RCIC reporting obligations are set by section 39 of the CICC Code: you must report to the Registrar within 30 days if you become bankrupt or insolvent, have a verified health problem that limits your capacity to practise, are charged with or convicted of a federal offence, face discipline elsewhere, are sued over your professional affairs, find an error in trust funds, or face an employer complaint about your immigration work. Other sections add prompt reports of serious errors (s. 30) and of fellow licensees’ misconduct (s. 42).
- Section 39 lists seven events you must report to the Registrar within 30 days, from insolvency to an employer complaint.
- A federal charge is reportable when it is laid, not only on conviction.
- A serious error that cannot be readily fixed must be reported promptly to the client, your insurer and the Registrar (s. 30).
- Report a fellow licensee’s serious misconduct promptly, unless a legal confidentiality duty applies or it is already reported (s. 42).
- After a College complaint, do not contact the complainant without the College’s written consent (s. 41).
Most reporting duties are triggered by bad news: a lawsuit, a trust-account mistake, a charge, a health crisis. Under pressure, a 30-day deadline is easy to miss. This guide lists every report the CICC Code requires a licensee to make to the College, with the deadline for each, and a simple reporting log your office can keep.
Source, checked 6 November 2026: the CICC Code of Professional Conduct (SOR/2022-128), current to 19 October 2026, sections 30 and 39 to 42. We could not read the College’s by-laws or reporting forms for this guide, so check how the College wants each report sent. The reporting log is our practical suggestion, not a College template.
What must an RCIC report to the Registrar within 30 days?
Section 39 requires a report to the Registrar no later than 30 days after the day on which any of these circumstances arises:
| Event | What triggers it | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Bankruptcy or insolvency | You become bankrupt or insolvent | s. 39(a) |
| Capacity to practise | A physical or mental health problem or an addiction, verified by a health care professional, that limits your capacity to practise | s. 39(b) |
| Criminal or federal charges | You are charged with, or found guilty of, an offence under an Act of Parliament | s. 39(c) |
| Discipline elsewhere | Disciplinary or remedial measures imposed by a tribunal, regulatory body, employment or human rights board or similar body, about any aspect of your professional affairs | s. 39(d) |
| Civil lawsuit | You are named as a defendant in a civil action arising from or relating to your professional affairs | s. 39(e) |
| Trust account error | You discover an error in the use or attribution of funds held in trust in a client account | s. 39(f) |
| Employer complaint | A formal complaint, or a disciplinary or remedial measure, by an employer about your immigration or citizenship consulting services | s. 39(g) |
Note that a charge alone is reportable under s. 39(c); you do not wait for the outcome. For the health trigger and what to plan around it, see the RCIC practice continuity plan. For trust-account errors, see RCIC client account rules.
Which other reports does the Code require?
| Situation | What to do and when | Code |
|---|---|---|
| An error or omission that causes or may cause prejudice and cannot be readily corrected | Promptly and fully inform the client, your professional liability insurer and the Registrar, and promptly confirm to the Registrar that the insurer has been told | s. 30(1) |
| A communication from the College that asks for a response | Respond fully, promptly, or within the time the College sets | s. 40 |
| A fellow licensee’s conduct | Promptly report to the College if you suspect on reasonable grounds conduct more than trivially inconsistent with the Code, or hold information raising a material concern about their competence, integrity or capacity to practise | s. 42(1) |
Section 42(2) lists examples that must be reported, including misappropriating client funds, abandoning a practice, serious criminal activity related to practice and situations where clients are likely to be severely prejudiced. Under section 42(3) you need not report if doing so would breach a confidentiality duty imposed by federal or provincial law, or if you know the matter has already been reported.
For the full step-by-step response to a serious mistake, see RCIC errors and omissions. Your insurer has its own reporting terms in your policy. For what the 2026 regulations add about reporting claims to your insurer, see CICC regulations 2026.
If a client complains about you to the College
Section 41 limits what you may do once someone complains to the College. You must not communicate, directly or indirectly, with the complainant or their superior unless the College has consented in writing, and then only on the College’s terms. If the complainant is a current client and the agreement has not been ended, you must keep meeting your obligations to them, but communicate only as the College permits. Tell your staff the same day a complaint arrives, so no one calls the client to “sort it out.” Your own process for complaints made to you is covered in RCIC complaint handling procedure.
When does the 30-day clock start?
Section 39 counts from “the day on which they arise,” and for a trust error the circumstance is that you have discovered it. For the other events, our reading is that the clock starts on the date of the event itself, such as the date you are charged, served with a claim, or receive the medical verification, not the date you find time to deal with it. Have your reviewer confirm this, and report early when in doubt.
A reporting log for your practice
- Name a person. The licensee is responsible, but name a staff member who flags possible events, such as a statement of claim at reception, a bank notice or an employer letter.
- Log the event the day it arrives. Record the date, which section applies, and the deadline 30 days later, or “promptly” for s. 30 and s. 42.
- Set a reminder well before the deadline. For example, at day 14 and day 25.
- Send and keep proof. Keep a copy of the report and proof of when the College received it.
- Track College requests. Log every College communication that asks for a response, with its due date (s. 40).
- Review the log quarterly. Check that nothing is open and that staff still know what to flag; see RCIC supervision of staff.
Keep the log outside client files. It is about you, not a client, and it may hold health or legal information that only the licensee should see.
General information about running an immigration practice — not legal advice. Rules change; confirm current requirements with official sources and your regulator.