You do not require legal representation, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (previously Citizenship and Immigration Canada, CIC). What they don't tell you is that as the number of applications grown over the years, their mindset changed and now they won't assist you if you make even the slightest error. They claim to no longer be in the counselling industry. Calls to their Hotline will receive a variety of inconsistent responses, which will only increase the confusion.