Regulatory approaches to
international labour recruitment in
Canada
Policy Research, Research and Evaluation Branch
Leanne Dixon-Perera
June 2020
The opinions expressed in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect
the views of the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship or the Government of
Canada.
For information about other Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) publications,
visit: www.canada.ca/ircc-publications
.
Également disponible en français sous le titre : Approches réglementaires pour le recrutement
de la main d’œuvre internationale au Canada
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Ci4-216/2021E-PDF
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Project reference number: R39-2019
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abbreviations and acronyms 5
Key terms 6
Introduction 7
Context 8
International labour recruitment and unfair practices 8
Temporary labour migration to Canada 8
Legislative and jurisdictional landscape 11
Comparative discussion of regulatory approaches 17
1. Laws that apply to all 19
Provincial overview 23
Alberta – Employment Agency Business Licensing Regulation 23
Ontario – Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act 24
Saskatchewan – Foreign Worker Recruitment and Immigration Services Act 25
British Columbia – Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act 26
Nova Scotia – Labour Standards Code 26
New Brunswick – Employment Standards Act 27
Manitoba – Worker Recruitment and Protection Act 28
Quebec – Regulation respecting personnel placement agencies and recruitment agencies for
temporary foreign workers 29
2. No recruitment fees to workers 30
What constitutes recruitment fees and related costs? 30
Prohibitions on charging recruitment fees 32
Prohibition on employer recovery of costs 35
3. Licensing and registration 37
Recruiter licensing 37
Employer registration 43
4. Freedom of movement 47
Right to identity documents 47
Prohibition against threatening deportation 49
5. Freedom from deception or coercion 50
Prohibited and unfair practices 50
Consent through signed and written contract or agreement 52
6. Access to information 53
Information on rights document 53
Disclosure and declaration document 54
7. Access to grievance mechanisms 55
Barriers to accessing rights and recourse 55
What is the complaint process? 57
8. Effective enforcement 61
Proactive and reactive inspections 61
Administrative consequences and penal sanctions 61
Operational challenges 63
Conclusion: An uneven patchwork of protections 64
Appendix I: Work permit statistics 65
Appendix II: Relevant international norms on fair recruitment 70
Appendix III: Select provincial reference documents 76
4
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Provincial regulation of employment/recruitment of migrant workers 15
Table 2: To whom does the relevant legislation apply? 19
Table 3: Which migrant workers are covered by relevant provincial legislation: how are they defined? 21
Table 4: Exemptions to employer registration requirements 22
Table 5: Exemptions to recruiter licensing requirements 22
Table 6: Comparison of licensing process for recruiters by province 42
Table 7: Comparison of licence characteristics by province 43
Table 8: Comparison of registration process for employers by province 46
Table 9: Complaint time limit by province 58
Table 10: Potential criminal sanctions 62
Table 11: Work permit holders* signed in 2018, by province, program** and work permit type*** 65
Table 12: Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) work permit holders signed in 2018, by province and
NOC skill level 66
Table 13: International Mobility Program (IMP) employer-specific work permit holders signed in 2018, by
province and NOC skill level 68
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Work permit holders signed by province and territory in 2018 10
Figure 2: Provinces with migrant worker employment and/or recruitment law 14
Figure 3: Timing of coming into force of relevant provincial regulation 14
Figure 4: Fair recruitment principles 18
Figure 5: Migrant worker population and provincial scope 20
Figure 6: Recruiter licensing map 37
Figure 7: Number of recruiter licenses listed online (as of February 2020) 40
Figure 8: Labour recruitment supply chain models 41
Figure 9: Employer registration map 44
Figure 10: Summary of barriers to accessing justice for migrant workers 56
Figure 11: Excerpt from Ontario’s EPFNA Claim Form – Claims again recruiter 57
Figure 12: Complaint time limits by province 58
5
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
Alta. Alberta
B.C. British Columbia
CAQ Certificat d’acceptation du Québec (Quebec Acceptance Certificate)
CNESST Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail
EABLR Employment Agency Business Licensing Regulation (Alberta)
ESDC Employment and Social Development Canada
ESA Employment Standards Act (New Brunswick)
LMIA Labour Market Impact Assessment
EPFNA Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act (Ontario)
F.A.R.M.S. Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Services
F.E.R.M.E. Fondation des Entreprises en Recrutement de Main-d’œuvre agricole Étrangère
FWRISA Foreign Worker Recruitment and Immigration Services Act (Saskatchewan)
GCM Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration
IOM International Organization for Migration
IRPA Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
IRPR Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulation
ICCRC Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council
IRCC Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
ILO International Labour Organization
IMP International Mobility Program
LSC Labour Standards Code (Nova Scotia)
Man. Manitoba
NOC National Occupational Classification
N.B. New Brunswick
N.S. Nova Scotia
Ont. Ontario
PNP Provincial Nominee Program
Que. Quebec
Sask. Saskatchewan
SAWP Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program
TFWP Temporary Foreign Worker Program
TFWPA Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act (British Columbia)
WRAPA Worker Recruitment and Protection Act (Manitoba)
6
KEY TERMS
In this paper, the following definitions are employed:
Employer: a person or an entity that engages employees or workers, more specifically, migrant
workers.
Foreign national: a person who is not a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident in Canada.
Labour recruiter: private employment agencies and all other third-party intermediaries that
offer labour recruitment and placement services. Can be formal (operate within regulatory
framework) and informal (unregulated). Other terms used to describe this group include
recruitment agencies, consultants, brokers, and sub-agents.
Labour recruitment: involves the advertising, information dissemination, selection, transport,
and placement of migrant workers into employment and return to the country of origin where
applicable. This applies to both jobseekers and those in an employment relationship.
Migrant worker: any foreign national who migrates to Canada and is working or seeking
employment in Canada. Terms such as foreign worker, temporary foreign worker, labour
migrant, and migrant worker are generally used interchangeably in the Canadian context.
Temporary labour migration programs: the programs under which migrant workers are
authorized to enter and work. In Canada, the two main programs are called the Temporary
Foreign Worker Program and the International Mobility Program.
7
INTRODUCTION
Over the past decade, provincial governments in Canada have significantly changed the statutory
landscape under which labour recruiters and employers of migrant workers operate. Regulatory
approaches were developed largely in response to increased volumes of migrant workers and the
reported recruitment-related abuse and exploitation that workers can be exposed to in order to
come to Canada. In fact, nearly 500,000 work permits were issued nationwide in 2018, an
increase of over 50 percent since 2008. The unethical conduct of labour recruiters, including
charging migrant workers exorbitant fees to work in Canada has also been documented alongside
this growth.
As such, this paper is intended to be a resource on the provincial statutory regulation of
international labour recruitment and employment in Canada. In order to frame the comparative
discussion, select international principles on fair recruitment are used as a thematic framework.
The following questions guided the research:
− What are the provincial approaches to regulating international labour recruitment and
employment of migrant workers in Canada? How do they compare against international fair
recruitment norms?
− What is the coverage and application of these laws over migrant workers? How are migrant
workers and their employers and labour recruiters defined?
− How are labour recruiters and employers regulated? Is licensing or registration required?
− What protective measures are in place for migrant workers at risk of exploitative or abusive
recruitment or employment practices?
− Given the transnational nature of migrant labour recruitment and employment, how is
federal immigration law and policy implicated in these provincial approaches?
With these questions in mind, an empirical review of relevant statutory regulation (i.e., the relevant
laws enacted by legislative bodies and enforced by government) in eight Canadian provinces was
undertaken. A desk-based review of pertinent statutes, regulations, and grey material, including
interpretation manuals, guidelines, and forms, was conducted between August 2019 and January
2020. Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) work permit data was examined for
descriptive analysis and context. International standards and reports on labour migration, migrant
worker protection, fair and ethical labour recruitment, and human trafficking were also reviewed in
order to develop the overarching framework under which the relevant regulatory approaches are
compared. Secondary research was supplemented with semi-structured interviews with provincial
government administrators over the same time period, including both policy and operational
officials to validate and clarify technical aspects of their respective regimes.
1
This paper focuses on what relevant laws are in place and what they ought to do. No conclusions
are drawn with respect to the effectiveness of enforcement of any regulatory framework (e.g., no
enforcement gaps are identified) as it is outside of the scope of this review. In addition, non-
regulatory provincial activities promoting ethical international labour recruitment are not explored.
2
1
In-person meetings with officials from each province were conducted, except Quebec’s Commission des normes, de l’équité, de
la santé et de la sécurité (CNESST) du travail due to timing of research schedule and CNESST final regulatory amendments.
Technical questions were accordingly addressed electronically.
2
Non-regulatory activities can include how provincial immigration or employment authorities conduct their own recruitment
activities, by either facilitating or assisting employers to directly recruit migrant workers, or any provincial participation in
international ethical recruitment initiatives like the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM)
International Recruitment
Integrity System (IRIS).
8
CONTEXT
I
NTERNATIONAL LABOUR RECRUITMENT AND UNFAIR PRACTICES
The international labour recruitment landscape is complex. Private labour recruiters and
employment agencies in countries of origin and destination operate as intermediaries between
employers and migrant workers; relationships between them often span multiple jurisdictions and
long periods of time. The basic business model of the recruitment industry is to actively seek out
clients, both workers and employers, establish matches, and charge one or both parties for these
services. Some recruiters may provide additional services for extra fees, such as arranging
transportation and loans, providing orientation for workers before departure or after arrival,
filling visa, work permit or immigration forms, or supplying language or technical training.
As such, labour recruiters, both formal (regulated) and informal (unregulated), play a critical role
in matching local labour demand with international labour supply, leveraging global networks of
brokers, sub-agents, and travel and immigration expertise. Prospective migrant workers may
naturally come to depend on recruiters in order to navigate the process and ultimately enter and
become employed in another country.
This dependence, however, can create abusive or exploitative conditions for workers if recruiters
act unfairly or unethically with the intention of deceiving prospective migrant workers into
fraudulent employment and/or immigration opportunities. For example, by misrepresenting
working conditions in employment contracts, or coercing migrants into illegal or illegitimate
work arrangements. International labour recruitment is a lucrative business: recruiters have many
touchpoints to charge fees for multiple services that are sometimes unnecessary or excessive.
Furthermore, unfair recruitment activity can put migrant workers at higher risk of being subjected
to forced labour or human trafficking. If on a spectrum or continuum, fair and ethical recruitment
practices would be at one end with forced labour and human trafficking at the other. The broad
range of abusive and unfair recruitment practices fall in the somewhat grey area between them.
Unfair recruitment practices:
• Charging fees, often exorbitantly high fees, to workers
• Coercing worker into taking a contract with less generous conditions than what was originally signed
(i.e., contract substitution)
• Advertising non-existent jobs
• Misrepresentation about terms and conditions of employment contract or immigration prospects
• Illegal wage recovery and financial abuse where agents or employers deduct recruitment fees or costs
from wages once in destination country
• Threats and intimidation including psychological and verbal abuse
• Confiscation of passport, work permit or other identity documents
TEMPORARY LABOUR MIGRATION TO CANADA
In Canada, migrant workers play an important role in local society, culture, and the economy.
Their contributions are diverse and significant: migrants are hired to do everything from
harvesting fruits and vegetables, caring for children and the elderly, driving long-haul transport
trucks, to working in software engineering, academia, and medicine.
In order to come to Canada, a migrant worker must be authorized to work under one of two
temporary labour migration programs: the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) or the
9
International Mobility Program (IMP). The main distinction between the TFWP and IMP is the
employer requirement or exemption from a labour market test, called the Labour Market Impact
Assessment (LMIA). The LMIA serves to verify a number of factors, primarily if a Canadian is
available to do the job. All work authorizations under the TFWP require an LMIA and employers
may be refused if the assessment finds a negative impact on the labour market. Migrant workers
under the TFWP commonly include, but are not limited to, agricultural and domestic (caregiver)
workers.
Under the IMP, employers are not required to seek an LMIA before issuing an offer of
employment due to a recognition that in certain circumstances, broader benefits to Canada from
hiring the worker may outweigh the requirement for the assessment, such as potential impacts on
the labour market. Migrant workers under the IMP include workers covered under international
trade agreements, youth taking part in working holiday exchanges, postgraduate international
students, and charitable and religious workers, among many others.
All work authorizations under the TFWP are
granted through the issuance of work permits
conditional to one employer and employment
offer, also called “employer-specific” or
“closed” work permits. The IMP facilitates
both employer-specific and open work
permits, as well as work permit exemptions.
3
Open work permits allow migrant workers to
change employers during the validity period
prescribed on the work permit.
Most work permits (~70%) issued in 2018 were under the IMP. Unauthorized or irregular work
performed by migrants, by its very nature, is not readily captured by IRCC data.
Regionally, migrant workers are unevenly dispersed across Canada, the majority (~75%) are in
the most populated provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. A detailed breakdown
of provincial work permit data is captured in Appendix I.
In terms of how migrant workers are recruited to Canada, the contemporary landscape primarily
involves the operation of private international labour recruiters and employment agencies. A
notable exception is the recruitment of migrant farm workers under the Seasonal Agricultural
Worker Program (SAWP) whereby labour departments in the country of origin (Mexico and the
Commonwealth Caribbean) and non-profit agencies in Canada like Foreign Agricultural
Resource Management Services (F.A.R.M.S.) or Fondation des Entreprises en Recrutement de
Main-d’œuvre agricole étrangère (F.E.R.M.E.) which organize and administer formal recruitment
activities.
4
The exact proportion of migrant workers seeking employment in Canada through a
private labour recruiter is unknown. However, a small but growing body of relevant research has
identified a proliferation of the private “migration industry”, which has grown alongside migrant
worker volumes under temporary labour migration streams in recent years.
5
Indeed, the last
3
Work authorizations without a work permit (work permit exemptions) are not captured by IRCC data; this includes work permit
exemptions under section 186 of the IRPR for study permit holders, athletes, and clergy, among others.
4
F.A.R.M.S. and F.E.R.M.E. both operate on behalf of groups of employers.
5
See Zell, S. (2018). Outsourcing the border: recruiters and sovereign power in labour migration to Canada. (PhD Dissertation,
University of British Columbia); Gesualdi-Fecteau, D., Thibault, A., Schivone, N., Dufour, C., Gouin, S., Monjean, N., & Moses, E.
(2017) A story of debt and broken promises: The recruitment of Guatemalan migrant workers in Quebec. Revue québécoise de
droit international 30, 95; Rodgers, A. E. (2016). Temporary foreign workers in British Columbia: Unfree labour and the rise of
unscrupulous recruitment practices. (Master’s Thesis, Simon Fraser University); Muir, G. (2015). Unmapping recruitment: An
Program LMIA
Work
authorization type
Work permit
type
TFWP Required Work permit
Employer-
specific
IMP Exempt
Work permit
OR work permit
exempt
Employer-
specific
OR open
10
decade has seen an increase of over 50 percent in work permit issuance: around 495,000 work
permits were issued in 2018, while closer to 328,000 were issued in 2008. Relevant research has
uncovered abusive recruitment practices, including illegal fee charging and the advertisement of
non-existent jobs across Canada. During this period, public concerns have also been raised
regarding the role of unscrupulous recruiters as it continues to be scrutinized in the media.
6
Figure 1: Work permit holders signed by province and territory in 2018
Note: About 10% of all work permits issued in 2018 are not captured as they did list an intended location.
To deter and enforce consequences on unscrupulous international labour recruiters, a number of
provinces in Canada have regulated the industry in their respective jurisdictions over the last ten
years. In some cases, they have also placed additional requirements on employers of migrant
workers, in tandem or separate from labour recruiter provisions. To position the analysis of these
regulatory approaches, a brief discussion of the legal and jurisdictional landscape that oversees
immigration, employment, and recruitment in Canada is provided below.
exploration of Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program in Guatemala. (Master’s Thesis, Concordia University); Faraday, F.
(2014). Profiting from the precarious: How recruitment practices exploit migrant workers: Toronto: Metcalf Foundation; Choudry,
A., & Henaway, M. (2012). Agents of misfortune: Contextualizing migrant and immigrant workers' struggles against temporary
labour recruitment agencies. Labour, Capital and Society, 36-65; Fudge, J. (2011). Global care chains, employment agencies,
and the conundrum of jurisdiction: Decent work for domestic workers in Canada. Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 23:1,
pp. 235–264; Parrott, D. (2011). The role and regulation of private, for-profit employment agencies in the British Columbia labour
market and the recruitment of temporary foreign workers. (Master’s Thesis, University of Victoria).
6
Select media sources include: Tomlinson, Kathy. False promises: Foreign workers are falling prey to a sprawling web of labour
trafficking in Canada. The Globe and Mail. 5 April 2019; Rankin, Jim. Unscrupulous recruiters keep migrant workers in ‘debt
bondage.’ The Toronto Star, 8 October 2017.
11
LEGISLATIVE AND JURISDICTIONAL LANDSCAPE
Immigration-employment nexus
Conventional employment relationships in Canada are bilateral in nature: an employment
contract results from the consent of the employer and employee. The rights and obligations of
these parties is determined by labour or employment law which for the most part is under sub-
national (provincial) jurisdiction. However, the relationship between a migrant worker employee
and their employer is more complex. Labour laws coexist with national (federal) immigration
laws which govern the administration of the temporary labour migration program under which
migrant workers enter and are authorized to work in Canada. It is the nexus of these distinct
regulatory frameworks, involving different rules and enforcement actors that creates a unique
relationship between a migrant worker and their employer. What is more, an understanding of
this relationship is incomplete without an appreciation of the mediating practices that facilitate
and constrain it: the brokerage between migrant workers and employers. Capturing labour
brokers, or recruiters, and if and how the recruitment business is regulated is thus crucial in
discerning these unique employment relationships.
The linkage between these regulatory frameworks: immigration, employment and recruitment, is
raised a number of times throughout this paper’s discussion, and as such marked by a
mangrove tree to signify the complex web of roots connecting them.
To position the landscape involved in this nexus, the following sections offer an overview of the
somewhat complex national and sub-national regulatory activities that oversee migrant worker
employment and recruitment in Canada.
National
The responsibilities of the federal and provincial governments are defined in the Constitution Act,
1867.
7
Canada and the provinces share jurisdiction over immigration, though the federal
government alone administers temporary labour migration programs under the Immigration and
Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and its Regulations (IRPR).
8
The IRPR facilitates the authorization of foreign nationals to enter and work in Canada. Sections
200 to 208 of the IRPR provide the regulatory authorities for which officers may issue work
permits, and in so doing, they constitute the basis for the two temporary labour migration
programs – the TFWP and IMP.
