Some argue that lawyers are the best option for consumers in resolving complicated immigration cases. Why wouldn’t the government just enable lawyers to take on a greater role and eliminate RCICs altogether?
Often it is a specific group of lawyers who argue that lawyers are the best option for providing immigration and citizenship services. Lawyers are already authorized to provide the full range of immigration services and certainly play an important part in resolving immigration and citizenship issues – but it is just one part.
Immigration and Citizenship Consultants have been representing immigration clients for decades, working on their own or alongside lawyers to provide much-needed immigration services. These services are needed for various reasons: many lawyers choose to practise in other areas of law that they find are more interesting or lucrative than immigration; immigration consultants often hail from and serve particular demographic groups in which lawyers are underrepresented; the barriers to entering the legal profession are often insurmountable to some interested in providing immigration and citizenship services; and, at the end of the day, the authorization of lawyers, immigration consultants (and notaries in the province of Quebec) to provide these services promotes consumer choice and healthy competition.
Reducing options for immigration and citizenship services limits consumer choice, creates financial barriers for some, and ultimately limits access to appropriate representation. Freedom to choose where to obtain immigration and citizenship services from among competent, ethical and regulated professionals provides new Canadians with the opportunity to obtain the best possible services to meet their needs.
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