Bill C-35: An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

Third Session, Fortieth Parliament, 59-60 Elizabeth II, 2010-2011 STATUTES OF CANADA 2011CHAPTER 8 An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act ASSENTED TO 23rd MARCH, 2011 BILL C-35 SUMMARY This enactment amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to change the manner of regulating third parties in immigration processes. Among other things it (a) creates a new offence by extending the prohibition against representing or advising persons for consideration — or offering to do so — to all stages in connection with a proceeding or application under that Act, including before a proceeding has been commenced or an application has been made, and provides for penalties in case of contravention; (b) exempts from the prohibition (i) members of a provincial law society or notaries of the Chambre des notaires du Québec, and students-at-law acting under their supervision, (ii) any other members of a provincial law society or the Chambre des notaires du Québec, including a paralegal, (iii) members of a body designated by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and (iv) entities, and persons acting on the entities’ behalf, acting in accordance with an agreement or arrangement with Her Majesty in right of Canada; (c) extends the time for instituting certain proceedings by way of summary conviction from six months to 10 years; (d) gives the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration the power to make transitional regulations in relation to the designation or revocation by the Minister of a body; (e) provides for oversight by that Minister of a designated body through regulations requiring the body to provide information to allow the Minister to determine whether it governs its members in the public interest; and (f) facilitates information sharing with regulatory bodies regarding the professional and ethical conduct of their members. Also available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address:http://www.parl.gc.ca .vis1 {position: absolute;display:block;} .vis2 {position: static;} 59-60 ELIZABETH II —————— CHAPTER 8 An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act [Assented to 23rd March, 2011] Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows: 2001, c. 27 IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE PROTECTION ACT 1. Section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the heading before it are replaced by the following: Representation or Advice Representation or advice for consideration 91. (1) Subject to this section, no person shall knowingly, directly or indirectly, represent or advise a person for consideration — or offer to do so — in connection with a proceeding or application under this Act. Persons who may represent or advise (2) A person does not contravene subsection (1) if they are (a) a lawyer who is a member in good standing of a law society of a province or a notary who is a member in good standing of the Chambre des notaires du Québec; (b) any other member in good standing of a law society of a province or the Chambre des notaires du Québec, including a paralegal; or (c) a member in good standing of a body designated under subsection (5). Students-at-law (3) A student-at-law does not contravene subsection (1) by offering or providing representation or advice to a person if the student-at-law is acting under the supervision of a person mentioned in paragraph (2)(a) who is representing or advising the person — or offering to do so — in connection with a proceeding or application under this Act. Agreement or arrangement with Her Majesty (4) An entity, including a person acting on its behalf, that offers or provides services to assist persons in connection with an application under this Act, including for a permanent or temporary resident visa, travel documents or a work or study permit, does not contravene subsection (1) if it is acting in accordance with an agreement or arrangement between that entity and Her Majesty in right of Canada that authorizes it to provide those services. Designation by Minister (5) The Minister may, by regulation, designate a body whose members in good standing may represent or advise a person for consideration — or offer to do so — in connection with a proceeding or application under this Act. Revocation of designation (5.1) For greater certainty, subsection (5) authorizes the Minister to revoke, by regulation, a designation made under that subsection. Regulations — required information (6) The Governor in Council may make regulations requiring the designated body to provide the Minister with any information set out in the regulations, including information relating to its governance and information to assist the Minister to evaluate whether the designated body governs its members in a manner that is in the public interest so that they provide professional and ethical representation and advice. Regulations — transitional measures (7) The Minister may, by regulation, provide for measures respecting any transitional issues raised by the exercise of his or her power under subsection (5), including measures (a) making any person or member of a class of persons a member for a specified period of a body that is designated under that subsection; and (b) providing that members or classes of members of a body that has ceased to be a designated body under that subsection continue for a specified period to be authorized to represent or advise a person for consideration — or offer to do so — in connection with a proceeding or application under this Act without contravening subsection (1). An Act respecting immigration to Québec (7.1) For greater certainty, An Act respecting immigration to Québec, R.S.Q., c. I-0.2, applies to, among other persons, every person who, in Quebec, represents or advises a person for consideration — or offers to do so — in connection with a proceeding or application under this Act and (a) is authorized to do so under regulations made under paragraph (7)(b); or (b) is a member of a body designated under subsection (5). Persons made members of a body (8) For greater certainty, nothing in measures referred to in paragraph (7)(a) exempts a person made a member of a body under the measures from the body’s disciplinary rules concerning suspension or revocation of membership for providing — or offering to provide — representation or advice that is not professional or is not ethical. Penalties (9) Every person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable (a) on conviction on indictment, to a fine of not more than $100,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years, or to both; or (b) on summary conviction, to a fine of not more than $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than six months, or to both. Meaning of “proceeding” (10) For greater certainty, in this section, “proceeding” does not include a proceeding before a superior court. 2. The heading after section 129 of the Act is repealed. 3. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 133: Limitation period 133.1 (1) A proceeding by way of summary conviction in respect of an offence under section 117, 126, 127 or 131 may be instituted at any time within, but not later than, 10 years after the day on which the subject-matter of the proceeding arose. Application (2) Subsection (1) does not apply if the subject-matter of the proceeding arose before the day on which this section comes into force. 4. Subsection 150.1(1) of the Act is amended by striking out “and” at the end of paragraph (a), by adding “and’’ at the end of paragraph (b) and by adding the following after paragraph (b): (c) the disclosure of information relating to the professional or ethical conduct of a person referred to in any of paragraphs 91(2)(a) to (c) in connection with a proceeding — other than a proceeding before a superior court — or application under this Act to a body that is responsible for governing or investigating that conduct or to a person who is responsible for investigating that conduct, for the purposes of ensuring that persons referred to in those paragraphs offer and provide professional and ethical representation and advice to persons in connection with such proceedings and applications. TRANSITIONAL PROVISION Persons authorized to represent, advise or consult 5. Despite subsection 91(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, as enacted by section 1 of this Act, a person — other than a member in good standing of a bar of a province or of the Chambre des notaires du Québec — who, immediately before the coming into force of this section, was authorized under regulations made under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to, for a fee, represent, advise or consult with a person who was the subject of a proceeding or application before the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, an officer designated under subsection 6(1) of that Act or the Immigration and Refugee Board, may represent or advise a person for consideration — or offer to do so — in connection with a proceeding — other than a proceeding before a superior court — or application under that Act until regulations made under subsection 91(5) of that Act, as enacted by section 1 of this Act, come into force. COORDINATING AMENDMENTS Bill C-11 6. (1) Subsections (2) and (3) apply if Bill C-11, introduced in the 3rd session of the 40th Parliament and entitled the Balanced Refugee Reform Act (in this section referred to as the “other Act”), receives royal assent. (2) If section 1 of this Act comes into force before section 8 of the other Act, then that section 8 is repealed. (3) If section 8 of the other Act comes into force on the same day as section 1 of this Act, then that section 8 is deemed to have come into force before that section 1. COMING INTO FORCE Order in council 7. The provisions of this Act, other than section 6, come into force on a day to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council. Published under authority of the Speaker of the House of CommonsAvailable from:Publishing and Depository ServicesPublic Works and Government Services Canada