Fines mounting for violations in Canada’s temporary foreign worker programs

Author(s): Lundy, M.

Date: 2024

Resource: The Globe and Mail.

The federal government penalized nearly 200 companies last year for violating the rules of its temporary foreign worker programs, resulting in record fines for infractions such as wage theft and abuse in the workplace.

Ottawa reached 194 decisions against non-compliant employers in 2023 and handed out $2.7million in penalties, an average of $13,800 per decision, according to a Globe and Mail analysis of figures published by the government. Some employers have also been suspended from hiring temporary labour from outside the country. […]

“There’s a subset of companies that are using the Temporary Foreign Worker Program because they’re very poorly managed to begin with,” said Catherine Connelly, a professor at McMaster University and the author of Enduring Work: Experiences with Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program. “They are not able to keep local workers. So their Hail Mary pass is ‘Okay, we’re gonna get temporary foreign workers who cannot quit.’ “

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Related Research Areas: Temporary and Gig Workers