9
These programs are jointly administered by Immigration,
Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Employment and Social Development Canada
(ESDC), and the Canada Border Services Agency.
The IRPR does not directly regulate international labour recruiters or employment agencies (i.e.,
the third-party recruitment process of migrant workers), but it does impose recruitment-related
requirements indirectly on employers of migrant workers through compliance mechanisms,
discussed below. That being said, labour recruiters are captured by section 91 of the IRPA if they
also provide immigration services; it requires them to be members in good standing of a
provincial law society or the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC) in
7
The Constitution Act, 1867, 30 & 31 Vict, c 3.
8
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, SC 2001, c 27; Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, SOR/2002-227.
9
These regulatory authorities include labour market assessments (s. 203), international agreement or arrangements (s. 204),
Canadian interests (s. 205), no other means of support (s. 206), applicants in Canada (s. 207), vulnerable workers (s. 207.1), and
humanitarian reasons (s. 208).
12
order to provide immigration advice.
10
In addition, any activities of labour recruiters that
constitute human trafficking are captured under section 118 of the IRPA which makes it a
criminal offence to use abduction, fraud, deception or the use or threat of force or coercion to
recruit and/or bring people to Canada. Under Ministerial Instructions pursuant to subsection 24(3)
of the IRPA, officers may also issue temporary resident permits to foreign nationals who are
victims of trafficking in persons.
Compliance mechanisms
The IRPR has both front-end and back-end compliance measures over employer-specific work
permits. About 33 percent of the total work permit holders signed in 2018 were on employer-
specific work permits and thus covered by these measures.
When an employer-specific work permit or LMIA application is being processed by IRCC or
ESDC respectively, officers must assess the genuineness of the offer of employment, pursuant to
factors listed in subsection 200(5) of the IRPR. This is a front-end compliance mechanism and a
negative assessment of genuineness would result in a refusal. Factors to consider include
whether:
− the offer is made by an employer actively engaged in the business for which the offer was
made;
− the offer is consistent with the reasonable employment needs of the employer;
− the terms of the offer are terms that the employer is reasonably able to fulfil; and
− the past compliance of the employer, or any person who recruited the foreign national for
the employer, with the federal or provincial laws that regulate employment or the recruiting
of employees.
For example, if it became known during the processing of a work permit application for a job
offer in Alberta that the applicant paid illegal recruitment fees, contrary to provincial legislation,
this could constitute grounds for the work permit refusal (i.e., related to “past compliance of any
person who recruited the foreign national”).
In terms of back-end compliance measures, sections 209.1 to 209.997 of the IRPR impose
conditions on employers who hire migrant workers on employer-specific work permits and
provide authorities for employer inspections and administrative consequences in case of non-
compliance (warning letters, monetary penalties, and/or bans on hiring migrant workers). These
provisions constitute the TFWP and IMP employer compliance regimes administered by ESDC
and IRCC respectively.
Regulatory conditions include, but are not limited to, requiring employers to be actively engaged
in the business, provide the same wages, occupations and working conditions as set out in the job
offer, and make reasonable efforts to provide an abuse-free workplace. Of significance to this
paper’s discussion, employers are also required to comply with federal or provincial employment
and recruitment legislation. That could, for example, require compliance with a provincial
employer prohibition against hiring unlicensed recruiters, as applicable. Employers found non-
compliant with these conditions could then face consequences pursuant to the IRPR.
10
Subsection 91(2) of the IRPA only permits (a) a lawyer who is a member in good standing of a law society of a province or a
notary who is a member in good standing of the Chambre des notaires du Québec; (b) any other member in good standing of a
law society of a province or the Chambre des notaires du Québec, including a paralegal; or (c) a member in good standing of the
ICCRC to represent or advise a person for consideration in connection with a proceeding or application under the IRPA. A
contravention of this is a criminal offence pursuant to subsection 91(9).
13
Sub-national
Jurisdiction over regulating workplaces and businesses, except for a small number of industries
that fall under federal jurisdiction, rests with the provinces at the sub-national level.
11
Most
matters of employment (labour standards, occupational health and safety, etc.) and the business
of employment agencies and private labour recruiters are as such regulated by the province in
which those actors operate. This includes minimum employment and labour standards for most
workplaces in the country. Within this regulatory capacity, provinces can place obligations on
employers hiring migrant workers, or they can stipulate if an international labour recruiter or
employment agency is legally allowed to operate as a business, and if so, under which conditions.
In general, migrant workers are entitled to the same minimum labour standards as Canadian
workers and are not legally excluded on the basis of their immigration status. In some
jurisdictions however, employees (both domestic and foreign nationals) in certain sectors such as
agriculture and domestic work do not have the same rights as workers in other sectors, for
example the right to bargain collectively. Migrant workers tend to be more exposed to the
consequences of these exemptions to some extent given that they tend to be disproportionately
employed in these sectors.
A comprehensive review of the full range of employment and labour laws (e.g. employment
standards, occupational health and safety, labour relations, human rights, etc.) for all workers in
each jurisdiction in Canada is beyond the scope of this paper. This discussion rather focuses on
the relevant provincial legal provisions, either incorporated into existing labour or employment
standards statutes, or in stand-alone statutes, that are designed to explicitly address the unique
realities of the international labour recruitment and/or employment of migrant workers. As the
statutory regulation of migrant worker employers, labour recruiters, and/or employment agencies
varies widely across Canada, this paper serves to consolidate their content and differences.
Eight out of ten provinces in Canada have some relevant legislation that regulates the
employment and/or recruitment of migrant workers. Legislation involves a range of measures,
from prohibiting charging recruitment fees to workers to recruiter licensing or employer
registration requirements. Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the three
territories, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut have no comparable statutory
approach and are consequently not discussed in this paper. The active provinces, relevant
legislation, and respective administrative bodies under review are captured in Table 1.
For the most part, the respective body overseeing the administration of these regimes is
employment or labour standards bodies, the same authority responsible for enforcing minimum
labour standards like minimum wage. The notable exception to this approach is in Alberta where
the Consumer Protection Act and its Employment Agency Business Licensing Regulation oversee
international employment agencies, effectively covering the recruitment process of migrant
workers into the province.
11
The labour rights and responsibilities of employees and employers of federally regulated businesses and industries fall under the
Canada Labour Code; examples of such industries include banking, transportation (marine, air, railway), telecommunications, and
radio and television.
14
Figure 2: Provinces with migrant worker employment and/or recruitment law
Figure 3: Timing of coming into force of relevant provincial regulation
15
Table 1: Provincial regulation of employment/recruitment of migrant workers
Province
Originating
legislation Associated regulations Administered by Timing
British
Columbia
(B.C.)
Temporary
Foreign Worker
Protection Act
(standalone)
Temporary Foreign
Worker Protection
Regulation B.C. Reg.
158/2019
Employment
Standards (Ministry of
Labour)
Assented to in 2018,
provisions staged into
force over 2019–2020
Alberta
(Alta.)
Consumer
Protection Act
Designation of Trades
and Businesses
Regulation; Employment
Agency Business
Licensing Regulation;
General Licensing and
Security Regulation
Consumer Programs
(Service Alberta)
Major relevant
amendments in 2012
(framework in place
since 1960s)
Saskatchewan
(Sask.)
Foreign Worker
Recruitment and
Immigration
Services Act
(standalone)
Foreign Worker
Recruitment and
Immigration Regulations
Employment
Standards (Ministry of
Labour Relations and
Workplace Safety)
Assented to and in
force in 2013
Manitoba
(Man.)
Worker
Recruitment and
Protection Act
(standalone)
Worker Recruitment and
Protection Regulation
Employment
Standards (Manitoba
Growth, Enterprise
and Trade)
Assented to in 2008,
in force 2009
Ontario
(Ont.)
Employment
Protection for
Foreign Nationals
Act (standalone)
Ontario Regulation
348/15; Ontario
Regulation 47/10
Employment
Standards (Ministry of
Labour)
Initial Act (live-in
caregivers) in force
2010; significant
amendments and
expanded coverage in
2015
Quebec
(Que.)
Act respecting
Labour Standards
Regulation respecting
personnel placement
agencies and recruitment
agencies for temporary
foreign workers
Commission des
normes, de l’équité,
de la santé et de la
sécurité du travail
(CNESST)
Foreign worker
provisions assented to
in 2019, in force in
2020
New
Brunswick
(N.B.)
Employment
Standards Act
General Regulation 85-
179
Employment
Standards
(Department of Post-
Secondary Education,
Training and Labour)
Relevant foreign
worker legislation
assented to and in
force in 2014
Nova Scotia
(N.S.)
Labour Standards
Code
General Labour
Standards Code
Regulations
Labour Standards
(Department of
Labour and Advanced
Education)
Relevant foreign
worker legislation
assented to in 2011,
in force 2013
International normative framework
In order to frame the comparative discussion on provincial statues regulating the recruitment and
employment of migrant workers, select international principles are used as a comparative
thematic framework. This section provides an overview of the international normative context on
fair and ethical labour recruitment, from which the paper’s framework is derived.
International human and labour rights norms that promote the protection of migrant workers and
the fair governance of labour migration, including fair labour recruitment, are found in a number
of legally binding treaties and non-binding instruments.
16
Some relevant binding instruments include:
− United Nations International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families
12
,
− ILO Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) and its Protocol of 2014 to the Forced
Labour Convention, 1930 (P029)
13
,
− ILO Migration for Employment Convention, 1949 (No. 97)
14
,
− ILO Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143)
15
,
− ILO Private Employment Agencies Convention (No. 181)
16
, and
− ILO Domestic Workers Convention (No. 201)
17
.
Among these, Canada has only ratified the ILO Forced Labour Convention and its Protocol, the
latter entered into force on June 17, 2020. The Forced Labour Protocol requires ratifying States to
take appropriate steps to prevent forced labour, protect victims, and guarantee them access to
effective remedies and compensation. Article 2 of the Protocol includes the following measure to
be taken: “protecting persons, particularly migrant workers, from possible abusive and fraudulent
practices during the recruitment and placement process”.
In terms of relevant non-binding normative instruments, Canada voted in favour to adopt the
United Nations Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) in 2018.
Objective 6 of the GCM is to “facilitate fair and ethical recruitment and safeguard conditions that
ensure decent work” and includes action commitments to improve regulations on private
recruitment agencies to align with international guidelines, prohibit recruiters and employers
from charging recruitment fees or related costs to migrant workers, and establish mandatory,
enforceable mechanisms for effective regulation and monitoring of the recruitment industry (see
Appendix III for full text of objective).
Non-binding instruments published by the ILO include the Multilateral Framework on Labour
Migration (2006)
18
and the General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment
(2016)
19
, much of which are derived from relevant international labour standards. Regarding the
latter, the General Principles are intended to orient implementation of fair recruitment at all
levels, while the Operational Guidelines address responsibilities of specific actors in the
recruitment process, namely governments, employers, and recruiters. Governments are addressed
in their regulatory capacity as having the “ultimate responsibility for advancing fair
recruitment…to reduce abuses practised against workers, both nationals and migrants, during
recruitment, gaps in laws and regulations should be closed, and their full enforcement pursued.”
12
UN, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, adopted by
General Assembly resolution 45/158 of 18 December 1990.
13
Convention 29, Forced Labour Convention (1930), adopted Geneva, 14th ILC session (28 Jun 1930); Protocol 29, Protocol of
2014 to the Forced Labour Convention (2014), adopted Geneva 103rd ILC session (11 Jun 2014).
14
Convention 97, Migration for Employment Convention (Revised) (1949), adopted Geneva, 32nd ILC session (1 Jul 1949).
15
Convention 143, Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention (1975), adopted Geneva, 60th ILC session (24 Jun
1975).
16
Convention 181, Private Employment Agencies Convention (1997), adopted Geneva, 85th ILC session (19 Jun 1997).
17
Convention 189, Domestic Workers Convention (2011), adopted 100th ILC session (16 June 2011).
18
ILO Multilateral Framework on Labour Migration: Non-binding principles and guidelines for a rights-based approach to labour
migration (Geneva: ILO, 2006) adopted by the Tripartite Meeting of Experts on the ILO Multilateral Framework on Labour
Migration (Geneva, 31 October–2 November 2005).
19
ILO General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment (Geneva: ILO, 2016) adopted by the Tripartite Meeting of
Experts on Fair Recruitment (Geneva, 5-7 September 2016).
17
COMPARATIVE DISCUSSION OF REGULATORY APPROACHES
With this normative context in mind, an adapted fair recruitment framework has been developed
based on the ILO’s General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment to
structure the comparative discussion of provincial regulatory approaches to recruitment and/or
employment of migrant workers. Put simply, the remainder of this paper takes the provincial
statutory regimes listed in Table 1 and compares them using the following eight thematic
principles:
Fair recruitment thematic norms used in this paper:
(1) Laws that apply to all. Appropriate legislation and policies on employment and recruitment should
apply to all workers, labour recruiters and employers.
(2) No recruitment fees. No recruitment fees or related costs should be charged to, or otherwise be borne
by, workers or jobseekers.
(3) Licensing and registration. Regulation of employment and recruitment activities should be clear and
transparent and effectively enforced. The use of standardized registration, licensing or certification
systems should be highlighted.
(4) Freedom of movement. Freedom of workers to move within a country or to leave a country should be
respected. Workers’ identity documents and contracts should not be confiscated, destroyed or retained.
(5) Freedom from deception or coercion. Workers’ agreements to the terms and conditions of recruitment
and employment should be voluntary and free from deception or coercion.
(6) Access to information. Workers should have access to free, comprehensive and accurate information
regarding their rights and the conditions of their recruitment and employment.
(7) Access to grievance mechanisms. Workers, irrespective of their presence or legal status in a State,
should have access to free or affordable grievance and other dispute resolution mechanisms in cases of
alleged abuse of their rights in the recruitment process, and effective and appropriate remedies should be
provided where abuse has occurred.
(8) Effective enforcement: Governments should effectively enforce relevant laws and regulations, and
require all relevant actors in the recruitment process to operate in accordance with the law.
18
Figure 4: Fair recruitment principles
19
1. LAWS THAT APPLY TO ALL
Appropriate legislation and policies on employment and recruitment should apply to all workers,
labour recruiters and employers.
Key questions: Which actors involved in migrant worker recruitment are covered by relevant legislation?
How migrant workers are defined and are any groups excluded? Are certain employers or recruiters
exempt from obligations in law or policy?
This principle maintains that appropriate legislation and policies on employment and recruitment
should be universal in nature, that is, that rights and obligations should apply to all workers and
all businesses, recruiters and employers alike. Universal application involves legal obligations
and protections that cover everyone, without exception.
Given the restricted scope of the paper to only examine the statutes listed in Table 1, the
following section strictly explores the application of coverage for migrant workers, their
employers and recruiters in these statutes (i.e., not other existing employment standards law).
Perhaps most interestingly, each province in Canada differs in scope and coverage, largely rooted
in the way in which foundational definitions of migrant workers and their recruiters and
employers are drafted and interpreted. Legal exemptions and policy exceptions uniquely restrict
application of definitions and associated protections and obligations across jurisdictions.
To start, it is important to clarify that the provincial laws under review themselves do not all
apply to the same actors involved in the migrant worker employment and recruitment process
(e.g., employer, labour recruiter, employment agency, and immigration consultant). For most
statutes examined here, employers and labour recruiters of migrant workers are captured, while
in the case of New Brunswick’s Employment Standards Act, only the employers of migrant
workers have legal obligations. Alberta’s Consumer Protection Act and its Employment Agency
Business Licensing Regulation have relevant coverage for migrant worker recruitment through
oversight of international employment agencies but not employers. Saskatchewan uniquely
regulates employers, recruiters, and immigration consultants under its Foreign Worker
Recruitment and Immigration Services Act.
Table 2: To whom does the relevant legislation apply?
Select Provincial Law under Review Employer
Labour
Recruiter
Employment
Agency
Immigration
Consultant
British Columbia
Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act
— —
Alberta
Employment Agency Business Licensing Regulation
— —
—
Saskatchewan
Foreign Worker Recruitment and Immigration Services Act
—
Manitoba
Worker Recruitment and Protection Act
— —
Ontario
Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act
— —
Quebec
Regulation respecting personnel placement agencies and
recruitment agencies for temporary foreign workers
— —
New Brunswick
Employment Standards Act
—
— —
Nova Scotia
Labour Standards Code
— —
20
Secondly, the way in which workers or migrant workers are defined in each legislation is also
important to articulate as it determines the scope and potential exceptionality of the rules applied
over their employers or recruiters. While generally the federal government (IRCC) understands
migrant worker populations to be those foreign nationals already in Canada and usually holding a
work permit or other work authorization (e.g., work permit exemption) under the TFWP or IMP,
the provinces also include “job seekers” in their scope. This simply ensures that prospective
migrant workers, not yet employed or authorized to work in Canada, are also captured given the
international nature of their labour recruitment and need for protection at the employment-
seeking stage of their migration.
Figure 5: Migrant worker population and provincial scope
Since Alberta’s relevant legislation includes both international and national employment
agencies, that is, it is broadly concerned with workers not limited to migrants, its definition is
accordingly the broadest with no exceptions in law or policy. Ontario, New Brunswick,
Saskatchewan and British Columbia consider any foreign national (i.e., not a Canadian citizen or
permanent resident in Canada) working or seeking employment in the respective province to be a
foreign worker for the purpose of their legislation. Similarly, Nova Scotia’s definition is a foreign
national who is recruited to become employed in Nova Scotia, regardless of whether the
individual becomes so employed. However in policy, three groups are excluded from Nova
Scotia’s definition, generally limiting scope. Finally, Manitoba and Quebec have relatively
narrow migrant worker definitions by prescribing exemptions in regulations, practically
excluding any migrant worker that comes to the respective province without an LMIA.
20
This
means that only migrant workers who come under the TFWP are covered by the respective
legislation in these jurisdictions.
20
Under the terms of article 22 of the Canada–Quebec Accord, Quebec’s consent is required to grant entry to migrant workers who
are subject to federal LMIA requirements, i.e., those who come under the TFWP. Migrant workers destined to Quebec must
obtain the consent of the Minister of the Ministère de l’Immigration, Francisation et Intégration to enter Quebec and take
temporary employment. This consent is granted through the issuance of a Quebec Acceptance Certificate (Certificat d’acceptation
du Québec) (CAQ). Migrant workers who work in Quebec under the IMP (exempt from the LMIA) do not require a CAQ.
21
Table 3: Which migrant workers are covered by relevant provincial legislation: how are they
defined?
Province and
relevant law
Term
used Definition Exclusions
Alberta
Employment Agency
Business Licensing
Regulation
Person Persons seeking employment or
information respecting employers
seeking employees (*no reference to
foreign nationals).
N/A
Ontario
Employment
Protection for Foreign
Nationals Act
Foreign
national
Every foreign national who, pursuant
to an immigration or foreign
temporary employee program, is
employed in Ontario or is attempting
to find employment in Ontario.
N/A
New Brunswick
Employment
Standards Act
Foreign
worker
A foreign national who is working or
seeking employment in the Province.
N/A
Saskatchewan
Foreign Worker
Recruitment and
Immigration Services
Act
Foreign
worker
A foreign national working in or
seeking employment in
Saskatchewan
N/A
British Columbia
Temporary Foreign
Worker Protection Act
Foreign
worker
A foreign national who is an
employee, as defined in the
Employment Standards Act, in British
Columbia or seeking employment in
British Columbia
N/A
Nova Scotia
Labour Standards
Code
Foreign
worker
A foreign national who is recruited to
become employed in the Province,
regardless of whether the individual
becomes so employed.
• International students
• Specialized service providers
• Independent contractors
Manitoba
Worker Recruitment
and Protection Act
and Regulation
Foreign
worker
A foreign national who, pursuant to
an immigration or foreign temporary
worker program, is recruited to
become employed in Manitoba
A foreign national authorized to work
under these IRPR provisions:
(a) section 186 (no permit required);
(b) section 204 (international
agreements);
(c) section 205 (Canadian interests);
(d) section 206 (no other means of
support);
(e) section 207 (applicants in Canada),
except clause 207(a);
(f) section 208 (humanitarian reasons)
Quebec
Regulation respecting
employment
placement agencies
and temporary foreign
worker recruitment
agencies
Temporary
foreign
worker
A foreign national who is staying or
wishes to stay temporarily in Québec
to carry out work with an employer
under the temporary foreign worker
program provided for in Division II of
Chapter II of the Québec Immigration
Regulation.
Foreign nationals exempt from the LMIA,
including open work permit holders and
work permit-exempt individuals
Note: “foreign national” means an individual who is not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident in all cases.
Thirdly, the way in which recruiters, employment agencies, and employers are defined and
exempted from key obligations is also worth noting. For example, if recruiters or agencies are
required to obtain a license to recruit migrant workers (as discussed in detail in section 3), but
exemptions apply to this requirement in law or policy, this accordingly restrains universal
coverage. These exemptions can be based on the nature of the employer’s business (e.g., hiring as
a government, educational institution) or recruiter identity (e.g., recruiting as an employer, family
22
member) or on the nature of job or stream under which the migrant worker is authorized to work
(e.g., type of work permit, skill level of job).
Table 4: Exemptions to employer registration requirements
Who is exempt from employer registration? B.C.* Sask. Man. Que. N.B. N.S.
Employer-based
Government/public entity
TBD
— — —
Foreign government (e.g., diplomatic post)
TBD
— — — —
Universities
TBD
— — — —
Worker/position-based
If hiring NOC 0 and A skill level jobs
TBD
— — — —
If hiring independent contractors and specialized service
providers
TBD
— — — —
If hiring open work permit holders
TBD
—
— —
If hiring work-permit exempt migrant workers
TBD
— —
If hiring international students (also work-permit exempt)
TBD
—
If hiring IMP (LMIA-exempt) work permit holders
TBD
**
—
—
Note: Employer registration is not required under Ontario’s EPFNA nor Alberta’s EABLR.
*
At time of writing, B.C. employer registration was not yet in force; details are To Be Determined (TBD).
** Employers hiring LMIA-exempt clergy and occupations under international agreements like NAFTA are not exempt.
Exempt
de facto exemption applies as migrant workers in the category are excluded from respective migrant worker definition and related
legislation (i.e., employers would not be required to register when hiring these excluded categories).
Table 5: Exemptions to recruiter licensing requirements
Who is exempt from recruiter licensing? B.C. Alta. Sask. Man. Que. N.S.
Employer-based
Employer and employee working on their behalf
— —
Family member
—
— —
Government/public entities
Educational institution
— —
Worker/position-based
If recruiting NOC 0 or A position — — — — —
If recruiting high wage position — — —
*
— —
If recruiting IMP (LMIA-exempt) work permit holders — — —
—
If recruiting work permit-exempt migrant workers — — —
—
If recruiting international students for work — — —
—
If recruiting on behalf of a union —
— — —
If recruiting athletes or performing artists —
—
— — —
If recruiting specialized service providers or independent
contractors
—
— — — —
Note: Recruiter licensing is not required under Ontario’s EPFNA nor New Brunswick’s ESA.
* Only exempt if respective employer has received written authorized to use unlicensed recruiter and the wage is twice the Manitoba
average wage.
Exempt
de facto exemption applies as migrant workers in the category are excluded from respective migrant worker definition and related
legislation (i.e., recruiters would not be required to license when recruiting these excluded categories).
23
PROVINCIAL OVERVIEW
Each provincial statutory framework is briefly discussed below, roughly starting with provinces
with the broadest application/coverage of their migrant worker provisions to relatively more
limited application, taken together. Specific obligations and protections are referenced at a high
level here given that the subsequent sections explore these elements in further detail.
Alberta – Employment Agency Business Licensing Regulation
Alberta’s legislation that addresses international labour recruitment is uniquely under the Consumer
Protection Act (formerly called the Fair Trading Act) and its Designation of Trades and Businesses
Regulation and Employment Agency Business Licensing Regulation (EABLR).
21
Combined, these
instruments establish rules for employment agencies operating in Alberta, including any business
trying to find people for work, find work for people, or evaluating or testing an individual for skills
or knowledge required for work. Licensing is required and legal obligations are imposed, including
the requirement to enter into agreements with job seekers and employers. The EABLR also
prohibits employment agencies from engaging in unfair practices towards both parties.
This is the only jurisdiction reviewed that does not enforce international labour recruitment
regulations by a labour or employment standards body but rather by the consumer protection body
(Service Alberta). Accordingly, this set of legislation does not have direct obligations over
employers of migrant worker employees.
22
Alberta’s EABLR is reviewed here because it
uniquely requires licensing of both national and international employment agencies.
23
The
recruitment of migrant workers falls into the latter, as the distinction between national and
international is based on where the job seekers are sourced for work. The EABLR was also
amended significantly in 2012 in response to a significant increase in migrant workers recruited to
Alberta and the range of associated labour recruitment issues that were consequently addressed.
Under the Designation of Trades and Business Regulation, employment agency business does not
include the following list of activities, and thus employment agencies engaging in these activities
do not require a licence under the EABLR:
− activities of a school with respect to employment for students or graduates (private
vocational training, public post-secondary, publicly funded private post-secondary);
− activities of an organization funded by government;
− activities of an employer with respect to employment of employees;
− activities of an industry association, if minister designates and no fee, reward or other
compensation is charged to employees;
− activities of a board or commission established under the Marketing of Agricultural
Products Act;
− operation of a trade union; or
− securing employment for athletes or performing artists in their respective area of expertise.
21
Consumer Protection Act, RSA 2000, c C-26.3; Designation of Trades and Businesses Regulation, Alta. Reg. 178/1999;
Employment Agency Business Licensing Regulation, Alta. Reg. 45/2012.
22
Employers in Alberta, including those who employ migrant workers, are otherwise covered by Alberta’s Employment Standards
(minimum wage, hours of work, overtime, rest periods, etc.); Occupational Health and Safety (workplace hazards, safety
requirements), Human Rights (discrimination under protection grounds) and Workers’ Compensation Board (workplace injuries).
The Government of Alberta also administers a Temporary Foreign Worker Advisory Office with locations in Edmonton and
Calgary to help migrant workers, international students with work authorization, and their employers understand their rights and
responsibilities, including finding solutions to situations involve unfair, unsafe or unhealthy working conditions.
23
Other provinces also regulate employment agencies but their respective legislation is excluded from comparative review in this
paper as they are not designed to explicitly address international labour recruitment (i.e., migrant workers), unlike EABLR.
24
Finally, as discussed above, Alberta is also the only province compared in this paper where no
specific definitions pertaining to “foreign nationals” or “migrant workers” apply. In this case,
migrant workers fall under the definition of a “person seeking employment” as an individual for
whom an employment agency secures or attempt to secure employment, or an individual who is
evaluated or tested for skills or knowledge required for employment by an employer, where an
employment agency carries out or arranged the evaluation or testing, and the individual or the
employment is in Alberta. As such, these definitions provide a relatively broad application of
obligations for recruiters and protections for migrant workers, regardless of their immigration
status or type of work authorization.
Ontario – Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act
In Ontario, the Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act (EPFNA) applies to all foreign
nationals who are employed or seeking employment in Ontario pursuant to an immigration or
foreign temporary employee program.
24
This application is a significant amendment to the initial
statute in Ontario which only applied to live-in caregivers (domestic workers).
25
As a result, one
of the relatively broadest interpretation and coverage of law applies in this province.
The EPFNA is enforced by the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development’s
Employment Standards division. Some of the key rights and obligations include prohibitions on
recruiters from charging any fees to migrant workers, generally preventing employers from
recovering costs from foreign nationals, prohibiting both employers and recruiters from taking a
migrant worker’s personal property, including their passport, and requiring recruiters (and in
some cases, employers) to distribute information to migrant workers on their rights under the
EPFNA and other relevant legislation.
With regard to application, the EPFNA applies to every foreign national who, pursuant to an
immigration or a foreign temporary employee program, is employed in Ontario or is attempting
to find employment in Ontario (migrant worker); every person who employs a foreign national in
Ontario pursuant to an immigration or foreign temporary employee program (employer); every
person who acts as a recruiter in connection with the employment of a foreign national in Ontario
pursuant to an immigration or foreign temporary employee program (recruiter); and every person
who acts on behalf of an employer or recruiter.
Generally, a migrant worker who has a work permit allowing them to work in Ontario is covered,
while work permit-exempt foreign nationals working pursuant to an immigration program are
assessed on a case-by-case basis. They are considered to be “attempting to find employment” if
the individual possesses a work permit, has made an application for a work permit, or if there is
evidence to demonstrate that the foreign national has communicated with a recruiter about
finding employment in Canada. Practically, this does not limit the application of the EPFNA to
any type of work permit holder (open or employer-specific, LMIA or LMIA-exempt, and so on)
nor does it require the foreign national to necessarily hold legal immigration status in the case of
one “attempting to find employment”. It could be interpreted to extend, for example, to study
permit holders (international students) who generally work in Canada without a work permit, or
work permit holders who are on track to permanent residence through a provincial nominee
program (PNP).
24
Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act (Live-in Caregivers and Others), 2009, SO 2009, c 32.
25
Bill 18, the Stronger Workplaces for Stronger Economy Act, 2014, amended the application of the Employment Protection for
Foreign Nationals Act (Live-in Caregivers and Others), 2009 significantly. Formerly, the Act only covered foreign nationals
employed as live-in caregivers. The amendments came into force on November 20, 2015.
25
With respect to the employer, in order for the EPFNA to apply, that employer must ultimately
employ a migrant worker, as defined above. In other words, the obligations of an employer apply
only with respect to migrant workers who are actually hired by the employer.
A person is considered to be acting as a recruiter if the person: finds, or attempts to find, an
individual for employment; finds or attempts to find employment for an individual; assists
another person in doing any of those things (described above); or refers an individual to another
person to do those things. Guidance suggest a degree of limited applicability if the recruiter is a
foreign government.
26
It is important to note that while this coverage is broad, Ontario does not require any licensing or
registration of its recruiters and employers respectively, as in some other jurisdictions (see
section 3). This may explain some of the restrictions that follow below in provinces that prescribe
such obligations.
Saskatchewan – Foreign Worker Recruitment and Immigration
Services Act
Migrant workers recruited outside of Saskatchewan are protected under the Foreign Worker
Recruitment and Immigration Services Act (FWRISA), a standalone statute, and its Foreign
Worker Recruitment and Immigration Services Regulations that together regulate recruitment and
immigration services provided by migrant worker recruiters, immigration consultants, and
immigration lawyers.
27
The Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety is responsible
for administering the FWRISA, including licensing of recruiters and consultants, registering
employers who are hiring foreign workers, and handling complaints related to these actors where
mistreatment under the FWRISA has occurred.
28
FWRISA defines a migrant worker broadly as a foreign national working in or seeking
employment in Saskatchewan, and they are called a “foreign worker”. A foreign worker recruiter
is a person who, for a fee or compensation, provides recruitment services. Recruitment services
are defined in the FWRISA as services that assist a foreign national or an employer to secure
employment for a foreign national in Saskatchewan, including:
− finding or attempting to find employment in Saskatchewan for a foreign national;
− assisting or advising an employer in the hiring of a foreign national;
− assisting or advising another person in doing the things mentioned above;
− referring a foreign national to another person who does the things mentioned above; and
− providing or procuring settlement services (services to assist a foreign national in adapting
to society/economy or obtaining access to social, economic, government or community
program, networks and services).
Recruiters are required to obtain a licence, except for employers, family members, governments,
educational institutions, and unions. Saskatchewan is the only province where immigration
consultants are also regulated under the same statute as recruiters (also required to obtain a
licence). Under the FWRISA, immigration consultants are defined as a person who, for a fee or
compensation, provides immigration services. Exemptions from immigration consultant licensing
26
Per the interpretation manual, the EPFNA, as provincial legislation, cannot generally be enforced against a foreign government
because of the application of the federal State Immunity Act.
27
The Foreign Worker Recruitment and Immigration Services Act, SS 2013, c F-18.1; The Foreign Worker Recruitment and
Immigration Services Regulations, RRS c F-18.1 Reg 1.
28
Prior to April 1, 2017, the FWRISA was administered by the provincial immigration ministry before being transferred to the
provincial ministry of labour.
26
apply to lawyers, non-fee charging family members, and persons who represent a person who is
the subject of Immigration and Refugee Board proceedings.
Employers of migrant workers must register if they directly or indirectly recruit a foreign
national, though relatively broader legal exemptions apply than the exemptions to recruiter
licensing. Employers do not have to register if they hire open work permit holders, work-permit
exempt foreign nationals, and some LMIA-exempt occupations except clergy and those under
international agreements such as NAFTA.
While the exemptions above apply to licensing and registration, it is important to note that
foreign worker recruiters, immigration consultants, and employers are equally prohibited from a
number of unfair practices (detailed in section 5), with no exemptions in place.
British Columbia – Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act
In British Columbia, the standalone Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act (TFWPA) and
Regulation constitute the regulatory approach to license migrant worker recruiters, register
employers, and protect migrant workers in the province.
29
In addition to licensing and registration,
the TFWPA prescribes a number of prohibited practices to improve protection for migrant workers.
Migrant workers are captured by the definition of “foreign worker” in the TFWPA as a foreign
national who is an employee, as defined in the Employment Standards Act, or seeking
employment in British Columbia. A “foreign worker recruiter” is a person who, for a fee or
compensation, received directly or indirectly, provides recruitment services. Recruitment services
are services that assist a foreign national to secure employment in British Columbia or assist an
employer to secure employment in British Columbia for a foreign national, including:
− finding or attempting to find employment in British Columbia for a foreign national,
− assisting or advising an employer in the hiring of a foreign national,
− assisting or advising another person in taking the actions described above, or
− referring a foreign national to another person who takes the actions above.
Exemptions to the requirement to hold a licence as a recruiter apply to employers, family
members, educational institutions, and governments. At the time of writing, employer obligations
to register are not yet in force, and if exemptions apply, they would be prescribed in regulation.
With respect to prohibited practices in place to protect workers (discussed further in section 5),
all recruiters and employers are equally prohibited with no exemptions in place.
Nova Scotia – Labour Standards Code
In Nova Scotia, protective measures specific to migrant workers are provided for in the Labour
Standards Code (LSC).
30
These include rules regarding charging and recovering recruitment fees
or costs from a worker, holding a migrant worker’s property, and requirements on migrant
worker employers and recruiters to proactively register and license, respectively.
The LSC defines a migrant worker as a foreign national who is recruited to become employed in
Nova Scotia, regardless of whether the individual becomes so employed, and they are called a
“foreign worker”. In policy, exceptions to this definition apply: international students (working in
co-op placements, internships/on or off campus and hold a valid study permit), specialized
29
Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act [SBC 2018] c 45.
30
Labour Standards Code, RSNS 1989, c 246.
27
service providers (employed by a foreign business to provide a specialized service over a short
period of time), and independent contractors. These groups are not considered “foreign workers”
and are not covered by the applicable protections or employer/recruiter obligations under the LSC
that are specific to foreign workers. However, it is worth noting that the key prohibition against
charging recruitment fees applies to any person, and thus includes any migrant worker beyond the
LSC’s definition and its policy exclusion.
“Recruitment” is defined as the following activities, whether or not they are provided for a fee:
− finding or attempting to find an individual for employment,
− finding or attempting to find employment for an individual,
− assisting another person in attempting to do the things described above, or
− referring an individual to another person to do any of the things described above.
Recruiters are required to be licensed before they can recruit migrant workers, with exemptions
prescribed in legislation and regulation. Exemptions include employers, family members,
governments, universities and if they recruit a migrant worker for a NOC 0 (Management) or A
(Professional) skill level position.
Foreign worker employers are defined as a person who proposes to employ a foreign worker.
They are required to obtain an employer registration certificate and engage only licensed
recruiters of foreign workers, unless they fall under a regulatory exemption as a government,
universities, or any employer who recruits a migrant worker in a NOC O or A skill level position.
The National Occupational Classification (NOC) system uses five skill levels to categorize jobs:
NOC 0: management jobs
NOC A: professional jobs that usually call for a degree from a university, such as: doctors, dentists,
architects
NOC B: technical jobs and skilled trades that usually call for a college diploma or training as an
apprentice, such as: chefs, plumbers, electricians
NOC C: intermediate jobs that usually call for high school and/or job-specific training, such as: industrial
butchers, long-haul truck drivers, food and beverage servers
NOC D: labour jobs that usually give on-the-job training, such as: fruit pickers cleaning staff, oil field
workers
New Brunswick – Employment Standards Act
In New Brunswick, migrant workers have the same rights and obligations under the Employment
Standards Act (ESA)
31
as all employees in Brunswick. However, employers have additional
obligations under the ESA with respect to hiring migrant workers. Migrant workers are defined
broadly and called a “foreign worker”: a person who is not a Canadian citizen or permanent
resident of Canada and who is working in or seeking employment in New Brunswick.
