Recruiter Guidelines

These Recruiter Guidelines (the "Guidelines") govern the conduct of every education recruiter, agent, sub-agent, representative, and any person acting on behalf of a partner recruiter (collectively, "Recruiter", "you", or "your") who uses the Study Alliance portal ("Portal") to submit, refer, or manage student applications for any partner college, university, or training provider.

By accessing the Portal or submitting any student profile, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to abide by these Guidelines in their entirety, in addition to the Study Alliance Recruitment Agreement signed by your organization. These Guidelines are supplemental to — not a replacement for — the Recruitment Agreement.

Study Alliance operates in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. These Guidelines are aligned with the requirements of StudentAid BC, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC / ICCRC), and the applicable provisions of British Columbia's consumer-protection, privacy, and immigration-consulting laws. Where a stricter local law applies to you, that stricter law prevails.

StudentAid BC (the Province of British Columbia's student-loan and grant program) requires that every application be initiated, completed, signed, and submitted by the STUDENT themselves. This is non-negotiable.

1. Recruiters, agents, agencies, sub-agents, colleges, employees, family members, or any third party MUST NOT complete any part of the StudentAid BC application on behalf of a student.
2. You must not log in to a student's StudentAid BC / BCSC / MyGov account, view their credentials, "assist" by typing on their behalf, or share screens while they enter data.
3. You must not receive, hold, custody, or forward StudentAid BC login credentials, one-time codes, security answers, or any authentication factor belonging to a student.
4. You must not accept, retain, or transfer any StudentAid BC disbursement or portion of a disbursement. Funds are paid directly to the eligible student and, where applicable, the institution.
5. You may only provide GENERAL, publicly available information about the existence of StudentAid BC and direct students to the official StudentAid BC website (studentaidbc.ca). Any specific guidance on eligibility, amounts, or completing the form must come from StudentAid BC or a licensed source (e.g., a Financial Aid Officer at the receiving institution).
6. Any breach of this section will result in immediate termination of your Recruitment Agreement, forfeiture of pending commissions, and — where appropriate — referral to StudentAid BC, IRCC, the RCMP, and other regulatory authorities.

1. Every document, credential, transcript, English-language proficiency result, identification, proof of funds, statement of purpose, employment letter, and academic reference uploaded to the Portal must be authentic, complete, unaltered, and belong to the actual student named.
2. You must independently verify — from the ORIGINAL, source-issued document — the identity of the student, their academic history, their qualifications, and any English-proficiency or exam scores, BEFORE uploading a copy to the Portal.
3. You must retain a written or electronic record of that verification (date, method, and result) for a minimum of six (6) years and produce it to Study Alliance within seventy-two (72) hours of a written request.
4. You must not photoshop, edit, whiten, retype, translate without a certified translator, or otherwise modify any part of any source document.
5. You must not create, forge, or facilitate the creation of any letter of acceptance, offer letter, bank statement, sponsorship letter, transcript, identity document, or any other record. This is a criminal offence in Canada and in most other jurisdictions.
6. Where a document is in a language other than English, a certified translation from a recognized translator (e.g., a member of the Society of Translators and Interpreters of British Columbia — STIBC) must accompany the original.

1. Before you upload any personal information about a student to the Portal, you must obtain the student's free, informed, written consent to (a) share their personal information with Study Alliance, (b) forward it to the receiving institution, and (c) allow Study Alliance to communicate with the student directly.
2. You must handle student personal information in accordance with the British Columbia Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) if the student resides in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom.
3. You must store any offline copies of student documents on encrypted, access-controlled devices, and destroy them securely within thirty (30) days of the student's file being closed, unless a longer retention period is required by law.
4. You must not sell, rent, lease, or otherwise disclose student personal information to any third party without the student's prior written consent and Study Alliance's written approval.
5. You must report any suspected or confirmed data breach involving student information to Study Alliance in writing within twenty-four (24) hours of discovery.

1. You may not collect, request, or accept ANY payment, deposit, tuition, fee, guarantee, cash gift, or "processing fee" directly from a student that has not been expressly authorized in writing by Study Alliance and disclosed to the student in advance.
2. You may not condition your services on the student receiving any specific loan, grant, scholarship, or immigration outcome.
3. You must not promise, guarantee, or imply any admission decision, visa outcome, StudentAid BC approval, employment outcome, permanent-residence pathway, or scholarship award. Only the institution, IRCC, StudentAid BC, or the relevant authority can decide.
4. Commissions paid by Study Alliance to Recruiters are for successful, verified, honest placements only. Commissions on any placement later found to involve misrepresentation, forgery, or breach of these Guidelines will be reversed, and previously-paid amounts recovered.
5. You must disclose in writing to every student the full nature of your relationship with Study Alliance and with the receiving institution before any personal information is collected.

