ICCRC participates in Fraud Prevention Month 2021 #FPM2021

BURLINGTON, Ontario, March 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC) is pleased to again participate in Canada’s national Fraud Prevention Month, in collaboration with the Competition Bureau, the RCMP, and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

There are many forms of fraud and scams which have long-lasting consequences for their victims, and immigration fraud can have devastating impacts on individuals and families hoping to make Canada their home. A common fraud is the impersonation of immigration consultants. Therefore, we ask potential clients to verify their immigration consultant using our Public Register.

“There is a concern that the public is confused about who is legally authorized to provide immigration consulting services, especially in countries where “agent” is used more commonly than RCIC (Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant),” said John Murray, President & CEO of ICCRC. “Our goal is to educate the public to use our Public Register to verify their immigration consultant and differentiate between RCIC, agent and the unauthorized.”

To support our message, we are launching several initiatives this month including an international digital campaign to target aspiring immigrants, international students, and temporary workers as well as a social media campaign on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to share fraud prevention tips in languages spoken by potential immigrants. After a successful collaboration with representatives from the High Commission of Canada in India, which consisted in delivering joint webinars in the Punjab region to educate the public on using authorized representatives, we are also in the process of developing videos in Hindi and Punjabi to further inform this audience and promote our Safe Migration to Canada app. This has been a very positive partnership as we work towards mitigating the impact of immigration fraud by empowering prospective immigrants with information. We look forward to expanding on these efforts globally and with other immigration stakeholders.

“ICCRC’s mission is to protect consumers of immigration services through effective regulation of immigration consultants and promotion of the benefits of using only authorized immigration representatives,” said Stanislav Belevici, RCIC, Chair of the ICCRC Board of Directors. “We emphasize this during Fraud Prevention Month but we really focus on this year-round.”

Public participation is crucial to mitigate immigration fraud. Taking the time to learn about how to protect oneself against immigration fraud and sharing our messages #VerifyYourImmConsultant and #FightImmFraud have a great impact. More information can also be found on the Fraud Prevention section on our website.

Please join the fight against immigration fraud by following our accounts, sharing our fraud prevention tips, and using the following hashtags.

#VerifyYourImmConsultant
#FightImmFraud
#FPM2021

For further information, please contact:
Christopher May
Director of Public Affairs & Communications
Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC)
T: 1-877-836-7543| E: [email protected]

About ICCRC
ICCRC is the national self-regulatory body that promotes and protects the public interest by overseeing regulated immigration and citizenship consultants and international student advisors.

ICCRC’s federal mandate stems from the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and the Citizenship Act which require anyone providing Canadian immigration or citizenship advice or representation for a fee or other consideration to be a member in good standing of ICCRC, a Canadian law society or the Chambre des notaires du Québec.

Individuals providing Canadian immigration/citizenship services abroad are subject to Canadian law even if they reside outside of Canada.

SOURCE Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC)