OLLO – Employer Compliance Regime – November 4, 2024
Key Facts and Figures
From the inception of the International Mobility Program (IMP) in 2015 to September 30, 2024, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has imposed 193 Administrative Monetary Penalties (AMPs), totaling over $1MNote 1.
In total, more than $1.6M in compensation has been paid to foreign workers as a result of inspections under the IMP (for underpayment of wages or failure to provide other benefits). These figures do not include other types of compensation made to foreign workers in forms that are not easily quantifiable (such as insurance coverage).
376 employers are ineligible to access either the IMP or the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP) due to non-payment of their AMP. Any employer who is ineligible under one program is automatically ineligible to access either the IMP or the TFWP.
One employer has received a permanent ban as a result of an inspection under the TFWP.
42 employers have active temporary program bans as a direct result of inspections under both the IMP and TFWP. These program bans range from one year to 10 years.
Key Messages
Canadian employers hiring foreign workers on employer-specific work permits are subject to an employer compliance regime to promote safe and fair working conditions for foreign workers and to help prevent program misuse.
These employers are subject to inspections in both the TFWP and the IMP to verify compliance with regulatory conditions, including compliance with employment standards legislation, providing a workplace free of abuse, and ensuring that the foreign worker is working in accordance with their job offer.
Non-compliant employers may be subject to consequences, which include AMPs and temporary or permanent ineligibility from hiring temporary foreign workers under these programs.
Supplementary Information
In September 2022, new regulations came into force to further enhance the employer compliance regime by improving protections for temporary foreign workers and strengthening the government’s ability to effectively conduct inspections. Some changes include prohibiting employers from charging and recovering fees associated with the recruitment of foreign workers; ensuring workers receive information regarding their employment rights in Canada; and ensuring workers are provided with a signed copy of their employment agreement.
Over the course of an inspection, if the IRCC finds that the employer had been non-compliant with the Regulations, the employer is given the opportunity to justify their non-compliance (as a procedural fairness step). An employer may be found compliant with justification if they are able to demonstrate that the reason for their non-compliance can be justified using the justifications included in the Regulations (for example, an error made in good faith by the employer, a change in federal or provincial law, or a change to the provisions of a collective agreement), and in certain circumstances, if they remedy the effects of the violation (for example, compensate the foreign worker for unpaid wages).
Since program inception in 2015 until September 30, 2024, 4,735 compliant with justification decisions were rendered by IRCC for the IMP. Of the 4,735, 1,821Note 2 of the compliant with justification decisions pertained specifically to working conditions.
From program inception in fiscal year 2015-2016 to September 30, 2024, more than $1.1MNote 2 in compensation has been paid to foreign workers as a result of employers not providing the same wages, occupation, or working conditions as set out in the offer of employment. In total, including all program conditions (for example, the requirement for employers to pay wages to foreign workers if they are forced to isolate under the Emergencies Act or the Quarantine Act), more than $1.6MNote 2 in compensation has been paid to foreign workers as a result of inspections under the IMP. These figures do not include other types of compensation made to foreign workers in forms that are not easily quantifiable (such as insurance coverage).
If the employer is not able to demonstrate that the reason for their non-compliance is justified, the employer may be subject to an AMP and/or a ban.
For the AMPs issued under the TFWP, IRCC would defer to Employment and Social Development Canada as they oversee employer compliance inspections under the TFWP.
Any employer who has received a ban as part of their consequence for non-compliance under either the IMP or the TFWP is ineligible to use either program until the period of their ban has elapsed.
Further to a program ban, an employer may be ineligible to access the IMP or the TFWP as a result of non-payment of an AMP.
