Immigration consulting practices in Ontario are licensed to the person, not the business — the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants credentials the RCIC, not the firm — so a sale runs less like a typical asset purchase and more like a supervised handover of open client files, referral relationships, and trust obligations.
Part of Professional Services — see the family overview.
Every figure below is a typical Canadian deal-market pattern, not a valuation — use it to sanity-check what you're being told.
| Metric | Typical benchmark | Use this to |
|---|---|---|
| What actually transfers | The goodwill in an immigration consulting practice lives in the RCIC's personal licence and client relationships, not in a transferable business asset — a buyer is really acquiring a book of active files and referral sources.† | Frame diligence around the client book and referral pipeline, not equipment or premises. |
| Recurring versus one-off files | Practices with steady referral sources — immigration lawyers, settlement agencies, employer relationships — and a mix of ongoing representation files price more durably than a book built mostly on one-time application work.† | Weigh how much of the revenue is repeatable before you value the file count alone. |
| Open-file complexity | A book weighted toward complex, multi-year files — appeals, sponsorships in dispute, employer-driven programs — takes longer to hand off cleanly than one weighted toward routine applications.† | Budget more transition time and overlap where the file mix skews complex. |
| Consent and retention determine what actually moves | Not every client will consent to their file moving to a new RCIC — retention rate through the transition is itself a value driver, not a formality.† | Treat the projected client-retention rate as part of the price discussion, not an afterthought. |
Because the CICC licenses the individual RCIC and not the practice, there's no licence itself to transfer — what moves is client consent, open files, and the referral relationships that generate new ones.
Client consent to transfer a file is required on a file-by-file basis, and immigration files carry PIPEDA obligations on top of ordinary confidentiality — records don't move by default just because the practice changed hands.
Trust or retainer funds held for clients are subject to their own accounting and handling rules, and get reconciled and transferred as a distinct step in closing, separate from the practice's operating assets.
The same sequence underlies almost every immigration consulting practice deal — what changes from deal to deal is how long each step takes, and which one becomes the bottleneck.
Reaching an agreement
The offer sets price and key terms — for a immigration consulting practice it should build in the conditions that actually matter from day one, not just financing.
usually 1–2 weeks†The APS fixes price, structure — asset or share — and closing date, plus the reps, warranties, and holdbacks that protect you if diligence turns up something different than promised.
1–3 weeks to negotiate†Client file transfer & consent, RCIC continuity/succession, Referral relationships, Client records (PIPEDA), Trust/retainer accounts all start moving at once, on separate clocks — this is usually where immigration consulting practice deals are won or lost.
often the critical path†Getting to closing
Corporate, PPSA lien, and litigation searches confirm what you're actually buying; we chase down licence standing and records the seller doesn't always have to hand.
2–4 weeks, in parallel†Funds, keys, and signed documents change hands, alongside any inventory count and interim authorizations that bridge the gap until final transfers are confirmed.
1 day, once conditions are met†We track final licence confirmation and the staff transition through to completion — nothing is left for you to chase once the deal is done.
1–2 week tail†This is the first real decision in almost every immigration consulting practice deal — and it changes what you're buying, what you're taking on, and how it's taxed.
| Question | Asset purchase | Share purchase |
|---|---|---|
| What you buy | The client files (with consent), the referral relationships, the practice name and goodwill, and typically the office equipment and lease. | The shares of the corporation — but only where the buyer is themselves a licensed RCIC, since share ownership tracks the licence. |
| RCIC licensing | The buyer's own RCIC licence carries the work forward; the seller's licence and the corporation itself stay behind. | The buyer must already hold, or obtain, RCIC status before the share transfer can close — the corporation doesn't carry the licence on its own. |
| Client files | Transferred file by file, on client consent — files without consent stay with the seller or are closed out. | Files generally stay attached to the corporation, but individual client consent to a new RCIC handling the file is still typically expected. |
| Trust/retainer accounts | Reconciled and either disbursed or transferred to the buyer's trust account as a distinct closing step. | Stay with the corporation's existing trust account, subject to the same reconciliation and client-notice steps. |
| Tax angle | Buyer gets a stepped-up cost base on the assets acquired. | Seller may access the lifetime capital gains exemption on qualifying shares. |
| Typical use in this sector | The default structure — reflects that the licence, not the corporation, is what makes the practice operate. | Occasionally used where the buyer is already a licensed RCIC acquiring an existing corporate structure intact. |
The client files (with consent), the referral relationships, the practice name and goodwill, and typically the office equipment and lease.
