If you lie to your immigration lawyer, or ask them to leave something out of your application, the lawyer cannot go along with it. An Ontario lawyer is prohibited from assisting in dishonesty, and if your instructions require them to break the professional rules, they must withdraw from your file. What you told them stays confidential, so in the ordinary case they are not reporting you to IRCC. But you may lose your representative at a bad moment, and the false or missing information is still your problem. Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), it can lead to a five-year bar.
This article explains the rules from the client’s side. It draws on an April 2026 LPEN professional development course for immigration representatives on client dishonesty and withdrawal, checked against the current text of IRPA and the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) Rules of Professional Conduct.
Key Takeaways
- Your lawyer must be honest and candid with you and must not knowingly assist in, encourage or facilitate any dishonesty or fraud (LSO Rules 3.2-2 and 3.2-7).
- If you insist on submitting false information or hiding a material fact, your lawyer must withdraw (Rule 3.7-7(b)). If you deceived them, they may withdraw for a serious loss of confidence (Rule 3.7-2).
- Your lawyer must keep what you told them confidential, during the retainer and after it ends, subject to narrow exceptions (Rule 3.3-1).
- Using a lawyer does not protect you. IRPA section 40 covers indirect misrepresentation and omissions, and the applicant is responsible for what is filed.
- The earlier you tell your lawyer the truth, the more options you have. Before submission, an error can simply be fixed.
Why this matters more than an awkward conversation
Under IRPA section 40(1)(a), a permanent resident or foreign national is inadmissible for “directly or indirectly misrepresenting or withholding material facts relating to a relevant matter that induces or could induce an error in the administration of this Act.” Section 40(2)(a) keeps that inadmissibility in place for five years, and section 40(3) says a foreign national who is inadmissible under section 40 may not apply for permanent residence during that period.
Separately, IRPA section 127 makes it an offence to knowingly misrepresent or withhold material facts. Under section 128, the maximum penalty on indictment is a fine of up to $100,000, imprisonment for up to five years, or both.
Three points from the course are worth repeating, because clients often get them wrong:
- Leaving something out counts. Withholding a material fact is misrepresentation, not only stating something false. The course examples included not declaring a previous marriage, a prior immigration application, military service, or a dependent child.
- You do not need to intend to deceive. The instructors summarized the case law as holding that even an innocent error can be misrepresentation if it could induce an error in the decision. A fact can be material even if the officer later discovers the truth.
- Your representative’s involvement does not shield you. The applicant is generally responsible for the contents of the application, even when a lawyer, consultant, employer or family member prepared it.
Our guide to misrepresentation under IRPA section 40 covers the materiality test and the remedies after a finding.
What your lawyer can and cannot do
Rule 3.2-2 requires a lawyer to be honest and candid when advising you. The commentary describes a duty to tell you information that may affect your interests.
Rule 3.2-7 says a lawyer shall not knowingly assist in or encourage any dishonesty, fraud, crime or illegal conduct, shall not do or omit to do anything they ought to know facilitates it, and shall not advise anyone how to violate the law and avoid punishment. The commentary adds that the rule applies to wilful blindness and recklessness, not only actual knowledge. A lawyer who suspects that a document is fake cannot simply look away.
So your lawyer cannot:
- answer “no” to a question about previous refusals when you have told them about one;
- leave a former spouse or a child off a family information form;
- file an employment letter they have reason to believe is not genuine; or
- coach you to give an interview answer that differs from the truth.
Expect a careful lawyer to ask you directly about criminal history, refusals in any country, overstays, previous relationships and all of your children, and to have you approve every admissibility answer yourself.
When your lawyer can stop acting for you
A lawyer cannot drop a client casually. Rule 3.7-1 says a lawyer shall not withdraw except for good cause and on reasonable notice. Within that limit, the rules set out two routes that matter here.
Optional withdrawal: you deceived them
Rule 3.7-2 allows a lawyer to withdraw where there has been a serious loss of confidence between lawyer and client. The commentary gives examples, starting with a lawyer being “deceived by their client,” and including a client who refuses to act on advice on a significant point.
Mandatory withdrawal: you want them to break the rules
Rule 3.7-7(b) says a lawyer shall withdraw if the client’s instructions require the lawyer to act contrary to the rules. If you tell your lawyer to submit something false, or to keep a material fact out of the application after they have advised you it must be disclosed, they have no choice.
