“No decisions have been made about signing the Statement of Principles,” said a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. “At all times, we act in the best interest of Canadians.”

The USA is split over the issue of agencies with sector association NACAC currently considering its official position on commission payments made internationally, but the use of agents is not such a contentious issue in Canada. Indeed, Languages Canada has implemented an interesting initiative with Russian agency association, AREA, for example.

Meanwhile, in the USA, the American International Recruitment Council (AIRC) – a non-profit body positioned as an authority on agent standards which provides a (paid-for) accreditation service for education agencies keen to work with US institutions – has welcomed the news of the London Statement but claimed it does not go far enough.

Dr. Stephen Foster, AIRC President, says: “The document calls for agents and their representative bodies to voluntarily sign up to the Statement. We at AIRC believe that US universities need an approach that has real incentives and real penalties, such as AIRC’s robust certification program that enforces transparency and high professional standards on the part of recruitment agencies.”