A Saskatoon man is facing a two-year sentence and a $10,000 fine for his role in an immigration scheme that saw records falsified and employment records misrepresented. Balvir Singh received his sentence on July 8 after pleading guilty to one count of counselling immigration misrepresentation under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) back in April. The conditional sentence also includes 40 hours of community service. The investigation into Singh began in 2018 when officers with the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) reported “usually large numbers” of immigration applications from a Saskatoon non-profit. According to the CBSA, the investigation found Singh was counselling foreign nationals to misrepresent employment information on both federal and provincial immigration applications. These actions included falsified pay stubs, offers of employment and other supporting documents related to non-existent employment in Canada. The CBSA, along with Saskatchewan’s Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP), were able to find a number of foreign nationals connected to Singh who came to Canada with misrepresented information – many of whom took up unauthorized work not allowed with their permits in the delivery, construction and restaurant industries. According to the CBSA, Singh was also charging the foreign nationals up to $40,000 for immigration sponsorship. Search warrants were executed at Singh’s home and a Saskatoon restaurant where evidence was seized in June of 2021. On June 23, 2022, and March 14, 2023, Singh was charged. He would plead guilty to one charge on April 2, 2026. “This successful conviction is the result of an extensive investigation by Canada Border Services Agency criminal investigators in Saskatchewan,” Janalee Bell-Boychuk, the CBSA regional director general for the prairie region, said in the update. “By dismantling fraudulent immigration schemes, the CBSA is protecting the integrity of Canada’s borders and safeguarding potential immigrants from exploitation. We will continue to investigate, gather evidence and pursue prosecution against those who try to defraud Canada’s immigration system.”