The most significant requirement in the ESA is for employers to register with Employment
Standards once they hire a migrant worker. There are also a number of prohibited employer
practices; employers cannot require migrant workers to use and pay an immigration consultant,
misrepresent employment opportunities, and recover ineligible recruitment costs from migrant
workers, among other things. The only exemption from employer registration is applied to the
31
Employment Standards Act, SNB 1982, c E-7.2.
28
government sector, i.e., the Crown in the right of the Province, or any Crown corporation or
agency. However, no exemptions apply in the case of employer prohibitions.
Recruiters are not directly captured or regulated by the ESA. One might interpret the ESA,
however, to indirectly capture some recruiters, for example as those identified in some provisions
as a person who recruits foreign workers for employment on behalf of an employer.
Manitoba – Worker Recruitment and Protection Act
The Worker Recruitment and Protection Act (WRAPA) and its Regulations are standalone law
that increase protections for migrant workers and others in Manitoba and provide the criteria and
obligations that recruiters and employers must meet to be approved for a licence or registration,
respectively.
32
Under the WRAPA, a migrant worker, called a “foreign worker” is defined in
legislation as a foreign national, who pursuant to an immigration or temporary
foreign worker program, is recruited to become employed in Manitoba. Exemptions
from the definition are prescribed in regulations as “foreign worker exclusions” and
are directly tied to federal immigration law as follows: a foreign national who is authorized to
work in Canada under one of the following provisions of the IRPR, is exempt from the definition
“foreign worker”:
(a) section 186 (no permit required);
(b) section 204 (international agreements);
(c) section 205 (Canadian interests);
(d) section 206 (no other means of support);
(e) section 207 (applicants in Canada), except clause 207(a)
33
;
(f) section 208 (humanitarian reasons).
Practically, this exempts nearly all migrant workers with IMP (LMIA-exempt) work
authorizations, including work permit-exempt individuals, from WRAPA protections and
associated recruiter and employer obligations. This would include for example, the requirement
to obtain a licence before recruiting a migrant worker that falls under one of the exclusions.
Recruiters are not defined as an entity, rather a definition for “foreign worker recruitment” is
provided in the Act and means the following activities, whether or not they are provided for a fee:
− finding one or more foreign workers for employment in Manitoba; and
− finding employment in Manitoba for one or more foreign workers.
Foreign worker recruiters must be licensed unless they fall under an exemption as a government,
employer, family member, or an individual recruiting on behalf of an employer who has obtained
written authorization to recruit a foreign worker for a position that pays a wage at least two times
higher than the Manitoba industrial average wage.
Employers are required to register prior to recruiting a migrant worker and no exemptions to
registration apply. However, given that the WRAPA definition of a migrant worker is quite
limited, this creates a significant de facto exemption from registration for a relatively large group
of employers.
32
The Worker Recruitment and Protection Act, CCSM c W197; Worker Recruitment and Protection Regulation, Man Reg 21/2009.
33
Paragraph 207(a) of the IRPR was repealed in 2017. This clause authorized the issuance of open work permits to live-in
caregivers who had completed work experience requirements under the former Live-in Caregiver permanent residence class, but
were waiting for the final processing of their permanent residence application. This permanent residence class was closed to new
applicants in 2014.
29
Quebec – Regulation respecting personnel placement agencies and
recruitment agencies for temporary foreign workers
In Quebec, the Act respecting labour standards (Loi sur les normes du travail) and the
Regulation respecting personnel placement agencies and recruitment agencies for temporary
foreign workers (Règlement sur les agences de placement de personnel et les agences de
recrutement de travailleurs étrangers temporaires) require, among other things, recruiters of
migrant workers to hold a licence to operate and migrant worker employers to retain the services
of licensed recruiters.
34
It also provides protective measures for migrant workers, including the
prohibition against taking their passport. The definitions of recruitment agency, employer (called
a “client enterprise”), and migrant worker are set out in regulation.
A migrant worker is called a “temporary foreign worker” (travailleur étranger temporaire) and is
defined as a foreign national who is staying or wishes to stay temporarily in Quebec to carry out
work with an employer under the “temporary foreign worker program” provided for in the
Quebec Immigration Regulation. The only migrant workers covered by this definition are those
subject to the LMIA; LMIA-exempt workers such as those under the IMP, and their employers
and recruiters, are excluded.
The recruiter is captured as a “recruitment agency for temporary foreign workers” (agence de
recrutement de travailleurs étrangers temporaires) and means a person, partnership or other entity
that has least one activity consisting in offering to a client enterprise services related to the
recruitment of temporary foreign workers, as defined above. Services may include assisting
workers in their efforts to obtain a work permit.
The “client enterprise” (entreprise cliente) is defined as a person, partnership or other entity that,
to meet labour needs, retains the services of a recruitment agency. While directly positioned as a
client of the recruitment agency, the client enterprise can be understood here as the employer.
Exemptions and exclusive protection
While obligations, prohibited practices, and protective measures relevant to migrant workers,
their employers and recruiters are explored in further detail in the next sections, the preceding
summary of how these entities are defined and when exemptions apply is of crucial importance.
The more narrowly these laws are applied, the more protective measures depend on
the way in which a migrant worker is authorized to work in Canada. This can hinge
on a range of factors for the migrant worker: who hired them, under which temporary
labour migration program they entered, the type of work permit they hold, the skill
level of their position, their employer’s requirement to apply for a labour market test (LMIA),
and even the wage offered.
This section then, and much of the discussion that follows below, is characterized by a theme of
exceptions and exemptions, signifying excluded coverage for the overall population of migrant
workers in Canada. Provincial work permit statistics (Appendix I) provide a sense of total
volumes broken down by program and work permit type. Depending on the application of legal
coverage, these statistics provide a glimpse into how migrant workers may or may not fall within
scope by province.
34
Act respecting labour standards, CQLR c N-1.1; Regulation respecting personnel placement agencies and recruitment agencies
for temporary foreign workers.
30
2. NO RECRUITMENT FEES TO WORKERS
No recruitment fees or related costs should be charged to, or otherwise borne by, workers or
jobseekers.
Key questions: Are recruitment fees prohibited? Can employers recover costs? Are any recruitment-
related costs permissible, such as costs for immigration services? If so, are the nature of permissible
costs made transparent to those who pay them (e.g., mandatory disclosure/agreement)?
Migrant workers are frequently charged fees by their recruiters abroad and in Canada. Fees may
include travel, arranging interviews and job matching, immigration-related costs (passport, visa,
work permit), and service charges, among others. A wide range of monetary amounts have been
reported by media and researchers in the Canadian context, from $1,000 to $50,000 Canadian
dollars depending on a number of factors such as the country of origin, type of job, destined
province, and prospective permanent immigration program.
35
These fees can amount to several
months’ wages for some workers and in some cases requiring loans at high interest rates,
compounding the debt that migrant workers already undertake prior to arrival. Once employment
begins in Canada, some employers or third parties also recover costs associated with recruitment
and employment from wages or benefits. Indebtedness of this nature can effectively compel
workers to stay in their employment situation regardless of their working conditions, creating an
increased risk of debt bondage, forced labour, and human trafficking. Furthermore, when migrant
workers are required to pay high fees, labour may be hired based on ability to pay rather than skills
and merit. In view of these realities, the principle that no recruitment fees or related costs should
be charged to, or borne by, workers or jobseekers is fundamental to fair recruitment frameworks.
WHAT CONSTITUTES RECRUITMENT FEES AND RELATED COSTS?
In 2018, the ILO Governing Body approved a definition to clarify the nature and characteristics
of recruitment fees and related costs and to accompany its General Principles and Operational
Guidelines for Fair Recruitment. According to the ILO definition, the terms “recruitment fees” or
“related costs” refer to any fees or costs incurred in the recruitment process in order for workers
to secure employment or placement, regardless of the manner, timing or location of their
imposition or collection. It reiterates that recruitment fees or related costs should not be collected
from workers by an employer, their subsidiaries, labour recruiters or other third parties providing
related services and such fees should not be collected directly or indirectly (e.g., through
deductions from wages or benefits).
Recruitment fees and related costs are defined separately. In brief, recruitment fees may cover
payments for recruiting, referral and placement services such as advertising, disseminating
information, arranging interviews, and placement into employment. Related costs are expenses
integral to recruitment and placement such as medical, training, equipment and administrative
costs, among others, when they are any of the following:
− initiated by an employer, labour recruiter or agent acting on their behalf;
− required to secure access to employment/placement; or
− imposed during the recruitment process.
35
See Gesualdi-Fecteau, D., Thibault, A., Schivone, N., Dufour, C., Gouin, S., Monjean, N., & Moses, É. (2017). Who, How and
How Much? Recruitment of Guatemalan Migrant Workers to Quebec. St. John’s: On the Move Partnership; Wright, Teresa.
“Concerns raised over high fees charged to temporary foreign workers.” National Post, 28 May 2018; Dharssi, Alia. “
The murky
world of the agencies that recruit temporary foreign workers.” Calgary Herald, 14 September 2016. Champagne, Sarah R. “Des
travailleurs agricoles guatémaltèques disent avoir perdu des milliers de dollars”, Le Devoir, 3 October 2017.
31
The latter provides a degree of flexibility when determining if costs are indeed “related” to the
recruitment process and consequently prohibited. The definition of related costs also recognizes
that exceptions may be made, with some conditions (e.g., that they must be in the interest of the
workers concerned). An abbreviated version of the fees and related costs’ definition is provided
below (see Appendix II for full text):
ILO definition of recruitment fees and related costs (abbreviated)
Recruitment fees include:
(a) payments for recruitment services offered by
labour recruiters, whether public or private,
in matching offers of and applications for
employment;
(b) payments made in the case of recruitment of
workers with a view to employing them to
perform work for a third party;
(c) payments made in the case of direct
recruitment by the employer; or
(d) payments required to recover recruitment
fees from workers.
These fees may be one-time or recurring
and cover recruiting, referral and
placement services which could include
advertising, disseminating information,
arranging interviews, submitting
documents for government clearances,
confirming credentials, organizing travel
and transportation, and placement into
employment.
Related costs are expenses integral to recruitment
and placement…It is recognized that the competent
authority has flexibility to determine exceptions to
their applicability…Such exceptions should be
considered subject, but not limited, to the following
conditions:
i. they are in the interest of the workers concerned; and
ii. they are limited to certain categories of workers and
specified types of services; and
iii. the corresponding related costs are disclosed to the
worker before the job is accepted.
When initiated by an employer, labour recruiter or
an agent acting on behalf of those parties; required
to secure access to employment or placement; or
imposed during the recruitment process, the
following costs should be considered related to the
recruitment process: medical costs; insurance costs;
costs for skills and qualification tests; costs for
training and orientation; equipment costs; travel and
lodging costs; and administrative costs.
It is also worth noting that “illegitimate, unreasonable and undisclosed costs” are also addressed
by the definition: extra-contractual, undisclosed, inflated or illicit costs are never legitimate.
Examples of these costs include bribes, tributes, extortion or kickback payments, bonds, illicit
cost-recovery fees, and collaterals required by any actor in the recruitment chain.
Immigration-related services and costs in the recruitment process
Under the ILO definition of recruitment-related costs, “administrative costs” include application
and service fees required for the sole purpose of fulfilling the recruitment process. These
costs can include fees for representation and services aimed at preparing, obtaining or
legalizing worker’s immigration-related documents such as work and residence permits. Fees for
immigration services and how they are regulated alongside more traditional recruitment services are a
curious consideration in the Canadian immigration context.
In recent years, Canadian immigration policy has evolved to establish increased “two-step” (as opposed to
one-step) immigration processes, which involve migrant workers arriving in Canada first to obtain required
work experience or job offers before applying for permanent residence.
36
This has increased the role that
employers play in selecting economic immigrants, where Canadian work experience or job offers are
required for certain streams of provincial nominee programs (PNP), and some federal immigration
programs, including the Canadian Experience Class and the Agri-Food Pilot.
36
See Lu, Y., and Hou, F. 2017. Transition from Temporary Foreign Workers to Permanent Residents, 1990 to 2014. Analytical
Studies Branch Research Paper Series, no. 389. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11F0019M. Ottawa: Statistics Canada;
Nakache, D and Dixon-Perera, L. 2015. Temporary or Transitional? Migrant Workers’ Experiences with Permanent Residence in
Canada. IRPP Study 55. Montreal: Institute for Research on Public Policy; Valiani, S. 2013 The shifting landscape of
contemporary Canadian immigration policy: the rise of temporary migration and employer-driven immigration. In L. Goldring and
P. Landolt, eds. Producing and negotiation non-citizenship: Precarious legal status in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto
Press, 55-70.
32
The relationship between temporary labour migration programs and permanent immigration in Canada
thus creates a natural connection between migrant worker recruitment and the provision of immigration
services. With the increase in employer-driven immigration programs in Canada administered at both the
provincial and federal level, recruiters are well-placed to play both sides: as “labour recruiters” matching
migrant workers to employers and jobs that may provide access to various permanent residence pathways
and as “immigration consultants” providing the associated immigration advice and representation to
migrants.
If any prohibition against charging fees is strictly limited to costs related to recruitment services, recruiters
may easily hide fees charged as “immigration-related” to evade consequences. What constitutes
prohibited recruitment fees and related costs in different regulatory approaches in Canada is important to
note, should it include or exclude immigration services.
The prohibition against charging recruitment fees and/or recovering fees to migrant workers is
central to all provincial frameworks under review. Prohibitions on fee charging and employer
cost recovery are explored separately below.
PROHIBITIONS ON CHARGING RECRUITMENT FEES
In general, the provinces prohibit either individuals or relevant entities involved in recruitment
activities from charging either (1) any fees or (2) fees for strictly recruitment and/or employment-
related services. In the latter case, some jurisdictions require disclosure of non-recruitment
related fees (2a), for example in a separate agreement with the person being charged for services.
Recruitment-related costs for immigration services are explicitly addressed by requiring some
type of transparency to the parties involved in some cases. All provinces have relevant
prohibitions against charging recruitment fees, except New Brunswick where only a prohibition
over the employer against recruitment cost recovery is in place. The summary below provides an
overview, accompanied by the relevant legal prohibitions by province for more precise reference.
(1) Any fees prohibited
Legislation in Ontario and Manitoba prohibit any individual or person engaged in recruitment
activities from charging fees altogether. This means no exceptions apply and the provisions are
drafted in such a way that as long as an individual or person is providing recruitment services, no
fees of any kind can be charged to the migrant worker, i.e., no type of fee is permissible. This
accordingly prohibits charging fees for immigration services.
Ontario’s prohibition in the EPFNA is against directly or indirectly charging any fee for any
service, good or benefit provided to the foreign national. Interpretation guidance states that this
may include fees charged for both “optional” and “mandatory” services such as orientation
sessions, assistance or instruction with respect to resume or job interview preparation, first aid
training sessions, and others. Manitoba’s WRAPA specifies that an individual engaged in foreign
worker recruitment must not directly or indirectly charge or collect a fee from a foreign worker
for finding or attempting to find employment for him or her. Guidance broadly interprets this
provision, stating that one cannot charge a foreign worker for immigration assistance and be
involved in the recruitment process, as it would contravene the WRAPA which prohibits
recruiters against charging fees, either directly or indirectly from foreign workers. That is, if any
part of the sum of services offered to a migrant worker includes finding a job for them, the
worker cannot be charged any amount, at all.
33
(2) Recruitment fees prohibited
In Quebec and Nova Scotia, the prohibition on charging fees is strictly related to recruitment
services (Quebec) or finding employment (Nova Scotia). By law, any other non-recruitment-
related fees or costs are permissible. Nova Scotia’s Labour Standards Code prohibits any person
from directly or indirectly charging or collecting a fee from an individual for finding or
attempting to find employment for the individual, or providing the individual with information
about any employer seeking employees. Note that this applies to anyone being charged, not
limited to the Code’s definition of “foreign worker”. While fees for immigration services are not
prohibited, Nova Scotia’s application form for recruiter licensing does ask for information about
any immigration activities the recruiter is engaged in, including standard fees charged.
In Quebec, migrant workers cannot be charged fees for their recruitment, with the exception of
fees authorized under a Canadian government (federal) program as per the Regulation respecting
personnel placement agencies and recruitment agencies for temporary foreign workers.
37
This
leaves room for an exception if the federal government (IRCC or ESDC) ever authorized any fees
to be charged by a recruiter.
(2a) Recruitment fees prohibited & disclosure of unrelated fees required
Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan also prohibit workers from being charged for
recruitment services, but in the case of fees for non-recruitment services, some type of disclosure is
required of the associated fees. Practically, this provides a degree of transparency and informed
consent to the migrant worker about the nature of fees being charged. It also supports more effective
enforcement for authorities as they are equipped with records detailing all distinct fees charged.
Among these jurisdictions, the regulatory prohibition on fee charging is the most detailed in
Alberta’s EABLR. Employment agencies in Alberta cannot directly or indirectly demand or
collect fees related to employment agency business services. If non-employment agency business
services are charged, it is allowed as long as a separate written agreement between the agency
(recruiter) and person (migrant worker) being charged is provided, disclosing the fees for those
services. In addition, employment agencies cannot make an individual pay for other services as a
condition to help the person find work. The agency must ensure that the fee is reasonable and that
the documented consent of the individual is obtained prior to the provision of services.
British Columbia’s TFWPA and Saskatchewan’s FWRISA specify that fees cannot be charged for
recruitment or employment, and include requirements regarding disclosure of either “settlement
services” (Saskatchewan) or “immigration services” (British Columbia). Unlike Alberta, where
any services other than employment agency business (recruitment) services must be disclosed,
British Columbia and Saskatchewan only require separate disclosure with regard to fees charged
for services related to immigration or settlement, respectively. These provinces also assert an
“employer pays” principle that recruitment fees cannot be charged to any person “other than an
employer”, placing the clearest responsibility on the employer to bear the cost of recruitment.
Similar to Alberta, both British Columbia and Saskatchewan require disclosure and consent in a
separate agreement or contract. They stipulate that if a recruiter is providing immigration or
settlement services to a migrant worker while providing recruitment services to their employer, the
recruiter must disclose that fact to both parties and the nature of the services being provided. They
must also obtain the written consent of both parties to provide those services in a signed contract.
