Federal regulationCanada Gazette, Part IComment Period Closed
Regulations Amending the Citizenship Regulations (Administrative Penalties and Consequences)
Sponsoring body: Citizenship and Immigration, Dept. ofIntroduced December 21, 2024Last checked August 25, 2026
Read the official text on gazette.gc.caOfficial version — Canada Gazette, Part I
What this regulation does
This regulation establishes a system of administrative monetary penalties for unauthorized or fraudulent immigration and citizenship consultants who provide representation or advice in connection with citizenship proceedings or applications. It sets out the rules for inspections, notices, penalties, and public disclosure of violations.
Plain-language summary by Legisail.
Business impact
Compliance
This regulation directly affects anyone who provides paid citizenship representation or advice — think immigration consultants, ghost consultants, and anyone offering citizenship application help for a fee. If you're not an authorized representative (licensed consultant, lawyer, or notary), you could face a $5,000 base penalty just for offering to help someone with a citizenship application for pay. If you commit fraud or misrepresentation on behalf of a client, penalties jump to $15,000 per violation and can stack up to a maximum of $1.5 million. Repeat offenders face a penalty multiplier of up to 1.5x, and your name, business address, and violation details will be published publicly on the IRCC website. Authorized consultants and lawyers who do misrepresent or mislead clients also face these same penalties.
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Where this regulation is
Proposed
Comment period closed
Final publicationPending
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