There are many reason why you should hire an authorized representative for your Canadian immigration matters, including:
They carry at least $1,000,000 professional insurance liability. This means, in the event where your visa application was refused because of the representative's malpractice, carelessness or anything in between, and you suffer loss or damage, you could be compensated.
They have rules and By-laws to abide to. This includes, they cannot withhold your property or documentation for whatever reason. If they do so, you can complain to the respective regulatory body (for instance, the Law Society of their province or the CICC), who would then, in most case, orders the representative to release the documents to you or else they risk having their license suspended or revoked.
They are specialists or experts in immigration law. Authorized representatives completed required training and studies, and are required to pass licensing exams before they can be licensed and granted the authority to provide services. In addition, representatives are required to complete at least 16 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) studies every year to keep their license. This is extremely important because the immigration law is constantly changing and, by completing CPD, this ensures the licensees are up to date with the law.
An authorized representative possesses the skills of legal interpretation. Most immigration policies and laws are written in a way that requires competent legal interpretation and analysis skills. If you cannot comprehend the law, what makes you think a ghost consultant is translating the law accurately?
So, how can you verify if your representative is indeed authorized? You can check with the Law Society of where the representative is licensed, or the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultant (CICC), to see if the representative is a licensee in good standing.
College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultant (CICC): https://college-ic.ca/
Law Society of Alberta: https://www.lawsociety.ab.ca/
Law Society of British Columbia: https://www.lawsociety.bc.ca/
Law Society of Saskatchewan: https://www.lawsociety.sk.ca/
Law Society of Manitoba: https://lawsociety.mb.ca/
Law Society of Ontario: https://lso.ca/
Law Society of New Brunswick: http://lawsociety-barreau.nb.ca/
Law Society of Prince Edward Island: http://lawsocietypei.ca/
Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador: http://www.lawsociety.nf.ca/
Nova Scotia Barrister's Society: http://www.nsbs.org/
Barraue de Quebec: https://www.barreau.qc.ca/en/
Chambre des notaires du Quebec: http://www.cnq.org/
Law Society of Yukon: http://www.lawsocietyyukon.com/
Law Society of North West Territories: http://www.lawsociety.nt.ca/
Law Society of Nunavet: http://lawsociety.nu.ca/