The Montreal Bar has launched an investigation into what it says has been an uptick in fake immigration lawyers preying on hopeful Canadian immigrants, refugees and other newcomers.
Nearly 40 percent of the illegal law practices that the bar investigated in 2022 involved immigration, compared to 13 percent in 2018, the CBC reported.
The practice can have knock-on effects for employers who find themselves in the midst of compliance complications, said Lisa Middlemiss, Montreal immigration lawyer and representative of the National Immigration Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association.