Websites for Immigration Consultants and RCIC Practices
Canadian law names exactly who may be paid for immigration advice, and an offer to give that advice counts. So an immigration consultant’s website is not only marketing: it is the offer, and it carries the licence that makes the offer lawful. I have not built a site for a standalone immigration consultancy; the closest build, a legal practice that handles immigration matters, is described below.
Who may represent or advise for a fee — or offer to
Unpaid help from family or friends is outside the section. IRCC’s own form for appointing a representative, IMM 5476, asks whether the representative is paid and, if so, for the membership ID number.
Read on 21 September 2026: section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Code of Professional Conduct for College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Licensees, the College’s Act on the Justice Laws website, and IRCC’s page Find out if your representative is authorized.
Who is allowed to charge for Canadian immigration advice?
Four kinds of professional. Section 91 (2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act exempts lawyers and other members in good standing of a provincial law society, including paralegals, notaries of the Chambre des notaires du Québec, and members in good standing of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. Everyone else is caught by section 91 (1).
The part of section 91 (1) that matters to a web designer is three words long. It prohibits representing or advising a person for consideration “or offer to do so”. A page that describes a paid service and has a button to book it is an offer. That is why I treat the licence as part of the page’s content rather than as a badge in the footer: it is the thing that makes the page lawful, and a visitor is entitled to see it before they pay.
IRCC makes the same point from the applicant’s side. Its page on choosing a representative says that if you choose a paid representative who is not authorized, it may return your application or refuse it. So the careful visitor has a real reason to check, and the site that makes the check easy is serving that visitor. The College keeps a public register of its licensees; its Act requires the register to be available on the College’s website in a searchable format.
What does the CICC Code of Professional Conduct require of a consultant’s marketing?
Four sections do most of the work. Section 44 sets the registered name, the register address and three prohibitions. Section 45 sets the conditions for testimonials. Section 46 controls the College’s logo. Section 23, written about consultations rather than marketing, decides how an online booking has to work.
The licensee’s name, as registered with the College, prominently displayed or announced at or near the beginning of any advertisement, in the language used in the advertisement.
Any written advertisement for the services includes the Internet address of the College’s online public register of licensees.
The marketing is in the best interests of the public and consistent with a high standard of professionalism.
No false, misleading or inaccurate representations; no guarantee of the success of an application, expression of interest or proceeding; no implied relationship with the Government of Canada or a provincial government.
Only an endorsement actually given by a client or former client, true and accurate, and approved for public use by that client in writing.
The College’s name, logo or other identifying mark only as permitted by the College.
A written consultation agreement before the initial consultation: the licensee’s name, registration number and contact details, the client’s details, the fee or a pro bono statement, the College’s role, and the purpose and scope. A signed copy is kept, and one goes to the client.
| Component | Clause it answers | How it is built once |
|---|---|---|
| Header line | s. 44 (1) (a), (b) | Registered name and licence number in text, the register address beside it, on every page and in every language version. |
| Booking flow | s. 23 | Consultation choice, time held, agreement generated and signed, payment, signed copy to both parties. |
| Testimonial store | s. 45 | Each endorsement saved with its written approval; nothing displayed without one. |
| Visual identity | s. 44 (2) (c), s. 46 | An identity of the practice’s own, no government look, no College logo without permission. |
| Copy review | s. 44 (2) (a), (b) | A pass over every page before launch for guarantees, rates and claims that cannot be kept accurate. |
| Fee and language pages | s. 24 (3) (i), (s), (u) | The same basis the service agreement uses: fee estimate or fixed fee, the official language of the service, and when an interpreter is used. |
This is how I build to the Code, not an interpretation the College has endorsed. Nothing here is legal or compliance advice; the licensee answers to the College for what the site says, and where a clause needs interpreting, the College or the practice’s counsel decides.
How should an immigration consultant’s website handle verification?
By making the register check one click and making sure it finds the right person. The name in the header should be the name the College has on file, because that is what a visitor types into the register and what IRCC’s form IMM 5476 asks for: the full name as it appears on the regulatory body’s membership list.
In practice that is a “Verify us” page and a line in the header. The page gives the registered name, the licence number, the class of licence in the College’s own wording, and the register address with a short instruction for searching it. It also says what the practice does not do — for example, that it is independent of IRCC and cannot speed up processing — because section 44 (2) (c) rules out implying otherwise, and saying it plainly is the simplest way to comply.
