Before you pay anyone for a Canadian work visa

In Canada, an employer, and anyone who recruited you for it, must not charge you for its permission to hire you or for recruiting you. The fees you can be asked to pay are the government's own. Before paying anyone else, check they are licensed, and ask what happens to your money if you are refused.

Recruiters, agents and consultants charge for help with Canadian work permits. Some of those charges are allowed. Some are not, and some of the people charging are not allowed to charge at all. These are Canada's published rules, and the questions to ask before any money changes hands.

Who is allowed to charge you for immigration help

Under Canada's immigration law, only these people may represent or advise you for a fee:

• a lawyer or a paralegal who is a member in good standing of a Canadian provincial law society;
• a notary who is a member of the Chambre des notaires du Québec;
• a licensed immigration consultant: a member in good standing of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants.

Apart from organisations working under an agreement with the Government of Canada, such as official visa application centres, no one else is allowed to charge you for immigration advice or representation. Free help from a friend or relative is not covered by this rule.

How to check a consultant's licence

• The College keeps a Public Register of licensed consultants. Search it before you pay, by name, College ID or company: the College's Public Register.
• A lawyer or paralegal is listed by their provincial law society instead.
• Ask for the consultant's registration number. Under the consultants' code of conduct, it must be written in your service agreement.

What an employer and its recruiters must not charge you

If an employer hires you through a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA, the employer's application for permission to hire a foreign worker), the rules say the employer must not, directly or indirectly, charge you or recover from you:

• the LMIA fee, which is the employer's to pay;
• the cost of private emergency health insurance, which the employer must buy for you until the province's health plan covers you;
• any fees related to recruiting you.

The employer must also make sure that anyone who recruited you for it does not charge you those fees either.

The same applies to an employer that hires you on an employer-specific work permit without an LMIA: it must not charge you its own employer fee, or any recruitment fees.

What you can be asked to pay yourself: the government's own processing fees for your visa or permit, such as the work permit application fee. Those are the exceptions the rules name.

If someone asks you to pay for an LMIA, or to pay for a job offer, ask who that money goes to and what it is for, and compare the answer with the rules above.

Questions to ask before you pay anyone

1. Are you licensed, and what is your number? Check it yourself on the Public Register or the law society's list.
2. Can I see the written agreement before I pay? A licensed consultant must give you a draft before you sign, and must have a signed agreement before providing services.
3. If my application is refused, what happens to the money I have paid? A licensed consultant's agreement must include their refund policy. Ask which parts come back, and within how long.
4. If the rules change after I pay, what will you do? No rule requires an answer to this. In the published terms of 12 providers that handle visas for employers, none committed to anything if the rules change after payment. Ask anyway, and get the answer in writing.
5. Which fees go to the government, and which to you? A consultant's agreement must estimate both their fee and the other costs, and explain any additional costs you may have to pay.
6. Is anyone paying you for referring me, or paying you to send me somewhere? A licensed consultant must not offer or accept a reward for a referral, with narrow exceptions.
7. If you think my application has little chance, will you tell me in writing? A licensed consultant who thinks an application has little hope of success must tell you in writing, with their reasons.
8. Is my job offer tied to an LMIA, and who paid for it? If it is, the LMIA fee is the employer's.

Free check of your quote

Holding a quote from a consultant, lawyer or recruiter for a Canadian work permit? Send us the fee lines as plain text: who quoted, their licence or registration number if they gave one, each fee and what it covers, and anything the quote says about refunds or refusals. No documents, and nothing that identifies you.

We send back three things:

• whether the licence number they gave appears on the public register they belong to;
• which of the questions above the quote leaves unanswered;
• three questions, written for you to send them.

It is free, and it stays free. It compares your quote with Canada's published rules. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace a licensed representative.

Email us the fee lines

Sources

• Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, section 91: who may represent or advise for a fee. Read it
• Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, section 209.3: what an employer hiring through an LMIA, and its recruiters, must not charge. Read it
• The same regulations, section 209.2: employer-specific permits without an LMIA. Read it
• Code of Professional Conduct for College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultant Licensees, sections 13, 24 and 27. Read it
• College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants, Public Register. Search it
• All read on 15 October 2026.

This page explains Canada's published rules and does not advise on your own application; for advice on your own case, speak to a licensed immigration consultant or a lawyer.

General information, not legal advice.