Pierre Poilievre, minister of Employment and Social Development, has announced stiff new consequences for employers who break the rules of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and the International Mobility Program (IMP).
Employers who are found non-compliant with program conditions could be subject to financial penalties ranging from $500 to $100,000 per violation, and up to $1 million in a one-year period.
In addition, the existing two-year ban from the programs will be replaced with bans of various lengths—including one, two, five and 10 years. Employers could face a permanent ban for the most serious violations.
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The government says the new consequences will encourage compliance and help prevent employers from misusing the programs or mistreating workers by ensuring that employers who violate program conditions face appropriate consequences. When compliance is not achieved, these new consequences will match the abuse.
The new consequences, announced in June, are part of program changes made in June 2014 and will come into force on Dec. 1, 2015.
“We are committed to protecting the Canadian labour market and economy as well as foreign workers,” says Poilievre. “Employers who break the rules will face the full force of the law, including financial penalties up to $1 million and permanent bans from the programs.”
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