By Aloa AlotaNew Canadian MediaCanada has fundamentally changed how immigration consultants enter the profession, replacing a licensing model centred on examinations with graduate-level education, competency-based assessment and enhanced ethical training. Wong enrolled in Queen’s University’s Graduate Diploma in Immigration and Citizenship Law program in 2021 assuming immigration consulting was mostly about preparing applications. The Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants (CAPIC), which represents thousands of practising consultants, views the introduction of graduate-level education as a key step toward stronger legal analysis, ethical decision-making and client-centred practice. Under Canada’s regulatory framework, an “immigration consultant” is someone licensed by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC). Immigration consultants are no longer trained simply to process applications, but to exercise legal judgment in an increasingly complex regulatory system.