by John Burke – Pace Law Firm: Immigration fraud is a serious matter. It reflects poorly on Canada’s image regardless of whether the perpetrator is practicing inside or outside of Canada. Now that Canadian immigration authorities are taking a more active role in identifying and prosecuting those who would take advantage of unsuspecting individuals and families, we are likely to see more cases of immigration fraud in the news.

The changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program that became effective on April 1st, 2011, were designed to ensure that the jobs offered to prospective foreign workers would be genuine. The changes would also ensure that the employers offering the positions would adhere not only to the terms and conditions of the permission granted to them to hire a foreign worker, but also to the employment standards of the province where the foreign national will work.

Along with these changes is the advent of Bill C-35 which, when made into law, will make it illegal for anyone to represent another party in matters of immigration law unless they are duly authorized under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Regulations. This amendment to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Regulations will, for the first time, make it a crime to represent someone in an Immigration matter without proper authorization.

The most recent example of alleged abuse of our Immigration laws that I have seen involves the laying of eleven fraud charges against an Edmonton man who is believed to have falsified a number of Work Permit applications.

Whether this individual is innocent or guilty is up to the courts. However, the mere allegation of this type of wrong-doing casts an unwanted shadow on Canada’s reputation. For that reason, I believe that each of us has a duty to report situations where we believe there is abuse of Canadian Immigration law. If you suspect that you are the victim of immigration fraud, go to this link and report it to the proper authorities.