37
At the time of writing, there were no authorized recruitment fees permitted to be charged by a recruiter under a federal program.
34
Prohibitions on charging fees by province
Province Relevant provisions on fees
British Columbia
Temporary Foreign
Worker Protection Act
Fees and expenses for recruitment or employment
21(1) A person must not, directly or indirectly, charge any person other than an employer a
fee or expense for recruitment services.
(2) A foreign worker recruiter or employer must not, directly or indirectly, charge a fee or
expense to a foreign worker for employment.
Alberta
Employment Agency
Business Licensing
Regulation
Fee prohibition
12(1) No employment agency business operator shall directly or indirectly demand or
collect a fee, reward or other compensation
(a) from an individual who is seeking employment or from another person on that
individual’s behalf,
(b) from an individual who is seeking information respecting employers seeking
employees or from another person on that individual’s behalf,
(c) from an individual for securing or attempting to secure employment for the individual or
providing the individual with information respecting any employer seeking employees or
from another person on that individual’s behalf, or
(d) from an individual to be evaluated or tested, for skills or knowledge required for
employment where the individual or the employment is in Alberta, or from another person
on that individual’s behalf.
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) prohibits an employment agency business operator from
charging a fee for the provision of services to an individual that are not employment agency
business services, including, without limitation, resume-writing services and job skills
training services if
(a) the employment agency business operator and the person to whom the fee is charged
have entered into a written agreement for the provision of the services that
(i) sets out the fee, and
(ii) is separate from any agreement between the individual to whom the services are
provided and the employment agency business operator for the provision of the
employment agency business services to the individual,
(b) the individual to whom the services are provided is not required to access the services
in order to access the employment agency business operator’s employment agency
business services, and
(c) the fee is reasonable.
Saskatchewan
Foreign Worker
Recruitment and
Immigration Services
Act
Recruitment fee
23 (1) Subject to subsection (2), no person shall, directly or indirectly, charge any person
other than an employer a fee or expense for recruitment services.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply with respect to any settlement services provided pursuant
to a contract for immigration services.
23(5) No immigration consultant, foreign worker recruiter or employer shall, directly or
indirectly, charge a fee or expense to a foreign worker for employment.
Manitoba
Worker Recruitment
and Protection Act
Foreign worker must not be charged
15(4) An individual who is engaged in foreign worker recruitment must not directly or
indirectly charge or collect a fee from a foreign worker for finding or attempting to find
employment for him or her.
Ontario
Employment
Protection for Foreign
Nationals Act
Prohibition against charging fees
7(1) No person who acts as a recruiter in connection with the employment of a foreign
national shall directly or indirectly charge the foreign national or such other persons as may
be prescribed a fee for any service, good or benefit provided to the foreign national.
Prohibition against collecting fees
(3) No person acting on behalf of a recruiter shall collect a fee charged by the recruiter in
contravention of subsection (1).
35
Province Relevant provisions on fees
Quebec
Regulation respecting
Personnel placement
agencies and
recruitment agencies
for temporary foreign
workers
25(2) No temporary foreign worker recruitment licence holder may charge a temporary
foreign worker, for the worker’s recruitment, fees other than fees authorized under a
Canadian government program
Nova Scotia
Labour Standards
Code
No fee permitted
89B (1) No person shall, directly or indirectly, charge or collect a fee from an individual for
(a) finding or attempting to find employment in the Province for the individual; or
(b) providing the individual with information about any employer who is seeking
employees for employment in the Province.
(2) No person shall assist another person to do any of things described in subsection (1).
PROHIBITION ON EMPLOYER RECOVERY OF COSTS
The prohibition on employers recovering recruitment costs through wages or benefits (e.g., wage
deduction) is established in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New
Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Alberta’s relevant framework is limited to employment agencies,
and therefore does not have direct requirements over employers in this respect.
Only three provincial regimes provide exceptions to employer cost recovery: Ontario, Quebec
and Manitoba. Ontario’s EPFNA and Quebec’s Act respecting labour standards make reference
to permissible costs under federal government programs, which Ontario prescribes precisely in its
regulation to be the costs of air travel and work permits if the employer is permitted to deduct
such costs under an employment contract made pursuant to the Government of Canada’s SAWP
program.
38
Quebec does not specify a particular federal program but rather provides a blanket
exemption to any fees authorized under a Canadian government program. Those would also
include the travel costs allowed to be recovered by the employer in some cases under the SAWP,
for example.
Interestingly, a unique exception applies to Manitoba’s WRAPA prohibition against employer
cost recovery. WRAPA permits an employer to sue if a worker fails to report for work or has
engaged in wilful misconduct, violence in the workplace, or dishonesty in the course of
employment, or fails to complete substantially all of the terms of employment.
Prohibitions on employer cost recovery by province
Province Relevant provisions on cost recovery
British Columbia
Temporary
Foreign Worker
Protection Act
21(2) A foreign worker recruiter or employer must not, directly or indirectly, charge a fee or
expense to a foreign worker for employment.
21 (5) An employer must not reduce the wages of a foreign worker, or vary, reduce or eliminate
any other benefit or term or condition of a foreign worker’s employment, in order to recover the
expense of recruiting the foreign worker.
Saskatchewan
Foreign Worker
Recruitment and
Immigration
Services Act
23(4) No employer shall reduce the wages of a foreign worker, or vary, reduce or eliminate any
other benefit or term or condition of a foreign worker’s employment in order to recover the cost
of recruiting the foreign worker and any agreement by the foreign worker to a variation,
reduction or elimination is void.
38
For example, employers hiring under the SAWP must arrange and pay for the round-trip transportation of the migrant workers
they hire (including travel to and from their place of work in Canada and their country of residence). Employers are allowed to
recover some of these costs through payroll deductions in all provinces except British Columbia. The employment contract that is
negotiated annually for the SAWP specifies the maximum amount that employers can deduct (see more detail in contracts
negotiated for 2020: Mexico & Commonwealth Caribbean
).
36
Province Relevant provisions on cost recovery
Manitoba
Worker
Recruitment and
Protection Act
No recovery from foreign worker
16(1) No employer shall directly or indirectly, recover from a foreign worker
(a) subject to subsection (2), any cost incurred by the employer in recruiting the worker; or
(b) any amount, except an amount in respect of the reasonable monetary value of a good,
service or benefit that
(i) was given to the worker by the employer,
(ii) was to the direct benefit or advantage of the worker, and
(iii) was not required to be obtained by the worker as a condition of being employed, or if it
was, the worker was not required to obtain it from the employer.
Exceptions
16(2) An employer may sue to recover the employer’s reasonable costs of recruiting a foreign
worker from that worker if he or she fails to report for work or, having reported,
(a) acts in a manner that is not condoned by the employer and that,
(i) constitutes wilful misconduct, disobedience or wilful neglect of duty,
(ii) is violent in the workplace, or
(iii) is dishonest in the course of employment, or
(b) fails to complete substantially all of his or her term of employment with the employer. (a)
from an individual who is seeking employment or from another person on that individual’s
behalf,
Ontario
Employment
Protection for
Foreign Nationals
Act and
Regulation
Prohibition against cost recovery by employers
8(1) No employer shall directly or indirectly recover or attempt to recover from a foreign
national or from such other persons as may be prescribed,
(a) any cost incurred by the employer in the course of arranging to become or attempting to
become an employer of the foreign national; or
(b) any other cost that is prescribed.
Regulation 348/15
Exception to prohibition of cost recovery
1. For the purposes of subsection 8(2) of the Act, the following are prescribed as costs that an
employer may recover or attempt to recover from a foreign national or other prescribed
persons.
Costs of air travel and work permits, if the employer is permitted to deduct such costs under an
employment contract made pursuant to the Government of Canada program known as the
“Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program”
Quebec
Act respecting
labour standards
91.12 No employer may charge a temporary foreign worker fees related to his recruitment
other than fees authorized under a Canadian government program.
New Brunswick
Employment
Standards Act
38.91(2) No employer shall, directly or indirectly, recover from a foreign worker any cost
incurred by the employer in recruiting the foreign worker that is not allowed under the program
under which the employer has recruited the foreign worker.
38.91(3) No employer shall reduce the rate of wages, reduce or eliminate any other benefit or
change the terms and conditions of employment of a foreign worker that the employer
undertook to provide to the foreign worker when the employer recruited the foreign worker for
employment.
Nova Scotia
Labour Standards
Code
No cost recovery from employee
89E No employer shall, directly or indirectly, recover from an employee any cost incurred by
the employer in recruiting the employee.
No wage reduction
89F (1) No employer shall reduce the wages of a foreign worker employed by the employer, or
reduce or eliminate any other benefit, term or condition of the foreign worker’s employment that
the employer undertook to provide as a result of participating in the recruitment of a foreign
worker.
37
3. LICENSING AND REGISTRATION
Regulation of employment and recruitment activities should be clear and transparent and
effectively enforced. The use of standardized registration, licensing or certification systems
should be highlighted.
RECRUITER LICENSING
Key questions: Do recruitment activities require a licence? What is the eligibility criteria to apply and be
issued a licence? What proportion of the labour supply chain is covered by licensing requirements?
Mandatory licensing of recruiters is a proactive way for governments to clearly authorize who
can and cannot engage in the recruitment and placement of migrant workers. Authorities can pre-
assess the character, financial history, and competence of an individual or business through a
series of restrictions and requirements imposed at the front-end application stage. If satisfied, a
recruiter licence may be issued to authorize the individual or entity to operate and do recruitment
business. The licence validity is typically time-limited and requires renewal to continue
recruitment activities beyond the initial licence expiration date. This enables ongoing oversight of
activities as licenses may be refused at renewal, or suspended or cancelled throughout the validity
period on grounds related to behaviour or violations with prescribed rules. An application fee is
sometimes charged and in most cases a bond is required as security to be paid out in case of non-
compliance to settle obligations (e.g., where prohibited fees were uncovered). Unlicensed
individuals or entities are regarded as unauthorized and may be subject to administrative or penal
consequences if they engage in recruitment without a licence. Furthermore, employers are held
liable for recruiter contraventions if they hire unlicensed recruiters, creating a clear demand for
authorized recruiters along the supply chain.
Figure 6: Recruiter licensing map
The following six provincial regimes
have licensing requirements for
individuals or businesses involved in
the recruitment and placement of
migrant workers: British Columbia,
Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba,
Quebec and Nova Scotia. As discussed
earlier, the requirement to licence is
not universal, in general, most statutes
exempt employers, family members,
governments and educational
institutions from licensing (Table 5).
The common features of the recruiter
licensing schemes are thematically
discussed and a comparative provincial
summary is captured in Tables 6 and 7.
38
Screening: Eligibility, application, fees, and securities
Some provinces restrict who can apply for a recruiter licence through exclusive eligibility
criteria. For example, all regimes under review, except in Alberta and Quebec, require a licensee
to be an individual, that is, not a business entity. However, Quebec’s regime does require an
individual to represent themselves on an application, and in that case they must be at least 18
years old.
In Manitoba and Nova Scotia, consideration for a recruitment licence is only given to
lawyers, paralegals, Quebec notaries, and immigration consultants, all of whom must
be in good standing of their respective professional regulatory bodies. This restricts
the group of people who can be licensed in the same way that federal immigration
law under section 91 of the IRPA limits who can provide immigration advice. Saskatchewan’s
model is discussed in further detail, where immigration consultants require a separate licence in
order to provide immigration services in the province.
Regulation of immigration consultants in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan’s FWRISA is a unique regulatory approach to migrant worker recruitment in Canada
because it not only governs the employers and recruiters of migrant workers, but also their immigration
consultants. If a person provides immigration services to a foreign national, they are required to be
licensed and adhere to applicable requirements under the FWRISA unless they are lawyers or family
members, among other specific exemptions. To be eligible for a licence, the individual must already be a
member in good standing of the ICCRC (a requirement under the IRPA unless a member in good standing
of a law society), and provide a financial security of $20,000, to be used to reimburse foreign nationals if
they incur fees or costs in violation of the FWRISA.
Under the FWRISA, an immigration consultant is a person who, for a fee or compensation provides
“immigration services”, defined as services that assist a foreign national in immigrating to Saskatchewan,
including: researching and advising on immigration opportunities, laws or processes; preparing or
assisting in the preparation, filing and presentation of applications and documents related to immigration
(this includes application for temporary or permanent immigration classes); and representing a foreign
national to or before immigration authorities. It also includes the provision or procurement of settlement
services to assist a foreign national in adapting to Saskatchewan’s society or economy or in obtaining
access to social, economic, government or community programs, networks and services (e.g., short-term
housing, English language training, obtaining a healthcare card).
Saskatchewan’s model regulates and investigates recruitment and immigration activities together; an
individual must hold both a foreign worker recruiter and immigration consultant licence if they are engaged
in both activities. In this sense, the FWRSIA is the only statute in Canada that responds to the highly
integrated nature of recruitment and immigration consulting services, by regulating them under one single
regime.
Licences are only issued if prescribed conditions are met during the application process. Relevant
information collected in an application form may range from basic contact and business
information to extensive details relating to an applicant’s criminal, tax or bankruptcy history, and
the disclosure of relationships with all partners in their labour supply chain. Generally,
applications are designed to gather substantial business detail and character background. Inquiries
can then be made into the character, financial history, and competence of an individual or entity
by the relevant authority. Alberta’s application under the EABLR also requires that the applicant
provide copies of two agreements: one between the employment agency (i.e., recruiter) and
employer, and one between the agency and migrant worker (person seeking employment).
39
Unlike most provinces that charge an application or licence fee, the application itself is free in
British Columbia and Saskatchewan. In Quebec, if the licence is issued, a sum of $1,780 is owed
in two equal installments: $890 at issuance and $890 one year afterwards. Application fees are
charged in Manitoba ($100), Nova Scotia ($100), and Alberta ($120 as a licensing fee).
A financial security or bond is required in all provinces except Quebec, which can be used to
compensate or reimburse migrant workers who incur any financial loss as a result of any legal
violation or contravention by a licensee. The range across jurisdictions is noteworthy: $5,000 in
Nova Scotia to four times that rate in British Columbia and Saskatchewan ($20,000). Alberta has
the highest at $25,000, however it is only required for international employment agencies
recruiting NOC B, C, or D employees. Manitoba’s security is at the lower end at $10,000.
Refusals, suspensions, and cancellation of licence
The conditions of issuance, renewal, and maintenance of the licence require ongoing compliance
with the law. Administrators have a range of authorities to refuse the issuance or renewal of a
licence, or amend, suspend or cancel a licence during its validity period. In addition, certain
regimes ensure that terms and conditions can be imposed at any time. These tools enable
continuous oversight and accountability over licensees and their activities and encourage
compliance and fair conduct. Refusal grounds across licensing regimes include circumstances
where the applicant has not complied with the relevant legislation or regulation, has provided
incomplete, false, misleading or inaccurate information in their application, or there is evidence
that the applicant will not act lawfully or with integrity based on past conduct. Suspensions or
cancellations may be enforced on the same refusal grounds, or if the licensee fails to provide
requested or required information to the respective authority, for example. In Quebec, a previous
criminal or penal conviction related to recruitment, or a conviction for discrimination,
psychological harassment or reprisals in the context of employment may lead to the refusal of a
licence.
Knowledge and understanding of legal obligations
It is worth noting that no licensing regime requires applicants to formally demonstrate a sound
understanding of the relevant laws with respect to rights of migrant workers or licensee
obligations in advance of licence issuance; no training or exam to test their comprehension is
required. That being said, all regimes provide material online or with the issued licence that
outline core obligations and prohibited practices in plain language.
Some jurisdictions such as Nova Scotia, may impose terms and conditions as a means to apply
safeguards in cases where the licensee seems to lack an understanding of relevant rules from the
outset. This is imposed on a discretionary basis to compel licensees to check-in with Nova
Scotia’s Labour Standards periodically. For example, a condition may be imposed on the licensee
to disclose certain activities to authorities every three months and to demonstrate that they have
provided written contracts to workers or certain information about their rights. This affords a
degree of education on legal requirements to ensure compliance.
Another measure to ensure that licensees understand their obligations is to require a statutory
declaration at the application and renewal stage. This would require applicants to solemnly
declare that they will comply with relevant legal obligations and maintain a high standard of
conduct. Saskatchewan requires agreement to a standardized “Terms and Conditions” document,
which outlines a range of obligations, offences and prohibitions.
40
Licence characteristics
All recruiter licences across regimes are time-limited and non-transferable. The validity period of
the licence, however, differs across provinces and some statutes provide the authority for the
licence to be issued for a maximum number of years, allowing some discretion in policy for
duration (e.g., one year issued in practice, but up to three years may be issued in law). Provinces
range between 1-year (British Columbia, Manitoba); 2-year (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec) and
3-year (Nova Scotia) licence durations.
Public access
Licensed recruiters in all provincial licensing schemes are identified in a public registry online.
39
This enables migrant workers and employers to proactively verify the legitimacy of the recruiter
prior to any formal engagement. Employers have a clear incentive to hire only licensed recruiters
as they may be held liable for contraventions if a violation occurs by an unlicensed recruiter. The
list generally states in plain language that the listed recruiters are the only ones allowed to recruit
migrant workers in that province. Public registries provide basic name and contact details, as well
as the expiration date of the licence.
Figure 7: Number of recruiter licenses listed online (as of February 2020)
In Saskatchewan, a separate list of individuals who have been suspended from providing
recruitment services or refused a licence is also posted. Quebec requires licensees to visibly post
their licence in their head office and any other business establishments. In Nova Scotia, any terms
and conditions that have been attached to the licence are also available publicly. British Columbia
is obliged to maintain the most detailed public registry, including any terms, conditions, and
amendments associated with a licence and if any licensees have been suspended or cancelled, and
the respective dates.
Labour supply chains and accountability
For ease of review, this paper employs a simplified portrayal of migrant worker relationships
with recruiters by using the singular term “labour recruiter”. It is important to register however,
that labour recruiters, including formal regulated licensees, are often connected to other formal
and informal brokers or sub-agents in complex labour supply chains. Because networks of formal
and informal recruiters and sub-agents are often leveraged to find prospective migrant workers
and employers, adopting laws that enforce accountability along the full length of the employment
and recruitment supply chain is important. A short description of these networks is provided
below to contextualize how provinces have regulated in this area.
39
Links to each public registry: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, Nova Scotia.
