” mentioned spokesperson Stef Lach.
“This rigorous course of permits the school to correctly assess all complaints about licensees and take applicable regulatory motion to guard the general public.”
No compensation fund
A victims’ compensation fund was additionally presupposed to be established on the CICC, nevertheless it’s nonetheless not operational.
IRCC, which is chargeable for drafting rules for the fund, informed CBC Information that the rules had been out there for overview and public remark till Feb. 4. The compensation fund might be operational after the rules come into power, based on IRCC. The federal government company mentioned the prorogation of Parliament is not going to affect the session or drafting processes. The school mentioned it would additionally should develop bylaws for the fund.
Logan known as the delay in establishing the fund a “huge failure,” noting its absence means victims might need to undergo prolonged civil courtroom proceedings to recoup their cash.
Robert Russo, a lecturer specializing in immigration regulation on the College of British Columbia, mentioned the dearth of rules raises questions in regards to the powers of the CICC, just like points confronted by previous regulatory our bodies.
“I am nervous that they are merely carrying over most of the similar issues that created the issues,” he mentioned.
IRCC mentioned it’s “dedicated to upholding the integrity of our immigration applications and defending our programs in opposition to fraud and misrepresentation.”
However as the federal government acknowledged in briefing notes obtained by CBC Information, “no mannequin of regulation, even by the federal government, has the power to fully eradicate the actions of unscrupulous” consultants.
As for Barrios, he says he needs he might return to Canada — however that might be an uphill battle as a result of he says he wants to start out his immigration utility once more.
“I’ve an enormous want. It is a society I need to reside in,” he mentioned. “However I am not discovering any approach to return … I do not understand how to return.”
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