Bad Immigration Consultants- Be aware!

A detailed report of the Parliamentary committee that was released in June following weeks of hearings confirmed what many newcomers to this country already knew: that the most vulnerable people in Canada are easy pickings for the dishonest immigration consultants. But now, anyone who is harmed by such dishonest consultants can help to clean up the system. A new organization SCREWED- Survivors of Consultant-Related Errors and Willful Exploitative Dishonesty has been formed, and a local legal aid clinic is inviting victims to share their sufferings on an exploitation hotline.

A member of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants, MacDonald Scott, said that one of his clients hired a Montreal consultant firm, after which the consultant firm took his credit card information, charged him two thousand dollars to do an application and never did anything. Scott added that the next thing that his client knew was that he had $6,000 in charges run up on his credit card and unfortunately, the regulator didn’t take any action.

Refugee/immigration lawyer Hilary Evans Cameron, said that they have the report and know exactly what needs to be done. He said that they need that the government should ensure that people can’t get away with crimes for a simple reason that their victims are in process of immigrating to Canada. He added that by bringing these cases forward, they will ensure that these issues don’t fall of the legislative agenda.

The ‘Bad Consultants Hotline”, at 416-978-6447, will be launched on 22nd of September, 2008 and the queries will be answered by law students at the University of Toronto’ legal aid clinic, Downtown Legal Services.