41
International labour recruitment operates through a variety of relationship structures, some more
complex than others. The length of the supply chain also varies, on one end of the spectrum, an
employer directly hiring a migrant worker would be the shortest, while an employer hiring a
recruiter in Canada that relies on chain of recruiters (formal and informal) overseas would be
much longer. Figure 8 provides a simplified visual representation of some recruitment
relationship structures that exist adapted for the Canadian context.
40
Figure 8: Labour recruitment supply chain models
Accordingly, certain provinces collect extensive information at the licence application stage to
uncover the full extent and location of the recruiter’s supply chain in the province and outside
Canada. For example, Saskatchewan and British Columbia require that applicants disclose the
names and addresses of all their partners, affiliates, or agents located or operating inside or
outside of the respective province. British Columbia’s TFWPA holds the licensee liable to ensure
that their partners, affiliates or agents comply with relevant laws and Saskatchewan establishes
liability through their Code of Conduct, discussed below. Nova Scotia also requires applicants to
disclose comprehensive of details of their supply chain including the names of individuals with
whom they or the employer intend to work, and a description of their legal relationship.
Manitoba’s application form requires applicants to submit an organizational chart showing the
relationship between all parent, controlling, subsidiary, and affiliated companies. By exposing the
licensee’s supply chain through proactive disclosure, it can enable more effective enforcement
with regard to holding the licensee liable for contraventions committed by their partner or
affiliate.
40
While Figure 8 captures some typical relationships, labour recruitment under the SAWP formally involves foreign governments
(e.g., Government of Mexico and Governments of Commonwealth Caribbean states) and groups of employers (F.A.R.M.S. and
F.E.R.M.E.) which are not presented here.
42
In addition, in provinces where both employers are registered and recruiters are licensed liability
is placed on the employer in case of violations like illegal fee charging if they have engaged an
unlicensed recruiter. Responsibility falls on the employer to only hire licensed recruiters; if not,
illegally charged fees can be recovered from them. In Nova Scotia, it is an independent offence
for employers to use unlicensed recruiters. Combined, these provisions make it in the employer’s
interest to ensure compliance in their labour supply chain, at minimum, that they only use
legitimate and licensed recruiters in the province.
Recruiter Code of Conduct
Saskatchewan uniquely requires recruiter licensees to follow a Code of Conduct for Foreign
Worker Recruiters (see Appendix III for full text), which establishes standards of professional
conduct for licensed recruiters and guidance for their practice. The Code of Conduct prohibits
recruiters from engaging in any unlawful activity; providing advice or creating false expectations
that would lead a foreign national to divest assets, quit their job or relocate without certainty of
the right to work in Canada; or representing, either expressly or by implication, that services
provided by the recruiter are endorsed by the Government of Saskatchewan. It also establishes
professional responsibilities related to providing fair, honest, open, timely, and competent
assistance and services, and communicating punctually.
Table 6: Comparison of licensing process for recruiters by province
Screening B.C. Alta. Sask. Man. Que. N.S.
Eligibility
Must be an individual Yes No Yes Yes No* Yes
Required qualification as lawyer or
immigration consultant
No No No** Yes No*** Yes
Application
Front-end requirement to disclose
criminal history/record
No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mandatory disclosure of labour supply
chain (partners, affiliates, etc.)
Yes Yes
–
Yes Yes No Yes
Financial
Application or licence fee $0 $120 $0 $100 $1,780
^
$100
Security deposit amount $20,000
$25,000 only
for NOC B,
C, D jobs
$20,000 $10,000 $0 $5,000
*However, licence applications must be made by a natural person mandated to act as a respondent (répondant). This person is
responsible for communications with the CNESST, in particular to send and update required information.
**FWRISA requires separate immigration consultant licence if offering immigration services; requirement to be member of ICCRC
does apply for this group (lawyers are exempt).
***Recruitment agencies must ensure that any employees who provide immigration advice are authorized per Que. law.
–Agents must be registered with Service Alberta to act on the employment agency’s behalf.
^To be paid in 2 equal instalments: $890 on issuance & $890 one year after (two-year licence).
43
Table 7: Comparison of licence characteristics by province
Features B.C. Alta. Sask. Man. Que. N.S.
Licence characteristics
Licence duration (years) 1* 2 2** 1 2 3
Non-transferable Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Public registry Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
How many licences posted online as
of Feb 17 2020
98 383 283 23 136*** 42
Code of conduct No No Yes No No No
Issuance of licence
Authority to refuse or deny Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Authority to suspend or cancel Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Can terms and conditions be imposed
at any time?
Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Link to employer
Associated employer registration
regime in place
Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Employer liable if using unlicensed
third party recruiter
Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
*Legal authority for up to 3 years.
**Legal authority for up to 5 years.
***At the time of writing, Quebec’s licensing requirements had been recently implemented (transitional provision gave recruitment
agencies until February 14, 2020 to apply). As such, all licensees posted online (136 total) had applications in process according to
the status listed: “demande en cours de traitement”.
EMPLOYER REGISTRATION
Key questions: Are employers required to register in order to hire migrant workers? Can registration be
refused, and based on what criteria? What incentives are in place to comply?
The requirement for employers to register with labour or employment standards to recruit and
hire migrant workers enables proactive government oversight. In doing so, the act of hiring
migrant workers is considered a privilege: employers must apply and be approved to obtain a
certificate of registration on a continuous basis as long as they have migrant workers under their
employ. Applicants can be refused based on past conduct or prescribed conditions, or if
approved, they can have their registration cancelled or suspended for similar reasons, rendering
them unauthorized to hire a migrant worker. Some provinces inform employers that they need to
register in order to secure relevant and required immigration documents. For example, if the
employer does not supply a valid certificate of registration, their LMIA application to the federal
government or respective PNP application will be refused or referred back to the registration
body.
Furthermore, if registration is enforced, authorities can leverage the information and data
gathered through the process such as details on job positions, industry sectors, work locations and
so on to better inform targeted inspections and resource allocations. This component of the
regulatory approach is its most basic, but also extremely important: provinces with employer
registration systems know where migrant workers are working. This enables inspectors to
proactively target and check on working conditions of migrants to ensure compliance with
employment standards and to some extent, allows them to block non-compliant employers from
hiring any migrant workers.
This is particularly significant in the Canadian context where the federal government holds work
permit and related employer data, that is, the information on where migrant workers are working.
44
Information sharing agreements between Canada and the province must be in place in order for
that data to be shared by the federal government to the provincial government for the purpose of
administering employment legislation. In the absence of such agreements, provincial employer
registration is an effective mechanism to fill that gap and better understand employer hiring
practices and compliance in the context of migrant labour in the province. Employer registration
is generally limited to employers of migrant workers considered more “vulnerable” by regulators
than others, and does not typically extend to employers of the broadest definition of a migrant
worker.
Six out of the eight provinces under review: British Columbia
41
, Saskatchewan, Manitoba,
Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, have some type of mandatory registration systems for
employers who seek to hire migrant workers. Except for New Brunswick, these are all
complementary to their recruiter licensing requirements. Table 4 captures exemptions to
registration in each province. The discussion below captures key themes of these migrant worker
employer registration systems. A summary of their differences is captured in Table 8.
Figure 9: Employer registration map
Declaration or registration after hiring migrant workers
To start, New Brunswick and Quebec’s models only require employer registration or declaration
of information on migrant workers after they have hired a migrant worker. This is different from
a proactive model where an application to register is required prior to hiring workers, discussed
below. In this sense, there are no criteria to refuse registration, only a requirement to provide up-
front information upon hiring. New Brunswick requires the employer to register on an annual
basis, while Quebec only requires updates to information in case of changes. There is no fee to do
so in either jurisdiction.
41
At the time of writing, British Columbia’s employer registration requirements were not yet in force; certain details such as validity
period of certificates are not available here and as such are marked “to be determined” (TBD).
45
Declaration of hiring temporary foreign workers in Quebec
Under Quebec’s regulatory approach, any employer who hires a migrant worker must inform the CNESST
by submitting a Declaration of Hiring Temporary Foreign Workers (Déclaration d’embauche de travailleurs
étrangers temporaires) to the CNESST. The declaration must indicate:
• the business name and details;
• if they engaged a recruitment agency, and if so, their name;
• the name of migrant worker and type of work to be performed; and
• the start and expected end date of their contract with the worker.
The form may be submitted online or by mail, and any subsequent changes must be provided by a special
amendment form.
Application for registration
In contrast, employers in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia who want
to hire migrant workers must first register with the respective employment or labour standards
body. There is no fee to register in any province. Employers are required to provide information
on their business (name, address, industry, etc.) and the details with regard to the types of
positions for which they intend to recruit migrant workers (e.g., location, wages, skill level, etc.).
In some cases, they are required to provide the countries they anticipate hiring from and the
temporary labour migration program they intend to use.
Manitoba and Nova Scotia require information at this stage about any third-party agencies and
individuals involved in the recruitment process, if applicable. This is one way of establishing
compliance with the requirement to only use licensed recruiters at the front end. For example,
Manitoba and Nova Scotia could refuse the registration if the listed third-party recruiter was
unlicensed.
Issuance or refusal of certificate
Following application, the relevant employment or labour standards body then ensures that the
applicant has provided all required information and reviews the employer’s past conduct to assess
whether they will act lawfully and honestly while carrying out the business of hiring migrant
workers. This is typically established based on previous compliance records in the province, or
through documentation requested during the application process, such as financial statements, tax
documents, business licenses, and so on. An employer would generally be refused based on
previous non-compliance with relevant legislation such as employment standards or occupational
health and safety, in case of misrepresentation, or if there were reasonable grounds to believe that
they would not act honestly or lawfully.
British Columbia and Saskatchewan also have refusal grounds linked to the
applicant’s non-compliance with any terms, conditions, or undertakings set out in the
federal government’s immigration approval for them to hire migrant workers. This
provides authority, for example, to refuse an applicant if it is known that the federal
government (e.g., IRCC or ESDC) had found the employer non-compliant with program
conditions in the IRPR.
If a certificate of registration is issued, it is time-limited and requires the employer to re-apply
regularly. One-year certificates are issued in Manitoba and Nova Scotia, and a two-year validity
period is issued in Saskatchewan. In contrast to recruiter licensing, no public registry is
maintained of employers with valid registration.
46
During the validity of the certificate, provinces also have authorities to suspend or cancel the
certificate, based on grounds similar to the refusal reasons, primarily in case of non-compliance
with relevant legislation. British Columbia and Saskatchewan also have grounds to amend the
certificate as needed.
Incentives to register and links to other administrative processes
Operationally, the registration process has been valuable for some jurisdictions as it creates an
additional incentive or “hook” for employers to stay in compliance with other employment
standards. That is, if employers do not stay in compliance with overtime or vacation rules for all
employees, they could face refusal when applying to register to hire migrant workers. This would
in turn inhibit their legal hiring of migrant labour, which for some, is crucial to the operation of
their business. A benefit of this model is that it can reduce non-compliant behaviour of certain
employers who may otherwise ignore orders to come into compliance with even minor labour
standards contraventions more generally.
Furthermore, the established link between employer registration and other mandatory application
processes further encourages an employer to register. For example, Manitoba and Nova Scotia
inform their employers in communication products that if they do not register, their application
for the LMIA at the federal level will be refused or returned. Although this depends on the
federal government enforcing this step during the LMIA application, not the province, the
employer still has good reason to ensure they can demonstrate a valid registration certificate in
order to receive a positive or neutral LMIA. In the case of Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia,
employers who wish to make use of the respective PNP must obtain a registration certificate first
in order to proceed.
Table 8: Comparison of registration process for employers by province
Registration feature B.C. Sask. M.B. Que. N.B. N.S.
Must register prior to hiring
migrant workers
Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
Requirement to provide
information on recruiter hired, if
applicable
TBD Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Requirement to provide
information on migrant workers
hired/to be hired and work to be
performed
TBD Yes Yes Yes Yes
Upon
request
Fee $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Registration can be refused,
suspended, or cancelled
Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
Validity of registration TBD* 2 years** 1 year None*** 1 year 1 year
Linked to LMIA approval TBD No Yes No No Yes
Linked to provincial immigration
approval
TBD Yes No No No Yes
*Legal authority to issue registration certificate up to 3 years.
**Legal authority to issue registration certificate up to 5 years.
***No validity period, however employers must update information in case of changes.
47
4. FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT
Freedom of workers to move within a country or to leave a country should be respected.
Workers’ identity documents and contracts should not be confiscated, destroyed or retained.
Key questions: Can an employer or recruiter take and keep a migrant worker’s possessions, e.g.,
passport or work permit? Are these actions prohibited in law or discouraged in policy?
Respect for freedom of movement in and out of a foreign country necessitates that a migrant
worker can retain their own identity documents, particularly their passport. Without a passport or
immigration papers (e.g., work permit or visa), a migrant worker’s safety may be jeopardized;
they are at a higher risk of being trapped in their employment station, unable to leave, and may
fear reporting any non-compliance to authorities in such circumstances. As such, taking and
keeping a migrant workers’ identity or travel documents can create conditions of forced labour
and human trafficking.
RIGHT TO IDENTITY DOCUMENTS
The right to personal property is accordingly enshrined in law in six of the provincial
jurisdictions under review: British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick,
and Nova Scotia.
The legal prohibition differs slightly across jurisdictions, that is, who exactly is prohibited against
taking possession of worker property. Nova Scotia has the broadest prohibition applied to any
person, and British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec prohibit employers and recruiters from this
act. As Saskatchewan also regulates immigration consultants, their rule applies to all three parties
– employers, recruiters and consultants. New Brunswick prohibits the employer and any person
recruiting on their behalf from taking or retaining migrant worker property.
Finally, it is worth noting that while Alberta’s legal framework under review does not have a
similar legal provision related to this matter, the province does discourage this behaviour in
policy. Their online communication materials state that no employment agency or employer may
force a foreign worker to hand over their passport, work permit or other legal documents. It is
possible that Alberta could engage their broader licensing powers in the Consumer Protection Act
to address this issue, by taking action against a licensee where they have failed to comply with
any other legislation that may be applicable, as taking personal property like a passport can
amount to a criminal act of theft.
48
Prohibitions against taking identity documents by province
Province Relevant provision
British Columbia
Temporary Foreign Worker
Protection Act
Prohibited practices
20 Foreign worker recruiters and employers must not do any of the following:
(b) take possession of or retain a foreign national’s passport or other official
documents.
Saskatchewan
Foreign Worker Recruitment
and Immigration Services Act
Prohibited practices
22(b) No foreign worker recruiter, employer or immigration consultant shall take
possession of or retain a foreign national’s passport or other official documents or
property.
Ontario
Employment Protection for
Foreign Nationals Act
Prohibitions against taking, retaining property
Employer
9(1) No person who employs a foreign national, and no person acting on the
employer’s behalf shall take possession of, or retain, property that the foreign
national is entitled to possess.
Recruiter
(2) No person acting as a recruiter in connection with the employment of a foreign
national, and no person acting on the recruiter’s behalf, shall take possession of, or
retain, property that the foreign national is entitled to possess.
Example: passports, etc.
(3) For example and without limiting the generality of subsections (1) and (2), a
person described in subsection (1) or (2) is not permitted to take possession of, or
retain, a foreign national’s passport or work permit.
Quebec
Act respecting labour
standards and Regulation
respecting personnel
placement agencies and
recruitment agencies for
temporary foreign workers
92.11 No employer may require a temporary foreign worker to entrust custody of
personal documents or property to the employer.
R 25 No temporary foreign worker recruitment agency licence holder may
(1) require a temporary foreign worker to entrust custody of personal documents or
property to the licence holder.
New Brunswick
Employment Standards Act
38.91 (6) No employer and no person who recruits foreign workers for employment
on behalf of an employer shall take possession of or retain property that the foreign
worker is entitled to possess, including the foreign worker’s passport or work permit.
Nova Scotia
Labour Standards Code
Property foreign worker entitled to possess
89G(1) In this section, “property that the foreign worker is entitled to possess”
includes the foreign worker’s passport and work permit.
(2) No employer or recruiter, and no person on the employer’s behalf, shall take
possession of or retain, property that the foreign worker is entitled to possess.
(3) No person shall assist another person to do any of the things described in
subsection (2).
49
PROHIBITION AGAINST THREATENING DEPORTATION
Furthermore, migrant workers who hold valid work permits are entitled to remain in Canada for
the full validity period of their work permit. As such, employers and recruiters cannot force
migrant workers to return home if the work contract is terminated before the end of the work
permit or if they decide to find another employer. In some cases, the threat of deportation coerces
migrant workers into exploitative working conditions during this period. For that reason, the
threat of deportation is explicitly prohibited in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and New
Brunswick.
Prohibitions against threatening deportation by province
Province Relevant provision
British Columbia
Temporary Foreign Worker
Protection Act
Prohibited practices
20 Foreign worker recruiters and employer must not do any of the following:
(d) Threaten deportation or other action for which there is no lawful cause.
Saskatchewan
Foreign Worker Recruitment
and Immigration Services Act
Prohibited practices
22 (d) No foreign worker recruiter, employer or immigration consultant shall
threaten deportation or other action for which there is no lawful cause.
New Brunswick
Employment Standards Act
38.91(8) No employer and no person who recruits foreign workers for employment
on behalf of an employer shall threaten a foreign worker with deportation or
another action for which there is no lawful cause.
50
5. FREEDOM FROM DECEPTION OR COERCION
Workers’ agreements to the terms and conditions of recruitment and employment should be
voluntary and free from deception or coercion.
Key questions: What practices are prohibited to protect migrant workers from deception and coercion?
How do recruiters or employers obtain voluntary consent and agreement from migrant workers to the
terms and conditions of recruitment and employment?
Migrant workers’ agreement to the terms and conditions of recruitment and employment should
be voluntary; their consent should be informed, expressed, and free from deception or coercion.
There are a range of regulatory approaches that are aimed at addressing this principle: from
explicitly prohibiting deceptive and coercive behaviour in law, to stipulating how agreements or
contracts for recruitment services should be drawn up in order to ensure informed consent from
the migrant worker.
PROHIBITED AND UNFAIR PRACTICES
British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick each have regulatory prohibitions
against unfair practices stipulated in their respective legal frameworks. However, to whom these
prohibitions apply differ: New Brunswick’s Employment Standards Act limits to employer
actions, while British Columbia and Saskatchewan prescribe prohibited practices against both
recruiters and employers. Saskatchewan also covers the activity of immigration consultants. The
Consumer Protection Act and its EABLR in Alberta are limited to prohibiting unfair practices of
employment agencies (recruiters) and prohibitions protect a “consumer”, which includes both
persons seeking employment (migrant workers) and employers from unfair practices.
