College Of Immigration Community Spotlight, Dental Pricing Increases, & more!

The Benchmark community is filled with people and organizations that use their work to give back to the community, and we are very excited to highlight the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants in this month’s Community Spotlight.

Please see below for the full interview with Russ Harrington, COO of The College of Immigration: 

Tell us about the organization and what you do?

The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (the College) licenses and regulates Canadian immigration and citizenship consultants in the public interest.

There are 2 types of immigration and citizenship consultants we regulate:

• • Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs), and
  • Regulated International Student Immigration Advisors (RISIAs)

The College’s role, its statutory authority, and its powers are set out in:

• The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act,
• The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and
• The Citizenship Act.

Our statutory authority applies to immigration and citizenship consultants whether they practise in Canada or abroad.

What are the goals of the organization?

The purpose of the College is to regulate immigration and citizenship consultants in the public interest and protect the public, including by

• (a) establishing and administering qualification standards, standards of practice and continuing education requirements for licensees;
• (b) ensuring compliance with the code of professional conduct; and
• (c) undertaking public awareness activities.

What have been the biggest impacts/outcomes on the community you serve?

The College was created as a Self Regulatory Organization (SRO) because it is understood that:

• • Immigration and citizenship consultants have specialized knowledge and expertise, and
  • Immigration and citizenship consulting can be trusted as a regulated profession.

As a regulator, the College sets standards of education, professional practice and ethics for its licensees. By doing so, we can

• • Ensure the fairest outcomes for people who want to immigrate to Canada, and
  • Demonstrate that licensed immigration and citizenship consultants are trustworthy and ethical.

What are some of the biggest challenges the ICCRC has had to overcome?

The College is the self-regulatory organization that replaced the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC).

ICCRC was designated in 2011 by the Federal Minister of Citizenship and Immigration under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Citizenship Act.

However, ICCRC’s authority eventually created administrative and legal challenges that prevented it from delivering the most timely and effective professional compliance and regulatory services.

In 2019, ICCRC worked with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and key stakeholders to obtain the necessary statutory authority to provide:

• Enhanced powers and tools for oversight, enforcement and investigation, and
• More authority to identify unauthorized practitioners and hold them responsible for their actions.

This work resulted in the College Act.

What are the goals for the future of the College?

• 1. Uphold and protect the Public interest through regulation of the profession
• 2. Establish, maintain and enforce qualifications to meet rising professional standards
• 3. Manage relations with stakeholders to develop and maintain public confidence in the regulator
• Effective regulation builds public trust. It also strengthens the profession by ensuring that licensees meet the educational, ethical and professional standards required of trusted, regulated professionals. 

Every year, provincial and territorial dental associations release their annual recommendations of dental fee guidelines, where there is usually an increase in the cost of dental services. This data helps determine what percentage of dental fees will be reimbursed by benefits providers.

The chart below showcases the current increase for every province except for Newfoundland and Labrador or the Territories (not available at this time).

The four-day workweek with no pay decrease is the stuff of dreams for many office workers, but the pandemic has brought us one step closer to reality with trials running in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand among others.

Companies that have introduced the program have seen a drop in the number of days taken off as sick leave and burnout, and staff retention rates are higher due to less mental stress. For employees who took part in these trials, they have seen an increase in understanding in terms of their role’s priorities and are more focused during the day due to the 4-day constraints.

These highlights don’t come without a significant amount of planning, and many think that this dream come true may have unintended consequences for workers.

Learn more about the initiative HERE