OLDCORN: End ‘Visa King’ and immigration consultants — Canadian immigration is not a Cracker Jack box prize

Somewhere in Brampton, a man who calls himself the "Canadian Visa King" sits behind a desk with immigration paperwork, flashing a wristwatch worth more than most Canadians earn in five years. The watch, a Richard Mille replica or, if a genuine watch costs about $300,000, tells you everything you need to know about what Canada's immigration system has become. A gold mine for those who know how to work the system.He goes by "Visa King office Canada Channi Bhai" online. His Instagram feed, now deleted after public backlash, showed stacks of visa applications and boasts about securing study permits, work visas, and permanent residency for clients. .Viral ‘Visa King’ clip renews concerns over Canada’s immigration system.The message was clear. Come to Canada, pay the right gatekeeper, and the red carpet rolls out.Except it doesn't. Not for the truck drivers working 70-hour weeks for wages that wouldn't cover a Brampton basement apartment. Not for the farm labourers indebted up to their eyeballs for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) job that exists mostly on paper. And certainly not for Canadian taxpayers footing the bill when the whole scheme collapses.The "Visa King" phenomenon isn't new. It's just the first time someone was arrogant enough to film it.Canada's immigration consultant industry has operated in a grey zone for decades. The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants, which supposedly regulates these operators, has about as much bite as a Chinese paper tiger (and we should double-check that paperwork too). .Meanwhile, back channels between Punjab and Canadian trucking firms, agricultural operations, and hospitality businesses have turned the LMIA process into a marketplace. Want a job offer that guarantees your permanent residency? That'll cost you, sometimes $30,000, sometimes $50,000, sometimes more.The migrants pay. They always pay. They borrow from family, mortgage land, or take loans from moneylenders at interest rates that would make a Canadian loan shark blush. They arrive to discover the "guaranteed" job pays $18 an hour, requires 12-hour shifts six days a week, and comes with a boss who knows exactly how much leverage a $40,000 debt provides.This isn't immigration. It's slavery with better marketing.Even the United Nations agrees with the slavery assessment. A UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery described Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program as a “breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery,” explicitly linking the program to slavery-like exploitation.The "Visa King" didn't invent this system. He just branded it. His real crime, in the eyes of the industry, was making the grift too visible. .When your business model depends on maintaining the fiction that Canada's doors are open to anyone willing to work hard, a consultant flaunting a six-figure watch tends to shatter the illusion.So what should Ottawa do? Start by sanctioning this particular operator and every consultant like him. Strip their licences. Freeze their assets. Investigate every LMIA-linked job they've ever touched. The RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency know where to look — Punjabi-language social media is littered with advertisements for "guaranteed" Canadian jobs, complete with price lists.But enforcement alone won't fix what's broken. Canada needs to tighten its immigration system from top to bottom.First, end the LMIA trafficking. If an employer genuinely cannot find Canadian workers, let them prove it through wages, not paperwork. Mandate that LMIA positions pay at least 25% above median wages for the occupation and area. Watch how quickly the "labour shortages" disappear..Second, crack down on the consultant industry itself. Require all immigration consultants to post bonds sufficient to cover client restitution in cases of fraud. Implement random audits of consultant files, not just complaints-driven investigations. And for heaven's sake, stop allowing consultants to represent clients at the Immigration and Refugee Board. If your case has merit, you don't need a representative.Third, recognize that permanent residency and citizenship are not participation trophies. They represent a social contract. Canada welcomes you, and you contribute to the common good. When that contract gets reduced to a transaction, such as cash for papers, everyone loses. The immigrant loses their savings and dignity. Canadian workers lose wage pressure and job opportunities. And the nation loses the trust that makes immigration work at all..The "Visa King" shut down his Instagram account after the Western Standard started asking questions. That's not accountability. That's public relations. Until Ottawa treats immigration fraud with the same seriousness it reserves for tax evasion or environmental violations, consultants like the “Visa King” will simply rebrand and reopen under a different name.Canada's immigration system built this country. It filled our Prairies, our factories, and our universities with people seeking something better. But a system without integrity isn't a system. It’s a scam. And right now, the scammers are winning.The "Visa King" should be sanctioned. His clients should be interviewed. His network should be mapped. And every Canadian who believes that citizenship means something should demand better from their government.Because if Canadian residency is just a prize from a Cracker Jack box, what exactly are we asking newcomers to value? And what, in the end, are we defending?

OLDCORN: End ‘Visa King’ and immigration consultants — Canadian immigration is not a Cracker Jack box prize

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