New Requirements for Counsel who Charge a Fee for
their Services
On December 13, 2003, proposed Regulations Amending the Immigration and
Refugee Protection Regulations were prepublished in the Canada Gazette, Part
I. These regulations govern lawyers and immigration consultants who appear
before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB).
These regulations will require that any person who, for a fee, represents,
advises or consults with a person who is the subject of a proceeding before
the IRB must be an "authorized representative". An exception
is made for certain transitional cases.
An "authorized representative" is defined as a member in
good standing of either a bar of a province, the Chambre des notaires
du Québec or the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants.
Once the regulations come into force, upon accepting any retainer, counsel
will be expected to provide the following information to the IRB,
without delay and in writing:
- the name of the organization of which they are a member in good
standing, and
- their membership identification number.
The IRB plans to develop an automated system that will keep track of such
information, once counsel initially provides it. Until an automated system
is in place, counsel will be required to provide this information to the
IRB in each separate case file for which counsel is representing the subject
of a proceeding.
This information can be provided by one of various methods, such as on
an IRB form that has been amended for that purpose (for example, the Counsel
Contact Information Sheet), or by including the organization name and membership
identification number on counsel's letterhead or signature block in
correspondence with the Board.
If this information is not provided, the IRB will not consider the counsel
to be an authorized representative, will not deal with the counsel on that
case file, and will treat the subject of the proceeding as unrepresented.
Dated at Ottawa, the 24th day of March, 2004.
Original signed by:
Jean-Guy Fleury
Chairperson
Immigration and Refugee Board
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