Canada Border Provider Company (CBSA) recently laid 12 criminal charges versus 2 people, alleged to have taken control of CA$ 126,000 from global trainees, wrongly promising the funds would go towards tuition fees.
The investigation began in February 2025 after a tip from Lambton College, Ontario. It emerged victims were supplied with deceitful enrolment files but were never ever registered in the college programs.
“Those seeking to make money from fraudulent monetary plans are being held to account and brought to justice,” stated Canadian minister of public safety, Gary Anandasangaree, adding CBSA was “protecting vulnerable people”.
Both people were charged with four counts of fraud, 4 counts of misrepresentation and of knowingly passing off created files.
One of the accused appeared in court on July 10, while the other is thought to have gotten away the country and is wanted on an arrest warrant.
Neither the institutions nor the government is doing enough to tackle wrong performing in the sector
Gautham Kolluri, RCIC The case highlighting continuing stability problems in the Canadian sector and beyond, in spite of efforts from the federal government to punish fraud and exploitation of the trainee route.
“Fraud was a major driver in the implementation of the 2024 reforms that restricted the number of international students in Canada,” Fragomen partner Jack Kim informed The PIE News.Following the study license caps, the government also presented provincial attestation letters. “Connected to direct evidence that specific global trainees were being admitted to Canada on fraudulent admission letters, working longer hours than authorised, or even not going to school at all,” stated Kim.
He emphasised instances of misdeed likely made up a “little percentage” of student activity in Canada. However Kim said stability problems stayed an “severe concern” for the federal government, mentioning reports of organised criminal offense components, such as the Bishnoi gang, making use of the international trainee pathway.
Other stakeholders say the issue of uncontrolled subagents hiring trainees is so extensive– in Canada and beyond– that it is hard for prospective worldwide trainees to distinguish authentic consultants from scammers.
“There are more than 30,000 uncontrolled subagents in Canada, India and other nations recruiting prospective worldwide students through edtech aggregators,” controlled Canadian immigration consultant (RCIC), Gautham Kolluri, informed The PIE.Hesaid such cases have been “occurring for decades”, not simply in Canada but across other leading locations and conventional sending countries.
“This is not simply scamming trainees but has become a really complex human trafficking chain,” included Kolluri, pointing out similar events of global trainee recruitment being exploited by criminal gangs.
Given that 2024, Canada’s international trainee population has shrunk significantly, following substantial federal government measures to curb incoming circulations of trainees, driven by public concerns about migration and reports of dishonest student recruitment practices.
Previously this year, Canada’s Auditor General released a damming verdict on the IRCC’s failure to correctly manage inbound worldwide mobility, laying out an extensive set of suggestions for policymakers.
But Kolluri stated, “neither institutions nor the federal government is doing enough to deal with wrong doing in the sector” calling for a more powerful clamp down on uncontrolled subagents.
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