The shares of the corporation — but only where the buyer is themselves a licensed RCIC, since share ownership tracks the licence.
The buyer's own RCIC licence carries the work forward; the seller's licence and the corporation itself stay behind.
The buyer must already hold, or obtain, RCIC status before the share transfer can close — the corporation doesn't carry the licence on its own.
Transferred file by file, on client consent — files without consent stay with the seller or are closed out.
Files generally stay attached to the corporation, but individual client consent to a new RCIC handling the file is still typically expected.
Reconciled and either disbursed or transferred to the buyer's trust account as a distinct closing step.
Stay with the corporation's existing trust account, subject to the same reconciliation and client-notice steps.
Buyer gets a stepped-up cost base on the assets acquired.
Seller may access the lifetime capital gains exemption on qualifying shares.
The default structure — reflects that the licence, not the corporation, is what makes the practice operate.
Occasionally used where the buyer is already a licensed RCIC acquiring an existing corporate structure intact.
We tell you which structure fits — before you sign anything.
Different lists depending on which side of the deal you're on — both matter for how smoothly closing goes.
No open-ended hourly surprises — the cost is confirmed in writing before any work begins.
| Type of work | Fee | How it's confirmed |
|---|---|---|
| Straightforward purchase or sale | Starting from $3,388.87 Our charges · taxes included | Confirmed in writing once we see the agreement. |
| Larger or more complex deal | Quoted to scope | Short call → fixed written quote before any work begins. |
| Searches, filings & third-party fees | At cost | Itemized on your invoice, not marked up. |
A solo RCIC selling their book of files to another licensed consultant, with a modest referral network and a straightforward handover.
Start my file →A multi-consultant practice, a buyer whose own licensing status needs confirming first, or a sale where a significant share of clients need individual consent before their files can move.
Book a consultation →Not sure which you are? That's our job to figure out, not yours. As a rough guide, most deals under a couple of million dollars are the first kind — above that, you're usually in Mergers & Acquisitions territory.
†Typical patterns across Canadian deals — not a quote or advice; every deal is confirmed on its own facts.
You're buying the client relationships, the open files clients consent to move, the referral pipeline, and the goodwill built around the practice's name — not a licence itself, since it can't be transferred. Structuring around that reality, rather than treating it like a typical asset sale, is what makes these deals work.
Those files generally stay with the outgoing RCIC to close out, or get referred elsewhere with the client's direction. Anticipated non-consent is usually factored into the price and the transition plan up front, rather than discovered as a surprise partway through.
In practice, yes — since the work itself can only be performed by a licensed RCIC, a buyer who isn't yet licensed typically needs their status confirmed before taking on client files. Timing your closing around your own licensing status is worth planning early.
Trust funds tied to open files get reconciled against those files and either disbursed to clients or transferred to the buyer's own trust account, depending on how the file itself transfers. This is treated as its own accounting step, kept separate from the practice's other assets.
That's negotiated, not assumed — a period of seller availability for handover support, introductions to referral sources, and continuity on complex files is common, and the terms of that support are worth setting out clearly before you sign.
| Resource | Official link |
|---|---|
| College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) RCIC licensing and standing | Visit college-ic.ca |
| Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada — PIPEDA Client file and personal-information handling | Visit www.priv.gc.ca |
| Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada General program and representative-authorization context | Visit www.canada.ca |
Where we close immigration consulting practice deals
Tell us about your immigration consulting practice deal — we'll point you the right way and confirm the cost in writing before any work begins.