On June 30, 2011, An Act to Amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), came into force, along with related amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR). The new IRPA provisions will help regulate the intervention of paid third party representatives in the labour market opinion (LMO) and arranged employment opinion (AEO) application process. These amendments require the paid third party representatives to be authorized before providing services in order to better protect employers and temporary foreign workers from acts of fraud.

Authorized Paid Immigration Representatives

Only the following immigration representatives may charge a fee, or receive any other type of consideration, for representing or providing advice in connection with any Canadian immigration process or application:

• lawyers and paralegals in good standing with a provincial or territorial law society;
• notaries in good standing with the Chambre des notaires du Québec; and
• immigration consultants in good standing with the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council.

All immigration representatives paid by an employer must now be authorized before getting involved in any of the following activities:

• Representing an employer in an LMO or AEO application.
• Communicating with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) or Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC)/Service Canada on behalf of the client.
• Explaining and providing advice.
• Providing guidance on how to select the best immigration stream and completing the appropriate forms.
• Representing the client in an immigration application or process.
• Advertising that they can provide immigration advice.

Employers must complete the “Annex to the Appointment of Representative” form and send it with the application to HRSDC/Service Canada.

This information will attest that the third party representative paid to assist the employer in the LMO or AEO application process is an authorized immigration representative.

For more information on authorized immigration consultants, please visit CIC’s Web site.

Temporary Foreign Worker Web Service
Registration Guides and Forms

The Temporary Foreign Worker Web Service will allow users to access the online labour market opinion (LMO) application process for higher and lower skilled occupations, excluding the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, the Agricultural Stream and the Live-in Caregiver Program.

To begin, employers and authorized third parties must read their appropriate Registration Guide, then complete the registration form and send it by mail or fax to the appropriate Service Canada Centre. The registration guides will explain the Administrator and Primary Representative roles and responsibilities within the Web Service, and provide the best scenario to organize a business with multiple office locations.

• Employer Registration Guide (PDF, 258 KB, 18 pages)
• Employer Registration Form (EMP 5536)

• Third Party Registration Guide (PDF, 323 KB, 19 pages)
• Third Party Registration Form (EMP 5537)

Once employers and authorized third parties are determined to be eligible, Service Canada creates an online account for each system user. To assist these individuals to navigate through the system and complete online LMO applications, they may want to consult the Guided Tour, which will be available shortly.

Access the TFW Web Service

Employers and third parties can access the TFW Web Service, by entering the username, temporary password and activation code they receive from Service Canada.