Steep Fines Levied on Employers Alleged to Have Breached Migrant Labour Rules: Report

Temporary foreign workers from Guatemala clear a field in preparation for grain corn planting at Quinn Farm in Notre-Dame-de-l'Ile-Perrot, west of Montreal, on June 4, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes)

Federal inspectors have stepped up fines against employers accused of breaching migrant labour regulations, records show.

According to the government’s official website, employers who hire temporary workers may be inspected to ensure they meet their obligations as an employer under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program or International Mobility Program.

Failure to comply with the programs’ rules will result in either receiving a fine or a temporary ban from hiring those workers.

There have been 131 employers fined so far this year, according to records obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.

Most penalties in the federal records were under $10,000. However, several businesses were fined more than $100,000, the outlet reported. Trucking company Trans Empire Logistics of Delta, B.C., was penalized $135,000 for allegedly withholding documents from federal inspectors and assigning migrant labourers to jobs that were not posted.

A Sherwood Park, Alta., contractor, Luigi’s Concrete Ltd., was fined $153,000 and landed a five-year ban for allegedly paying a lesser salary or having working conditions that didn’t match the job offer description.

Among the highest fines included $258,000 on Winnipeg trucking company 10047179 Manitoba Ltd. The firm, which also received a five-year ban, was accused of a series of breaches, including not showing up for an inspection, and that it “didn’t put in enough effort” to make sure its workplace was free of physical abuse and financial abuse, among several others.

On-Site Inspections

The enforcement of migrant labour rules followed a 2017 audit that faulted the Temporary Foreign Worker Program for cursory checks.

“Most activities consisted of reviewing documents that employers were asked to provide to investigators by mail and did not include on-site inspections or interviews with temporary foreign workers,” said the Auditor General’s “Report 5—Temporary Foreign Worker Program—Employment and Social Development Canada.”

Testifying before the Commons public accounts committee in October 2017, then Deputy Labour Minister Louise Levonian said her department had since increased the number of on-site inspections, as recommended in the Auditor General’s report.

“Recognizing the important role that unannounced on-site visits could play in protecting foreign workers, we have accelerated our efforts and expect to complete work on this in the fall,” Ms. Levonian said at the time.

By 2018, Employment and Social Development Canada reported it was conducting 2,800 inspections yearly following the auditor’s report.

In a 2020 follow-up, auditors found almost half of the inspected employers failed spot inspections.

“The follow-up audit found that 41 percent of the inspections tested within the audit sample resulted in a non-compliant decision with a warning, temporary banning, or monetary penalty,” they wrote.

On Aug. 8, the federal government introduced the “recognized employer pilot” program to incentivize employers to follow worker-protection rules.