Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Exploitation, Abuse and False Promises

Summary: The article is about the exploitation of foreign workers by certain consultants and practitioners and the lack of regulation and oversight in the industry. The author has personal experience with this issue and testified before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Immigration. The author suggests that the government needs to improve regulation and oversight, but bringing consultants under the supervision of lawyers or eliminating the industry altogether may not solve the problem. The real issue is the lack of enforcement by agencies like CBSA, who are not doing enough to bring these scofflaws to justice. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." -Edmund Burke A recent Globe and Mail article about the exploitation of foreign workers and the "industry" that has sprung up to take advantage of these vulnerable individuals is not terribly shocking; and, now, after so many years bearing witness to it all, it fills me with weary resignation rather than anger. I discussed some of these transgressions during my testimony before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Immigration (CIMM) two years ago. Unlike the CBA, I did not argue for the elimination of immigration consultants altogether and restrict the practice... Read more →

Ghost consultant sentenced

Baldev Pandher received an eighteen month sentence for submitting false/fraudulent documents to Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Additional details at CSIC website here. Pandher submitted fraudulent documents in support of his clients' application for sponsorship. These documents included Notices of Assessment and tax returns, presumably to meet LICO. Through his business, Canada Immigration Consultants located in Mississauga, Pandher did 'immigration consulting' and appears to have charged exorbitant amounts of funds - in excess of $9,000 for one family class sponsorship application, and $8,000 for the other. It appears that the Crown would have been seeking incarceration but for Pandher's serious heart condition. In a blunt decision, the sentencing judge found that people like Baldev Pandher gave immigration consultants "such a bad name" and are the reason why immigration consultants "are held in low regard and with such great suspicion". The Judge also stated that Pandher should be incarcerated, but given the medical condition and the joint submission, he allowed a sentence to be served in the community. Read more →