Consumer protection approach to unfair recruitment practices
Since Alberta’s oversight of employment agencies (recruiters) is administered under consumer protection
law, its very intent is to prevent businesses from engaging in fraud and unfair practices in order to mislead
consumers. As such, the Consumer Protection Act and the EABLR consist of a long list of unfair practices.
To list a few, employment agencies are prohibited from:
• exerting undue pressure on, threatening or harassing consumers;
• failing to enter into separate agreements with a person seeking employment for any non-job placement
services that may be offered;
• taking advantage of the consumer as a result of the consumer’s inability to understand the character,
nature, language or effect of the consumer transaction or any matter related to the transaction;
• using exaggeration, innuendo or ambiguity as to a material fact with respect to the consumer
transaction;
• entering a consumer transaction if the supplier knows or ought to know that the consumer is unable to
receive any reasonable benefit from the goods or services; and
• doing or saying anything that might reasonably deceive or mislead a consumer.
Given the breadth of prohibited unfair practices, a degree of flexibility is available to its administrators. For
example, although only fees related to employment agency business services are prohibited (as
discussed in Section 2), it is still possible to penalize a recruiter if they charged other fees in bad faith. In
that case, if exorbitant immigration-related costs were charged but there is clear evidence that the migrant
worker would have never been eligible to apply for permanent residence through the available immigration
programs, the recruiter could face consequences under the broader consumer protection framework.
51
Prohibited unfair practices common to all provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan,
and New Brunswick) include:
• Giving, supplying, producing, or distributing false, misleading, or deceptive information
− British Columbia’s TFWPA specifies information relating to “recruitment services,
immigration services, employment, housing for foreign workers or laws of British Columbia
or Canada”;
− Alberta’s EABLR specifies information relating to “employment positions, legal rights,
immigration, or the general living or working conditions in Alberta”; and
− New Brunswick specifies “false or misleading information about employer and employee
rights and responsibilities”.
• Misrepresenting employment opportunities
− Respecting a position, duties, length of employment, wages and benefits or other terms of
employment (British Columbia’s TFWPA and Saskatchewan’s FWRISA).
− With respect to the position to be filled by a migrant worker, the duties of the position, the
length of employment, the rate of wages, benefits and other terms and conditions of
employment (New Brunswick’s ESA).
In contrast to others, Saskatchewan’s FWRISA exceptionally prohibits practices related to trust
and contacting family members, including:
• Taking unfair advantage of a foreign national’s trust or exploiting a foreign national’s fear or
lack of experience or knowledge; and,
• Contacting a foreign national or a foreign national’s family or friends after being requested not
do so by the foreign national.
52
CONSENT THROUGH SIGNED AND WRITTEN CONTRACT OR AGREEMENT
Another regulatory approach to ensure voluntary agreement to the terms and conditions of
migrant worker recruitment and employment is to require that recruiters obtain consent before
service provision through written agreements or contracts.
In Alberta, the EABLR stipulates that employment agencies must have an agreement in place
before securing a worker for an employer, or, before securing employment for a person.
Agreements must be in writing and signed by the parties to the agreement. They must set out the
services to be provided; the respective responsibilities and obligations of the parties to the
agreement; the contact information of the employment agency and any authorized agents; and
feature a clear (not less than 12-point bold face type) statement regarding the fee prohibition set
out in the regulations. A copy of the agreement must also be provided to the employer or worker.
As discussed in section 2, if non-employment agency business services are also provided, a
separate written agreement between the agency and consumer is required, disclosing the fee for
those services.
In British Columbia and Saskatchewan, if a recruiter is providing recruitment
services to an employer and immigration services to the migrant worker to be
employed (occupying both immigration and recruitment roles), this arrangement
must be disclosed in advance to both parties and their written consent must be
obtained. Both the employer and migrant worker must sign separate contracts, each with an
itemized list of services and fees. These contracts have prescribed requirements established in
law: they must be in writing and in clear and unambiguous language. This measure ensures that
migrant workers are clearly informed about the immigration services and their costs, ahead of
receiving and paying for them.
In Saskatchewan, recruiters are required by law to take reasonable measures to ensure that
foreign nationals whose first language is not the language of the contract understand the terms
and conditions before they enter into it. Furthermore, if a contract for immigration services or
recruitment services is unclear, ambiguous or incomplete, the interpretation least favourable to
the recruiter prevails. The contract must also include a statement indicating the prohibition
against charging recruitment fees, the payment schedule as applicable, and the contact
information for the licensee and any other person acting on their behalf under the contract.
53
6. ACCESS TO INFORMATION
Workers should have access to free, comprehensive and accurate information regarding their
rights and the conditions of their recruitment and employment.
Key questions: How are migrant workers’ made aware of their rights? Who produces information
resources and who is obliged to share them with workers? Are resources available in multiple
languages?
For the most part, all public bodies administering regulatory regimes over recruiters and/or
employers of migrant workers provide plain English and/or French language information on their
websites regarding relevant legal protections and obligations. Typically communication materials
are the medium; frequently asked questions and answers clarify basic processes and rules, for
example, that workers should not be charged fees for recruitment services, or that their employer
cannot confiscate their passport.
However, some regulatory provisions go further and place requirements on employers and/or
recruiters to share essential information with migrant workers about the rights or conditions of
their recruitment and employment. Provincial approaches are discussed below, grouped by
requirements on recruiters or employers to provide either (1) published information documents or
(2) ethical disclosure forms.
INFORMATION ON RIGHTS DOCUMENT
Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia each require some type of government publication
containing essential information on relevant rights to be distributed to migrant workers by their
recruiter and/or employer.
In Ontario, as soon as a recruiter has contact with a migrant worker about employment, the
recruiter must give the migrant worker copies of two information sheets: Your Rights under the
Employment Standards Act and Your Rights under the Employment Protection for Foreign
Nationals Act. If the employer does not use the services of a recruiter, the onus is on them to
provide the migrant worker they hire with copies of these documents before the employment
starts. The Director of Employment Standards in Ontario is obliged to prepare and publish the
information sheets, and keep them up to date. If the information has been published in the
language of the foreign national (other than English), the recruiter or employer must provide a
copy of the suitable translation as well. At the time of writing, the products are published in 10
languages other than English and French, reflecting the most commonly spoken languages of
migrant workers in Ontario: Arabic, Hindi, Portuguese, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, Chinese
(simplified & traditional) and Urdu.
The Your Rights under the Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act document provides
a plain language summary of relevant rights under the EPFNA: highlighting that recruiters cannot
charge any fees, employers are prohibited from charging hiring costs, recruiters/employers cannot
take or hold a workers’ property, workers cannot agree to give up their rights, and they cannot be
punished for asking about or exercising their rights. It also provides basic information on how to
contact the authorities with questions by phone and the complaint process if workers want to file
a claim for their rights.
54
British Columbia’s TFWPA requires both recruiters and employers to post or provide
information on the rights of foreign nationals and foreign workers under the Act, expected to be
available online in mid-2020. Although no translations are yet available, a multilingual phone
line can be availed for interpretation services if needed in British Columbia. Finally in Quebec, at
the time of recruitment, any migrant worker recruitment agency must give the worker an
information document made available by the CNESST concerning worker labour rights and
employers’ obligations, related to health and safety, employment rights, and pay equity. The
product is in French and provides the relevant webpages and phone number for further
information.
DISCLOSURE AND DECLARATION DOCUMENT
Quebec and Saskatchewan both place requirements on recruiters to provide some type of
disclosure and declaration document to migrant workers, however they differ in content (ethical
standards of service in Saskatchewan; working conditions in Quebec) and who is required to sign
them.
In Saskatchewan, migrant worker recruiters and immigration consultants, must make sure that the
foreign national they engage signs the “Ethical Conduct Disclosure and Declaration Form” (see
Appendix III) before they receive recruitment and/or immigration services. The form states the
ethical behaviour the migrant worker should expect from the recruiter, including the legal
protections provided under the FWRISA; prohibited practices charging recruitment fees, taking
passports, or threatening deportation; and the process to make and submit a complaint. The
foreign national must sign that they have read and understood the protections described in the
form. As per the terms and conditions of their licence, recruiters in Saskatchewan must abide by a
“reasonable measures for language” provision, that is, they must take reasonable steps to ensure
that migrant workers understand the content of the disclosure and declaration form before
signing. Reasonable measures involve allowing the migrant worker enough time to get the
documents translated into another language, or referring the worker to a translation. When
applicable, they could alternatively translate the form verbally into the worker’s first language.
In Quebec, the Regulation respecting personnel placement agencies and recruitment agencies for
temporary foreign workers requires licensed recruitment agencies to give migrant workers a
document describing the employment position’s working conditions, including the wage offered
and the name and contact information of the client enterprise (employer) at the time of
recruitment. The CNESST provides agencies with a template to follow that includes a section
called “important information” (informations importantes) advising the worker that the
recruitment agency and employer cannot take their personal documents nor charge them any
recruitment fees, other than those authorized by the federal government. The template has a
signature section for the person authorized by the recruitment agency to declare that all
information contained in the document is true and complete.
As discussed in section 5, Alberta’s EABLR requires agreements between employment agencies
and workers and the recruitment fee prohibition must be featured clearly in this medium. In
addition, if an employment agency is the entity communicating an offer of employment, they
must provide it in writing with details including the job description, terms of employment, if
known, and contact details of the employer.
55
7. ACCESS TO GRIEVANCE MECHANISMS
Workers, irrespective of their presence or legal status in a State, should have access to free
or affordable grievance and other dispute resolution mechanisms in cases of alleged abuse
of their rights in the recruitment process, and effective and appropriate remedies should be
provided where abuse has occurred.
Key questions: What are some of the barriers that migrant workers face in accessing their rights? What
is the complaint process for migrant workers in case of rights violations? Are workers protected from
reprisal if they report abuse?
This paper has explored the ways in which provinces have enshrined a range of protective
measures for migrant workers and obligations on their employers and/or labour recruiters in law.
However, it is crucial to draw attention to the numerous intersectional factors and barriers that
migrant workers face to access these rights in practice. In fact, a key operational challenge raised
by administrators of these regimes is the few (or complete lack of) complaints filed by migrant
workers under their respective laws. This is of particular importance when inspections are
complaint-driven processes, as opposed to proactive inspection models where inspections target
random or higher-risk employment sites without the need for an initial complaint. And even in
the case of proactive inspections, authorities may lack the evidence needed to apply
consequences for non-compliance on employers or recruiters if migrant workers are not willing,
able, or present to provide such evidence.
BARRIERS TO ACCESSING RIGHTS AND RECOURSE
To start, migrant workers may not know or understand their rights, or the process to file a claim
for their rights. If they are aware, they may not have the resources or capacity to access related
recourse mechanisms due to language or time constraints, and in more complex cases, lack of
access to affordable legal assistance. Given the precariousness of their immigration status,
notably for those on time-limited, employer-specific work permits, they may be fearful or unable
to complain due to perceived risks of being terminated or deported. This is especially the case in
exploitative conditions where threats of reprisal occur. In some cases, workers may have already
left Canada: unwilling or unable to pursue recourse from abroad. For migrant workers who fall
out of legal status while in Canada, irregularity deters them from becoming visible to authorities
for fear of removal, detention, and other enforcement actions.
For migrant domestic workers, their work is typically done in the private home of their
employer.
42
As such, labour inspections are insufficient tools to enforce standards due to
relatively limited authorities to inspect private dwellings (i.e., warrants are required to enter if
consent is not given by the employer). In the case of migrant workers whose housing and
accommodation is provided by the employer, either in the same home (e.g., domestic work) or on
the same premises (e.g., agriculture), workers may be more reluctant to report abuse as they risk
losing their shelter in addition to their job and livelihood. Female migrant workers generally face
increased risk of exploitation accordingly, including sexual and gender-based violence.
A summary of the challenges related to accessing complaint mechanisms is captured in Figure
10; although this visual was developed in the context of access to justice for migrant workers in
South-East Asia, it has universal applicability, including in Canada. With these challenges in
mind, a lack of migrant worker complaints on record does not necessarily suggest that employers
42
Domestic workers are typically referred to as “caregivers” in the Canadian immigration framework.
56
and/or recruiters are in compliance with the law, but rather points to the structural barriers that
migrant workers face with the complaint process itself.
Figure 10: Summary of barriers to accessing justice for migrant workers
Source: Harkins, B and Åhlberg, M. 2017. Access to justice for migrant workers in South-East Asia. International Labour
Organization. Bangkok.
The extent to which provincial authorities can recognize these intersectional barriers
is inherently limited given their lack of immigration levers and oversight, which is
federal jurisdiction. Provincial authorities cannot assist workers with respect to
immigration status or work permit processing during an inspection; for example if a
migrant worker wanted to file a claim with labour standards but feared retribution from the
employer listed on their work permit. The open work permit for vulnerable workers is a recent
federal initiative by IRCC that partly responds to this concern, allowing migrant workers in
situation of abuse to apply for an open work permit and facilitating their participation in any
relevant inspection of their employer or recruiter.
57
Open work permit for migrant workers in situations of abuse
In response to concerns raised regarding exploitative working conditions of migrant workers in Canada,
namely related to the restrictive nature of the employer-specific work permit, IRCC introduced a new work
permit program for migrant workers in situations of abuse in June 2019. Under the “open work permit for
vulnerable workers” program, migrant workers in situations of abuse who hold valid employer-specific
work permits may apply for an open work permit without the need for a new job offer. This enables migrant
workers to quickly transition out of abusive situations and facilitates their participation in a relevant
investigation of their employer or recruiter (e.g., filing a complaint and sharing evidence), though their
willing participation is not an eligibility requirement. Applicants are encouraged to provide as much
evidence as possible to support their application and work permits are processed on an expedited basis. If
an open work permit is issued, a federal employer compliance inspection will be triggered on the
respective employer. As of December 2019, 250 work permits were issued under this program.
WHAT IS THE COMPLAINT PROCESS?
All eight provincial regulatory regimes reviewed in this paper have a formal administrative
complaint mechanism in place. The process commonly involves a written complaint form to be
filled out and submitted to the relevant administrative office, at no monetary cost to the claimant.
Depending on the province, complaints must be filed online or on paper by mail, fax, or in person.
No jurisdiction prohibits individuals on the basis of their immigration status in Canada from
filing, however as discussed above, having returned to one’s home country or being out of legal
status in Canada may structurally inhibit a migrant worker from accessing grievance mechanisms.
In some cases, formal complaints provide the option for migrant workers to remain anonymous,
though there are limits on what can be formally pursued when anonymity is protected.
Each form differs in content and detail requested, but for the most part, basic details on the
employer and/or recruiter and the alleged contravention are required. Ontario’s form is one
example that guides the claimant to provide sufficient information with respect to all possible
violations about employers and recruiters.
Figure 11: Excerpt from Ontario’s EPFNA Claim Form – Claims again recruiter
58
The complaint or claim time limit varies widely among provinces: claimants must file within six
months to three and a half years of the alleged contravention or violation. Notably, Alberta,
Saskatchewan, and Manitoba do not impose any time limit on complaints in law, however
associated enforcement may not be actioned as is the case with all jurisdictions depending on
nature of the complaint and circumstances.
43
Figure 12: Complaint time limits by province
Considering the profile of migrant workers on employer-specific work permits who cannot work
elsewhere until they have secured another work permit, workers are more likely to file a claim
within relatively longer periods, for example once they have moved jobs or transitioned to
permanent residence status. Another relevant scenario would be when migrant workers are not
aware of prohibited practices and learn of their rights too late. For example, a migrant worker
who is charged illegal fees six months prior to their arrival in Canada and only becomes aware of
the fee prohibition six months after landing, would not be able to file a claim if the limitation
period in the province of work was only one year.
Table 9: Complaint time limit by province
Province and respective law under which claims are filed
Complaint time limit since
date of alleged violation
British Columbia
Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act
2 years
Alberta
Consumer Protection Act / Employment Agency Business Licensing Regulation
None
Saskatchewan
Foreign Worker Recruitment and Immigration Services Act
None
Manitoba
Worker Recruitment and Protection Act
See note*
Ontario
Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act
3.5 years
Quebec
Act respecting labour standards
See note**
New Brunswick
Employment Standards Act
1 year
Nova Scotia
Labour Standards Code
6 months
* No time limit is prescribed in WRAPA. However, in practice, complaints filed under WRAPA will generally follow consistent
requirements under the associated Employment Standards legislation which has a six-month time limit on complaints regarding
unpaid wages. That being said, discretion may be exercised to extend the limit beyond six months for WRAPA cases when the
circumstances are deemed fit by authorities.
43
Limitation period details with respect to enforcement in each jurisdiction are not explored here.
59
** Depending on the type of complaint, the time limits to file a complaint vary from 45 days to two years from the date of the event in
question. A one-year time limit applies to claim an amount owing, which would apply in case of illegal wage recovery or charging of
recruitment fees.
Complaints, including any associated statements, documentation or other evidence are then
reviewed by the respective office for further action, which could look like different types of
dispute resolution, including negotiation, mediation, investigation, or director orders to come into
compliance, depending on the case and jurisdiction.
Whistleblower protection
Migrant workers should be able to present their grievances and obtain recourse without fearing
retaliation from their employer or recruiter. At times, fear of reprisal or retribution is
compounded by the requirement to proceed with a formal named (i.e., not anonymous)
complaint in certain circumstances. Some provinces have anti-reprisal or “whistleblower”
provisions in their legislation to address this matter. These are in place in the relevant statutes in
British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec. These laws prohibit either the employer,
recruiter, or both from taking retributive actions against workers when they try to exercise their
rights, including making a complaint, under the respective legislation.
In Quebec, the Act respecting Labour Standards provides that if, following an inquiry, the
CNESST has grounds to be believe that one of the rights of a migrant worker under the Act or a
regulation has been violated, the CNESST may exercise any recourse on behalf of the worker,
even if no complaint is filed. Under the EPFNA in Ontario, the burden of proof is placed on the
employer or recruiter in a proceeding involving an alleged reprisal, with some exceptions. The
effect of this provision is to require the accused (e.g., recruiter or employer) to refute the claim of
that the worker has been the subject of a reprisal. The person against whom the contravention is
alleged must then establish, on a balance of probabilities, that they did not contravene the reprisal
prohibition.