The same string belongs on the Google Business Profile and in any search ad. Google’s help for responsive search ads says text that must appear in every ad, such as a legal disclaimer, can be pinned to Headline 1, Headline 2 or Description 1, which are guaranteed to display — which is how a 30-character headline can carry the registered name in every impression. The Brampton page shows that ad worked through: immigration consultant web design in Brampton.
In what order should an immigration consultant’s website be built?
Licence and name first, booking second, programs third. Every page inherits the header line, and the booking flow decides what the program pages link to, so settling both before writing a word of program copy saves rewriting it. Languages come after English is right, and only for languages the practice actually serves in.
- The name, the number and the register line
Confirm the registered name exactly as the College has it, the licence number and class. Build the header line and the Verify us page. Everything else inherits them.
- The consultation booking
The list of consultations the practice offers, their fees and scope wording, the section 23 agreement template, signature and payment. This is the most involved piece and the one I test hardest.
- A page per program
Study permits, work permits, family sponsorship, Express Entry, citizenship — whichever the practice handles. Each explains the program, what the consultant does, what the client supplies, and links to the matching consultation.
- Fees, about and testimonials
Fees on the same basis as the service agreement, credentials written out as text, and only testimonials with written approval on file.
- Languages and the local page
A version per language the practice can serve in, each carrying the registered name, then one honest local page per office.
Have you built a website for an immigration consultant?
Not for a standalone immigration consultancy. The closest is a Richmond Hill legal practice with immigration among its core areas. It shares the problem that matters here: a licensed title, a credentials page and a consultation request sit between the visitor and the first conversation, and no page may promise an outcome.
The Richmond Hill legal practice — designed and built here
Karb Law is a legal services practice in Richmond Hill, Ontario. I designed and hand-coded the site, including practice pages that explain a process and end with a consultation request, and a credentials page that writes out each licence and appointment the principal holds as text — issuing body, class, number where there is one, and year — with the certificate photograph beside it.
What does not carry over is the College’s own rule set: a law practice answers to the Law Society of Ontario, so the register-address requirement and the section 23 agreement would be new work on a consultant’s site. Read the law firm case study or the law firm industry page.
Immigration consultant web design by city
Each city page adds what is specific to the place: who the audience is, which languages they speak at home, and where the competition sits. The rules above apply to all of them.
Related regulated-practice pages: web design for notaries, travel agencies and career colleges, which share an audience of newcomers and international students with many consultancies.
What an immigration consultant website costs
A build of this scope is $899 to $2,999 one time and goes live in 5 to 7 days once content is ready. Fixed price, agreed in writing before work starts. The number of programs with their own page, the number of language versions, and whether the consultation agreement and payment are built into the booking decide where it lands.
See pricing for what each package includes, or the web design page for how a build runs. If you already have a site and want it checked against the clauses above first, send it through the contact page.
Immigration Consultant Website FAQ
Who is allowed to charge for Canadian immigration advice?+
Section 91 (2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act lists them: lawyers and other members in good standing of a provincial law society, including paralegals, notaries of the Chambre des notaires du Quebec, and members in good standing of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. IRCC notes that paralegals qualify in Ontario only.
Does the website count as offering immigration services?+
Section 91 (1) covers anyone who represents or advises a person for consideration, or offers to do so, in connection with an application or proceeding under the Act. A services page with a fee and a booking button is an offer, which is why the licence belongs on the page that makes it.
What does the CICC Code require on a consultant’s website?+
Section 44 (1) requires the name as registered with the College at or near the beginning of any advertisement, in the advertisement’s language, and the address of the College’s online public register in any written advertisement. Section 44 (2) prohibits guarantees of success and any implied relationship with government.
Can an RCIC website take online bookings?+
Yes, if the booking produces a written consultation agreement before the consultation. Section 23 lists its contents: the licensee’s name, registration number and contact details, the client’s details, the fee or a pro bono statement, the College’s role, and the purpose and scope. The licensee keeps a signed copy and gives one to the client.
Have you built a website for an immigration consultant?+
Not for a standalone immigration consultancy. The closest build is Karb Law, a Richmond Hill legal practice with immigration among its core areas, where I designed and hand-coded the site, including a credentials page that writes out each licence as text and a consultation request on every practice page.
How much does an immigration consultant website cost?+
A build of this scope is $899 to $2,999 one time and goes live in 5 to 7 days once content is ready. The number of programs with their own page, the number of language versions, and whether the consultation agreement and payment are built into the booking decide where it lands.
Want your current site checked against the Code first?
Send the address and I will send back a plain list of what it already covers and what it misses, before any quote. Packages from $899.