THE Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC) on Wednesdya announced that Queen’s University is the accredited English provider and the Université de Sherbrooke is the accredited French provider of the new Immigration and Citizenship Graduate Diploma Program (ICGDP).
The ICGDP will be developed cooperatively between the two providers and will be offered online as well as in a blended format (online / onsite) through each provider’s Faculty of Law.
In October 2018, ICCRC issued a Request for Proposals to retain educational providers to design, develop and implement a graduate diploma program, which will address the competencies outlined in the augmented National Education Standards (NES) and effectively prepare students to sit the Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant Entry-to-Practice Exam (RCIC EPE). The ICCRC-accredited ICGDP will replace the current Immigration Practitioner Program (IPP) and require prospective RCICs to have a higher level of knowledge and education credentials, further to recommendations made in the Report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (June 2017).
The anticipated launch date for the English ICGDP is January 2021, which will coincide with the first of three annual intake cycles for Queen’s University’s accredited “Graduate Diploma in Immigration and Citizenship Law” program. The anticipated launch date for the French ICGDP is September 2021, which will coincide with the single annual intake cycle for Université de Sherbrooke’s accredited “Microprogramme de deuxième cycle en droit de l’immigration et de la citoyenneté” program.
The transition to the ICGDP will result in the gradual phasing out of the current IPP. The cut-off date for new registrants into the IPP is July 31, 2020. As of August 1, 2020, only those educational institutions accredited by ICCRC to deliver the ICGDP will be permitted to accept new registrants into their program. Currently accredited educational institutions may continue to offer the IPP to students who are registered in the program prior to August 1, 2020. It is expected that the IPP will be entirely phased out by December 31, 2022. Students will be permitted to sit the RCIC EPE up to three years after graduating from the IPP; however, upon graduation of the first cohort of students from the ICGDP, the RCIC EPE will be updated to reflect the augmented NES.
The ICCRC said the transition to the ICGDP will continue the work of building a credible and reputable immigration and citizenship consulting profession and it looks forward to working closely with Queen’s University and Université de Sherbrooke in accomplishing this goal.