1. Under Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, only members in good standing of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC), Canadian lawyers/notaries in good standing, and a small number of exempted persons may provide immigration advice or representation for a fee or other consideration.
2. If you are NOT a licensed immigration representative, you must NOT (a) fill out any part of a study permit or visa application on behalf of a student, (b) advise on immigration eligibility, refusal grounds, or PR pathways, (c) submit any form to IRCC on the student's behalf, or (d) charge for immigration services.
3. You may only provide the student with generic, publicly available information and refer them to a licensed representative or the IRCC website (canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship.html).
4. Study Alliance does NOT provide immigration advice through recruiters. Study Alliance does not accept referrals whose primary purpose is immigration rather than education.

1. You may only advertise, market, or represent the programs, tuition, intake dates, credentials, accreditation, and outcomes exactly as published by the receiving institution.
2. You must not use the Study Alliance name, logo, marks, or trade dress in any communication, contract, letterhead, website, brochure, or social-media post without Study Alliance's prior written permission and Study Alliance's current brand guidelines.
3. You may not describe yourself as a Study Alliance "employee", "office", "branch", "campus", or "authorized agent" unless expressly designated in writing by Study Alliance.
4. You must not create fake reviews, testimonials, "success stories", or use another student's photograph without that student's written consent.
5. You may not engage in high-pressure, deceptive, or predatory sales practices — including door-to-door recruiting in student housing, targeting minors without their parent or legal guardian, or exploiting any vulnerable population.

Every piece of information, every document, every representation, and every act or omission by the Recruiter or any of the Recruiter's employees, agents, sub-agents, contractors, or affiliates in relation to a student or a student's file is the SOLE responsibility of the Recruiter.

Study Alliance is a technology intermediary that transmits recruiter-submitted information to partner colleges. Study Alliance does not independently verify, endorse, warrant, or guarantee the accuracy, authenticity, completeness, or legality of any information, document, or representation uploaded by a Recruiter. The colleges, the recruiters, and the students each have a separate, independent duty to verify all information BEFORE it is submitted through the Portal.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Study Alliance disclaims all liability, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), statute, or otherwise, for any loss, damage, expense, fine, penalty, refund, claim, action, or proceeding arising directly or indirectly from (a) any inaccurate, misleading, incomplete, false, forged, altered, fraudulent, or otherwise defective information or document supplied by a Recruiter or a student; (b) any failure by a Recruiter to comply with these Guidelines, the Recruitment Agreement, or applicable law; (c) any decision by StudentAid BC, IRCC, an institution, or any other authority that is affected by such information; or (d) any breach of privacy, data protection, or intellectual-property rights by a Recruiter.

The Recruiter shall INDEMNIFY, DEFEND, and HOLD HARMLESS Study Alliance, its directors, officers, employees, contractors, and affiliates from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, costs (including reasonable legal fees on a solicitor-and-own-client basis), fines, penalties, and expenses arising out of or connected with (i) any breach by the Recruiter of these Guidelines, applicable law, or the Recruitment Agreement, (ii) any misrepresentation, forgery, or fraud committed by the Recruiter or on the Recruiter's behalf, (iii) any dispute between the Recruiter and a student, or (iv) any regulatory or criminal investigation involving the Recruiter or the Recruiter's student files.

This indemnity survives termination of the Recruitment Agreement and use of the Portal, and applies whether or not Study Alliance is joined as a defendant in any proceeding.

1. Suspected breaches will trigger an internal investigation. Study Alliance may suspend Portal access without notice while the investigation is underway.
2. Confirmed breaches will result in one or more of: (a) written warning, (b) suspension, (c) forfeiture of pending or paid commissions, (d) removal from the recruiter network, (e) termination of the Recruitment Agreement without notice or payment in lieu, (f) referral to law-enforcement, StudentAid BC, IRCC, CICC, provincial consumer-protection agencies, and other appropriate regulators, (g) civil action for damages, and/or (h) publication of the breach and the Recruiter's identity to partner institutions.
3. Study Alliance may recover all costs of investigation, remediation, and enforcement from the Recruiter.
4. Nothing in these Guidelines limits any right of Study Alliance to seek an injunction or other equitable relief.

If you become aware of any actual or suspected breach of these Guidelines — whether by yourself, a colleague, another recruiter, or a student — you must report it to Study Alliance in writing at hello@studyalliance.ca within twenty-four (24) hours. Reports may be made in confidence. Study Alliance does not tolerate retaliation against good-faith reporters.

If a student contacts you with a complaint about their application or their StudentAid BC file, you must direct them to Study Alliance directly at hello@studyalliance.ca and not attempt to resolve the complaint on your own.

1. These Guidelines are governed by the laws of the Province of British Columbia and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein. The parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of British Columbia.
2. Study Alliance may update these Guidelines from time to time. The current version is always the version posted at studyalliance.ca/recruiter-guidelines. Continued use of the Portal after an update constitutes acceptance of the updated Guidelines.
3. If any provision of these Guidelines is held unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions continue in full force and effect.
4. These Guidelines are in English. The English version prevails over any translation.