Licensed immigration consultants are under a similar code. The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants’ Code of Professional Conduct prohibits knowingly assisting dishonesty (section 12), allows termination where the client deceived the licensee (section 34), and requires termination where the client insists on dishonest conduct after being advised against it (section 35).
Will my lawyer report me to IRCC?
In the ordinary case, no. Rule 3.3-1 requires a lawyer to hold all information about your affairs in strict confidence and not divulge it unless you authorize it, the law or a tribunal order requires it, it must go to the Law Society, or another narrow exception in the rules applies. The commentary says the duty survives the relationship and continues indefinitely after the lawyer stops acting, even if there were differences between you.
The course made the same point: no duty to report a client to IRCC unless required by law or court. But confidentiality is not the same as cooperation. Your lawyer will not file information they know is false, and will not keep working on a file built on it. If false information has already gone in, the instructors’ view was that the representative’s role is to help correct it, through an update to IRCC, the procedural fairness process, or withdrawing the application. It is not to carry on as if nothing happened.
Is a lawyer’s withdrawal itself a red flag to IRCC? One instructor’s view during the course was that it is not, as such. Either way, it does not make a misrepresentation go away.
What happens to your file if your lawyer withdraws
The rules protect you even in a withdrawal. Rule 3.7-8 requires the lawyer to minimize expense, avoid prejudice to you, and facilitate an orderly transfer to your next lawyer. Rule 3.7-9 requires them to notify you in writing, deliver the papers and property you are entitled to (subject to any lien), give you the information needed for the matter, and account for your funds.
On the IRCC side, the Use of a Representative form (IMM 5476) and its instructions cover a representative withdrawing, an applicant cancelling a representative, and appointing a new one. Until a new representative is in place, IRCC deadlines keep running. A procedural fairness letter does not pause because your lawyer has stepped away.
Fees depend on your retainer. Many retainers, including the sample clause discussed in the course, state that the client remains responsible for fees for work already done if the representative ends the engagement because of inaccurate or false information. Read yours.
If you already gave wrong or incomplete information
Tell your lawyer now. The course framework for a representative who discovers a problem is to ask three questions: is the fact material, was it intentional or inadvertent, and is there evidence to correct the record?
- Before submission, the instructors described a duty to correct the record, which in practice means fixing the forms before anything is filed.
- After submission, the options may include sending an update to IRCC, addressing it in a response to a procedural fairness letter, or withdrawing the application. Our article on responding to a procedural fairness letter explains what an officer expects in that response.
If the wrong information came from someone else, such as an unlicensed agent who changed your work history without telling you, that is still indirect misrepresentation, but the facts of how it happened can matter in your explanation. Our guide on checking that your representative is authorized under IRPA section 91 explains how to avoid that situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my immigration lawyer refuse to submit my application if I leave something out?
Yes. A lawyer must not knowingly assist in dishonesty. If you instruct them to omit a material fact after they have advised you it must be disclosed, the rules require them to withdraw.
Will my lawyer tell IRCC what I told them?
Generally no. Ontario lawyers must keep client information confidential, during and after the retainer, unless you authorize disclosure or a narrow exception applies, such as a legal requirement or a tribunal order. They still cannot file information they know is false.
I made an honest mistake on a past application. Is that misrepresentation?
It can be. IRPA section 40 does not require an intent to deceive. Whether an error is material, and how best to correct it, depends on the facts. Raise it with your lawyer before your next filing.
If my lawyer withdraws, do I get my file back?
Yes. On withdrawal, an Ontario lawyer must give you written notice, deliver the papers and property you are entitled to (subject to any lien), and account for your funds, and must try to avoid prejudice to you.
If you are worried that something in your application is incomplete or wrong, contact us before you file anything else.
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Disclaimer: This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Immigration law and IRCC/ESDC policy change frequently, and every case turns on its own facts. Reading this article does not create a lawyer–client relationship. Obtain advice tailored to your situation before you act.
Talk to a Canadian immigration lawyer. BridgePoint Law advises individuals and businesses across Canada — and on Canada–US–China cross-border matters — on misrepresentation concerns, procedural fairness letters and IRCC applications. Book a consultation with our team in Toronto and Kingston. We work in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.