The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), announced the appointment of 5 public interest directors on the transitional Board of Directors of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (the College or CICC). Each public interest director has been appointed for a term of 2-years starting from March 7, 2022.
The appointed directors are:
Ben Rempel,
Former Assistant Deputy Minister of Immigration, Manitoba.
Ben Rempel had the lead responsibility for Manitoba’s “Growing Through Immigration Strategy” in the Manitoba Immigration and Multiculturalism. He held the position since 2007. Mr. Rempel has an Interdisciplinary Masters Degree from the University of Manitoba with a specialization in international migration issues.
Jennifer Henry
Senior Program Development and Strategy Lead, The United Church of Canada.
Jennifer Henry began her career in women’s equality struggles and activism to end violence against women and children. She has worked for over 27 years as a social justice advocate for Canadian churches. She has 20 years of management experience including the last nine as Executive Director.
Normand Beaudry
Director of International Recruitment, Université Laval, and Treasurer/Member, CALDO Consortium.
Normand Beaudry is currently Associate Director for Counterparty Credit Risk Models. He is experienced in credit risk simulation and financial pricing translating technical skills which he gained from physics PhD at ETH Zurich to finance at RBC. He is also skilled in applying C++ to simulate credit risk factors and pricing options.
Timothy D’Souza,
Senior Vice President, Finance and Business Operations, Diabetes Canada.
Timothy D’Souza is an experienced Strategy and Finance professional with a history of enabling change across a variety of sectors. He is also a part-time Adjunct Faculty delivering classes at five different post-secondary institutions. He is well-educated with two Master’s degrees and an accounting designation. He has experience serving on several boards and board committees. He also served as the Chairperson of Finance and Audit committees.
Nicholas Summers
Former Provincial Director/CEO, Newfoundland and Labrador Legal Aid Commission.
Nicholas Summers retired from the position of Provincial Director/CEO of Legal Aid NL in late 2019. He started work with Legal Aid NL in 1990 as a Staff Solicitor doing Refugee law, Administrative Law and Family Law cases. Eventually he moved into the administration of the agency in 2007. He was Chairperson of the Association of Legal Aid Plans of Canada for a number of years before his retirement.
The CICC Board of Directors
Canada is one of the most preferred destinations by immigrants all across the globe. The country continues to integrate record breaking newcomers to live, work and settle in Canada. Thus, it is essential to provide high quality immigration advice to these newcomers who need and rely on it. The Canadian government
Canada continues to welcome a record number of newcomers to live, work, and visit Canada, and high-quality immigration advice should be available for those who need and rely on it. The Canadian government is dedicated towards enhancing immigration and citizenship consultant regulation and holding them to the highest professional standards possible.
With the launch of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants on November 23, 2021, the Government of Canada marked a major milestone in this commitment. It is Canada’s official regulatory body for immigration and citizenship consultants. A board of directors of nine members governs the College, which licences immigration and citizenship consultants to advise and represent immigration and citizenship clients in IRCC applications.
The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act (College Act) requires the IRCC Minister to appoint five individuals to serve as directors on the interim Board. These five individuals are not College licensees. The selected directors were appointed through an open selection procedure conducted by IRCC and the Minister’s Office. The appointed directors will be joining four College licensees on the transitional Board: Stan Belevici, RCIC; John Burke, RCIC; Marty Baram, RCIC; and Richard Dennis, RCIC.
These licensee directors were selected from the Board of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council. The College’s Board of Trustees has the responsibility of overseeing the College’s activities and affairs.
John Murray, President & CEO of the College stated that the recent appointments to the board have resulted in the completion of the first phase of Canada’s regulatory scheme for immigration consultants and foreign student advisors. The College is in a strong position to fulfil its responsibility to protect the public now that the entire transitional Board is in place.
The adoption of a new Code of Professional Conduct for College licensees is one of the next milestones in the transition process. In May 2021, the proposed Code was released in draft form for public feedback. The final Code is likely to be released in early 2022. Once the Code is in effect, all College licensees must follow it and the College will be in charge of enforcing it and ensuring compliance.
The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC)
The Government of Canada has established the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants to regulate the practice of Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs) and Regulated International Student Immigration Advisors (RISIAs). The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act (Canada) establishes its role, authority, and powers. The College establishes and enforces the profession’s licence, education, and ethical standards in the public interest.
Any immigration consultant, who wants to provide Canadian immigration or citizenship services for a fee, whether domestically or abroad, must be one of the following:
- A licensee in good standing with the College
- A member of a Canadian law society, or
- A member of the Chambre des notaires du Québec.
With the appointment of public interest directors, the new College strengthens government oversight of the consulting profession. The recent developments aim at protecting immigration and citizenship clients while also strengthening the consulting industry’s integrity. The College is a key pillar in the efforts of the government to combat immigration fraud in Canada.
