$4.1 million fines for violations ofCanada’s temporary foreign workerprogram a ‘drop in the bucket’

Author(s): Alsharif, G.

Date: 2025

Resource: The Toronto Star.

Experts argue the penalties are too small to effectively address widespread abuses and deter futureviolations.

The federal government issued more than $4.1 million in penalties to employers violating the rules of the temporary foreign worker program in 2024, according to data from Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada. This is a 55 per cent increase from the $2.67 million handed out in 2023.

Ottawa levied 154 fines against non-compliant companies over the last calendar year, averaging $26,917 per decision, according to the Star’s analysis of the data — almost double the $13,917 average in 2023.

[…]

From April to September, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) — responsible for processing applications for temporary foreign workers — said it conducted 649 employer compliance inspections. Of these, 11 per cent were found to be non-compliant.

Inspections in this six month period also resulted in 20 employers being banned from the temporary foreign worker program, a fivefold increase compared to the same time the previous year, ESDC said.

“Eleven per cent — one in 10 companies misusing the program — is extremely high,” said Catherine Connelly, a professor at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business, and an expert on the temporary foreign worker program.

The government’s data underscores the need for stronger oversight of the program and for more investigations and greater deterrents than current fines, Connelly says, noting that several employers remain listed as having an “unpaid monetary penalty.”

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Related Research Areas: Temporary and Gig Workers