![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760447833_413_default.jpg\")
TingTing Biao’s six-year-old daughter Jojo at an airport in Canada. The family arrived on tourist visas but wanted to find a way to stay permanently. (TingTing Biao)<\/p>\nTingTing Biao remembers the moment she realized she lost everything, including tens of thousands of dollars in savings, on an immigration scheme that left her broke and traumatized.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A donated loaf of bread was all she could offer her child.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daughter eats one meal in the whole day,\u201d Biao said, her voice trembling during an interview in Saskatoon this August.<\/p>\n
Instead of a new life in Canada, Biao is now back in China warning others about what happened \u2014 a dream that turned into a nightmare.<\/p>\n
In January, Biao and her husband arrived in Canada on tourist visas with their six-year-old daughter, intending to explore their options for moving here permanently.<\/p>\n
TingTing Biao’s six-year-old daughter Jojo at an airport in Canada. The family arrived on tourist visas but wanted to find a way to stay permanently. (TingTing Biao)<\/p>\n
She signed a contract with Jun Su and June HR Solutions in Saskatoon. Biao said she was referred to the immigration company by a friend and believed that an agent who is also of Chinese descent would be trustworthy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Su, who presented herself as an immigration consultant, offered what looked like a clear path to permanent residency \u2014 for a steep price tag of up to $110,000. Biao ended up paying $40,000 before walking away.<\/p>\n
An expert told CBC that immigrating to Canada shouldn\u2019t cost nearly that much; it typically costs between $5,000 to $10,000 to hire an immigration consultant for a process similar to Biao\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Su is not a licensed immigration consultant.<\/p>\n
The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) regulates the industry by licensing agents, setting guidelines and investigating complaints. It said anyone who illegally provides Canadian immigration advice for a fee or other consideration without being licensed is an unauthorized practitioner.<\/p>\n
Su said in a statement that her husband is a licensed agent and she gives immigration advice based on his guidance and her years of experience.<\/p>\n
A contract for failure<\/p>\n
CBC reviewed Biao\u2019s contract with June HR Solutions. It laid out payments totalling $110,000 tied to several immigration steps, ultimately leading to permanent residency.<\/p>\n
CICC said in a statement that consultants must set \u201cfair and reasonable fees,\u201d but it doesn\u2019t specify how much is reasonable, nor can it track how much agents are charging.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760447833_874_default.jpg\")
CBC reviewed Biao\u2019s contract with June HR Solutions. It laid out payments totalling $110,000 tied to several immigration steps, ultimately leading to permanent residency. (CBC Graphics)<\/p>\n
Biao paid the first $20,000 when she signed the contract and the next $20,000 after a successful labour market impact assessment (LMIA) \u2014 a document Canadian employers sometimes need to hire foreign workers.<\/p>\n
Biao received a positive assessment for a kitchen helper position, but an expert told CBC that job doesn\u2019t qualify for Saskatchewan\u2019s permanent residency pathway.<\/p>\n
Richard Kurland, an immigration lawyer with 40 years of experience said, \u201cthe plan was a plan for failure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if you get an LMIA as a kitchen helper, it gets you nothing,\u201d Kurland said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
An expensive detour and misleading advice<\/p>\n
Biao\u2019s next step was getting a work permit, which would be followed by another payment of $20,000 to Su, but Biao\u2019s work permit application was rejected.<\/p>\n
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said in a rejection letter that it was not convinced Biao would leave Canada at the end of her temporary work permit, citing family ties in Canada, inconsistent details in her application and an unclear purpose of visit.<\/p>\n
Su then suggested an even more expensive detour \u2014 invest $80,000 in a business in Yellowknife to apply for an investment visa. But that program requires more than $200,000, English fluency, business experience and a high net worth. Biao had none of those.<\/p>\n
This is when Biao realized she was out of options and decided to walk away from the contract.\u00a0With all her savings gone and no prospects of a life in Canada, she was forced to return to China.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ghost consultant<\/p>\n
Most of Biao\u2019s communication was with Su, who is not a regulated immigration consultant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
CBC reviewed WeChat conversations showing Su giving instructions and immigration guidance to Biao over several months.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760447834_503_default.jpg\")
Jun Su gave Biao immigration advice over several months. Including the messages in this conversation suggesting that Biao stay in Canada to wait for a work visa application that was eventually rejected. (TingTing Biao)<\/p>\n
June HR Solutions Inc. does have one licensed consultant listed \u2014 Su\u2019s husband, Zheng Tao Liu.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Su referred to Liu as \u201clawyer Liu\u201d in WeChat conversations \u2014 but the Law Society of Saskatchewan confirmed that Liu is not authorized to practice law in the province.<\/p>\n
Immigration company\u2019s response<\/p>\n
Su declined CBC\u2019s request for an on-camera interview, but emailed her response to Biao\u2019s allegations. She said she serves as an assistant to her husband, who is a licensed consultant, and that she gives advice based on his guidance and her years of experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this role, I assist in serving clients, which I believe is both my right and my responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also said that Liu, her husband, is a lawyer in China and that she never claimed her husband was a lawyer in Canada.<\/p>\n
When it comes to fees, she said Canada\u2019s free market allows her to set her own fees.<\/p>\n
\u201cMs. Biao agreed to the pricing at the time of signing, so I do not believe the pricing should be a point of contention now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Su alleged Biao and her husband have damaged her professional and personal reputation.<\/p>\n
‘Wild West’<\/p>\n
Kurland reviewed Biao\u2019s documents and said her experience reveals a bigger problem of a major lack of oversight in the regulation of immigration agents.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s an open Wild West when it comes to consultants. People can charge whatever they want,\u201d Kurland said. \u201cYou have to protect these people. They are vulnerable. They clearly do not know how our system works and what things really cost.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kurland said Biao\u2019s case is an example that shows CICC lacks the resources and authority to properly protect the public.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat concerns me the most is the amount of money in play for a simple permanent resident application, as well as the information and advice given to these people,\u201d Kurland said.<\/p>\n
Solutions waiting on the shelf<\/p>\n
Kurland said it\u2019s clear that there are solutions to preventing issues like Biao\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s a known problem and it’s going to be up to the feds to fix it if they want to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His recommendations are:<\/p>\n