60
Prohibitions against reprisal by province
Province Relevant Provision
British Columbia
Temporary
Foreign Worker
Protection Act
Prohibited practices
20 Foreign worker recruiters and employers must not do any of the following:
(e) take action against or threaten to take action against a person for participating in an
investigation or proceeding by any government or law enforcement agency or for making a
complaint or inquiry to any government or law enforcement agency.
Saskatchewan
Foreign Worker
Recruitment and
Immigration
Services Act
Prohibited practices
22(f) No foreign worker recruiter, employer or immigration consultant shall take action against
or threaten to take action against a person for participating in an investigation or proceeding
by any government or law enforcement agency or for making a complaint to any government
or law enforcement agency.
Ontario
Employment
Protection for
Foreign Nationals
Act
Prohibitions against reprisal
Reprisal by employer
10(1) No person who employs a foreign national, and no person acting on the employer’s
behalf, shall intimidate or penalize or attempt to threaten to intimidate or penalize the foreign
national because he or she,
(a) Asks any person to comply with this Act;
(b) Makes inquiries about his or her rights under this Act;
(c) Files a complaint with the Ministry under this Act;
(d) Exercises or attempts to exercise a right under this Act;
(e) Gives information to an employment standards officer; or
(f) Testifies or is required to testify or otherwise participates or is going to participate in a
proceeding under this Act.
Reprisal by recruiter
(2) No person acting a recruiter in connection with the employment of a foreign national, and
no person acting on the recruiter’s behalf, shall intimidate or penalize or attempt or threaten to
intimidate or penalize the foreign national because he or she,
(a) asks any person to comply with this Act or the Employment Standards Act, 2000;
(b) makes inquiries about his or her rights under this Act or the Employment Standards Act,
2000;
(c) files a complaint with the Ministry under this Act or the Employment Standards Act,
2000;
(d) exercises or attempts to exercise a right under this Act or the Employment Standards
Act, 2000;
(e) gives information to an employment standards officer; or
(f) testifies or is required to testify or otherwise participates or is going to participate in a
proceeding under this Act or the Employment Standards Act, 2000.
Quebec
Act respecting
labour standards
92.10. If, following an inquiry, the Commission has grounds to believe that one of the rights of
a temporary foreign worker under this Act or a regulation has been violated, the Commission
may, even if no complaint is filed and if no settlement is reached, exercise any recourse on
behalf of the worker.
122. No employer or his agent may dismiss, suspend or transfer an employee, practise
discrimination or take reprisals against him, or impose any other sanction upon him
(1) on the ground that such employee has exercised one of his rights, other than the right
contemplated in section 84.1, under this Act or a regulation;
(1.1) on the ground that an inquiry is being conducted by the Commission in an
establishment of the employer;
(2) on the ground that such employee has given information to the Commission or one of its
representatives on the application of the labour standards or that he has given evidence in a
proceeding related thereto.
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8. EFFECTIVE ENFORCEMENT
Governments should effectively enforce relevant laws and regulations, and require all
relevant actors in the recruitment process to operate in accordance with the law.
Key questions: How are most inspections triggered – proactively or by complaints? What are the
administrative or penal sanctions if employers or recruiters contravene relevant laws and regulations?
What operational challenges exist for effective enforcement?
Governments should require that all relevant actors in the recruitment process operate in
accordance with the law, through sufficiently resourced inspectorates. So far, this paper has
provided an overview of the provincial legal frameworks under which labour recruiters and
employers of migrant workers operate. This section draws attention to the importance of ensuring
that these laws are effectively enforced. At the same time, it is outside scope to assert any
findings with respect to genuine effectiveness of enforcement of the regulatory approaches under
review. Identifying distinct gaps between law and enforcement requires much deeper insight into
how inspection bodies are resourced and trained (well or at all), the number of inspections and
non-compliance findings year after year, the extent to which violations occur without ensuing
enforcement actions, among many other considerations. As such, this section will simply provide
a brief summary of what is known: the way in which inspections are generally launched, the key
administrative and penal sanctions in place and their potential deterrence value, and a few known
operational challenges related to enforcement.
PROACTIVE AND REACTIVE INSPECTIONS
Proactive enforcement is generally considered best practice because it does not rely on
complaints to trigger inspections or investigations, as is the case in reactive models. Proactive
inspections rely instead on risk factors and compliance history to target certain sectors. Tips and
media sources may also initiate an inspection without a complaint on file against a recruiter or
employer. For regimes that rely entirely on complaints to initiate an audit, inspection, or
investigation, the barriers that migrant workers face in filing complaints described in section 7
should be kept in mind.
The majority of inspections undertaken under Manitoba’s WRAPA, Nova Scotia’s LSC, and
Saskatchewan’s FWRISA are proactive; in fact, Manitoba is considered to have pioneered this
model. Last year (2019-20), Ontario’s inspections under EPFNA were mostly proactive as well.
As British Columbia and Quebec only recently introduced legislation at the time of writing, their
inspection regimes are not yet ready for discussion. New Brunswick and Alberta both operate
mostly complaint-driven inspection models.
ADMINISTRATIVE CONSEQUENCES AND PENAL SANCTIONS
Enforcement involves a series of consequences and sanctions that serve as deterrents against
contravening the law. If a contravention of relevant legislation or regulation during the course of
an inspection or investigation is found, there are usually a range of administrative consequences
and penal sanctions available. Beyond voluntary resolution or compliance, provinces have a
number of administrative consequences to pursue. Consequences differ across jurisdictions and
may include warnings, orders to repay fees (from recruiter) and costs (from employer),
compensation orders, reinstatement, undertakings, and monetary penalties. As discussed in
section 3, in provinces with recruiter licensing or employer registration requirements, additional
levers exist to refuse applications or suspend, cancel, or apply terms and conditions to valid
62
licences or registration certificates. In case of refusal, suspension, cancellation, this means a loss
of a recruiter’s right to practice or an employer’s ability to hire migrant workers, potentially
impacting livelihood. The administrative enforcement action taken by authorities typically
depends on a number of considerations regarding the nature of the contravention at hand,
including whether it was deliberate or accidental, serious or minor, first time or repeated, and so
on.
Persons or corporations that contravene the relevant legal obligations under review may also be
found guilty of an offence, liable upon conviction of fines or imprisonment. At the time of
writing, no contravention under any of the relevant legislation discussed in this paper had been
escalated to prosecute with criminal sanctions. In terms of deterrence value, the prospect of large
fines or prison time is significant, though the fact that these consequences are relatively
improbable among the range of enforcement actions is worth noting.
Table 10: Potential criminal sanctions
Relevant Province and Legislation
Fine –
Individual
Fine -
Corporation
Imprisonment –
Individual
British Columbia
Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act
$50,000 $100,000 1 year
Alberta
Employment Agency Business Licensing Regulation
$300,000 $300,000 2 years
Saskatchewan
Foreign Worker Recruitment and Immigration
Services Act
$50,000 $100,000 1 year
Manitoba
Worker Recruitment and Protection Act
$25,000 $50,000 None
Ontario
Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act
$50,000 $100,000 1 year
Quebec
Regulation respecting personnel placement
agencies and recruitment agencies for temporary
foreign workers
$600-6,000;
$1,200-$12,000
on subsequent
offense
$600-6,000;
$1,200-$12,000
on subsequent
offense
None
New Brunswick
Employment Standards Act
N/A N/A N/A
Nova Scotia
Labour Standards Code
$5,000 $25,000
3 months (if
subsequent offence)
63
OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES
The matter of recruiters operating outside of the respective province and Canada (i.e., overseas)
can be considered a “jurisdictional conundrum” for regulators. As discussed in section 3,
international labour recruitment often takes place over labour supply chains that often involve
more than one agent outside Canada. Holding all actors accountable for exploitative or abusive
recruitment practices can be challenging without levers and authorities that span outside of the
province’s legal jurisdiction.
In cases where recruiters are required to be licensed, it is generally accepted that unlicensed and
informal recruiters continue to operate outside of the legal framework. Tracking down and
bringing these informal actors into the fold can be resource intensive and difficult. This is
especially the case when migrant workers are unwilling to come forward and provide sufficient
evidence to undertake this degree of enforcement.
Lack of evidence and complaints from migrant workers experiencing unfair recruitment
practices, like fee charging or passport confiscation is perhaps one of the most common
operational challenge for inspectorates. Even if the enforcement model does not need a complaint
to launch an inspection, without sufficient evidence from migrant workers, it may be impossible
at times to prove that fees were charged, or that protective measures were contravened by their
employer or recruiter. For example, a recruiter might argue all of the services offered and charged
were immigration assistance to evade the prohibition against charging for recruitment services.
Inspectorates need a willing party, that is, a migrant worker with a testimony and paper trail, to
help differentiate fees in those circumstances.
The lack of comprehensive information sharing across jurisdictions, just within Canada (between
the federal government and the provinces, and between the provinces themselves), is also a
significant barrier to effective enforcement. Since labour recruiters tend to recruit migrant
workers to multiple provinces in Canada, sharing knowledge of trends, including case-specific
recruitment-related abuse, would serve an important goal to ensure cooperation among
jurisdictions. With the notable exception of the recruitment of seasonal agricultural migrant
workers under the SAWP, there is a general lack of formal cooperation between
Canada/Canadian provinces and countries of origin with respect to fair international labour
recruitment regulation (through bilateral agreements or memorandums of understanding). This
can inhibit consistent rules and obligations for employers and recruiters across the international
corridor, among other issues.
Only sticks, no carrots
As a final observation, the enforcement frameworks reviewed here are principally composed of a
series of potential penalties to deter non-compliant behaviour. Administrative consequences,
penal sanctions, and loss of licence or registration are in place to serve as “sticks” to bring about
compliance. No clear rewards or “carrots” are provided to incentivize legal conduct. Rewarding
trusted actors who demonstrate consistent compliance may be another enforcement route for
provincial regulators and their federal immigration and labour partners to consider.
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CONCLUSION: AN UNEVEN PATCHWORK OF PROTECTIONS
Taken together, the sum of provincial regulatory approaches to international labour recruitment
and employment is an intricate patchwork: uneven in protections and characterized by variance in
scope, content, and sanctions. And this patchwork is further complicated by the way in which it
irregularly layers with federal matters of immigration, including its laws and programs. From any
perspective, be it from the view of a migrant worker, an employer, a recruiter, or a government,
these laws are challenging to grasp at once. The consequence is markedly distinct coverage of
migrant worker protections across Canada and inconsistency of rules for relevant players,
including recruiters active in multiple jurisdictions.
That being said, provincial regulators across Canada have undertaken important and complex
work to put in place legal safeguards to ensure that the recruitment and employment of migrant
workers is fair and safe. These efforts, much of which align with fair recruitment principles, are
encouraging and commendable. But with so many different governmental and non-state actors
involved in these layers and reports of recruitment-related abuse and exploitation persisting, it is
fair to ask:
• How can regulatory efforts be made better in this context?
• How can provincial and federal governments work together to make sense of this patchwork
and fill gaps where they exist?
• Is an endeavour to simplify or streamline these approaches viable, and if so, how?
Finally, coming back to the analogy of the mangrove and the intertwined nature of immigration,
employment, and recruitment law in these unique employment relationships, how can the
respective federal and provincial regulators strengthen each other’s objectives, as tree roots do?
At the very least, this paper serves as a reference material and resource to kick-start the crucial
and thoughtful research and policy work to come.
65
APPENDIX I: WORK PERMIT STATISTICS
Table 11: Work permit holders* signed in 2018, by province, program** and work permit type***
Province Program Work permit type 2018
Newfoundland and
Labrador (2,470)
TFWP Employer-specific 410
IMP Employer-specific 1,025
IMP Open 1,045
Prince Edward Island
(2,080)
TFWP Employer-specific 820
IMP Employer-specific 525
IMP Open 745
Nova Scotia (7,420) TFWP Employer-specific 2,035
IMP Employer-specific 1,640
IMP Open 3,755
New Brunswick (4,445) TFWP Employer-specific 1,320
IMP Employer-specific 1,170
IMP Open 2,000
Quebec (85,005) TFWP Employer-specific 17,665
IMP Employer-specific 15,590
IMP Open 52,060
Ontario (207,035) TFWP Employer-specific 31,805
IMP Employer-specific 30,515
IMP Open 145,190
Manitoba (13,680) TFWP Employer-specific 1,170
IMP Employer-specific 3,000
IMP Open 9,580
Alberta (36,155) TFWP Employer-specific 7,090
IMP Employer-specific 6,890
IMP Open 22,340
British Columbia (82,340) TFWP Employer-specific 20,445
IMP Employer-specific 14,420
IMP Open 47,815
Yukon (675) TFWP Employer-specific 95
IMP Employer-specific 385
IMP Open 205
Northwest Territories (240) TFWP Employer-specific 20
IMP Employer-specific 110
IMP Open 115
Nunavut (100) TFWP Employer-specific 55
IMP Employer-specific 25
IMP Open 15
Not stated (48,235) TFWP Employer-specific 570
IMP Employer-specific 1,925
IMP Open 45,745
Grand Total 495,990
*work permits issued for all purposes – **work permit classification: Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and International
Mobility Program (IMP) – ***work permit indicator: open and employer-specific
Note: Numbers may not total due to rounding.
Source: IRCC Temporary Residents, October 31st, 2019 data
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Table 12: Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) work permit holders signed in 2018, by
province and NOC skill level
Province Skill Level TFWP work permit holders
Newfoundland and Labrador 0 - Managerial 15
A - Professionals 20
B - Skilled and Technical 250
C - Intermediate and Clerical 115
D - Elemental and Labourers —
Newfoundland and Labrador Total 410
Prince Edward Island 0 - Managerial 5
A - Professionals —
B - Skilled and Technical 15
C - Intermediate and Clerical 785
D - Elemental and Labourers 15
Prince Edward Island Total 820
Nova Scotia 0 - Managerial 45
A - Professionals 65
B - Skilled and Technical 160
C - Intermediate and Clerical 1,710
D - Elemental and Labourers 55
Nova Scotia Total 2,035
New Brunswick 0 - Managerial —
A - Professionals 15
B - Skilled and Technical 100
C - Intermediate and Clerical 1,175
D - Elemental and Labourers 35
New Brunswick Total 1,320
Quebec 0 - Managerial 140
A - Professionals 1,140
B - Skilled and Technical 1,490
C - Intermediate and Clerical 13,575
D - Elemental and Labourers 1,280
Quebec Total 17,665
Ontario 0 - Managerial 425
A - Professionals 1,105
B - Skilled and Technical 2,730
C - Intermediate and Clerical 26,030
D - Elemental and Labourers 1,435
Ontario Total 31,805
Manitoba 0 - Managerial 15
A - Professionals 110
B - Skilled and Technical 190
C - Intermediate and Clerical 710
D - Elemental and Labourers 15
Manitoba Total 1,170
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Province Skill Level TFWP work permit holders
Saskatchewan 0 - Managerial 10
A - Professionals 30
B - Skilled and Technical 240
C - Intermediate and Clerical 505
D - Elemental and Labourers 25
Saskatchewan Total 810
Alberta 0 - Managerial 160
A - Professionals 190
B - Skilled and Technical 3,340
C - Intermediate and Clerical 3,005
D - Elemental and Labourers 265
Not stated 50
Alberta Total 7,090
British Columbia 0 - Managerial 415
A - Professionals 925
B - Skilled and Technical 5,545
C - Intermediate and Clerical 12,815
D - Elemental and Labourers 675
Not stated 105
British Columbia Total 20,445
Yukon A - Professionals 50
B - Skilled and Technical 35
C - Intermediate and Clerical 10
D - Elemental and Labourers —
Yukon Total 95
Northwest Territories B - Skilled and Technical 5
C - Intermediate and Clerical 10
Northwest Territories Total 20
Nunavut A - Professionals —
B - Skilled and Technical 30
C - Intermediate and Clerical 20
D - Elemental and Labourers —
Nunavut Total 55
Not stated 0 - Managerial 10
A - Professionals 35
B - Skilled and Technical 85
C - Intermediate and Clerical 420
D - Elemental and Labourers 10
Not stated Total 570
Grand Total 79,555
Note: “Not stated” skill level represents total of New Workers, Others Non-Workers, and Not stated skill level
Note: “—“ replaces numbers below 5. Due to rounding, numbers may not total correctly.
Source: IRCC Temporary Residents, October 31st, 2019 data
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Table 13: International Mobility Program (IMP) employer-specific work permit holders signed in
2018, by province and NOC skill level
Province Skill Level IMP work permit holders
Newfoundland and Labrador 0 - Managerial 115
A - Professionals 280
B - Skilled and Technical 550
C - Intermediate and Clerical 45
D - Elemental and Labourers 35
Not stated 10
Newfoundland and Labrador Total 1,025
Prince Edward Island 0 - Managerial 80
A - Professionals 50
B - Skilled and Technical 250
C - Intermediate and Clerical 130
D - Elemental and Labourers 15
Prince Edward Island Total 525
Nova Scotia 0 - Managerial 155
A - Professionals 600
B - Skilled and Technical 670
C - Intermediate and Clerical 190
D - Elemental and Labourers 10
Not stated 15
Nova Scotia Total 1,640
New Brunswick 0 - Managerial 105
A - Professionals 340
B - Skilled and Technical 375
C - Intermediate and Clerical 315
D - Elemental and Labourers 20
Not stated 15
New Brunswick Total 1,170
Quebec 0 - Managerial 1,530
A - Professionals 7,600
B - Skilled and Technical 5,725
C - Intermediate and Clerical 645
D - Elemental and Labourers 45
Not stated 100
Quebec Total 15,590
Ontario 0 - Managerial 5,180
A - Professionals 17,295
B - Skilled and Technical 7,235
C - Intermediate and Clerical 405
D - Elemental and Labourers 125
Not stated 365
Ontario Total 30,515
Manitoba 0 - Managerial 190
A - Professionals 820
B - Skilled and Technical 1,020
C - Intermediate and Clerical 795
D - Elemental and Labourers 165
Not stated 20
Manitoba Total 3,000
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Province Skill Level IMP work permit holders
Saskatchewan 0 - Managerial 345
A - Professionals 556
B - Skilled and Technical 1,710
C - Intermediate and Clerical 310
D - Elemental and Labourers 100
Not stated 15
Saskatchewan Total 3,040
Alberta 0 - Managerial 925
A - Professionals 3,080
B - Skilled and Technical 2,385
C - Intermediate and Clerical 365
D - Elemental and Labourers 45
Not stated 105
Alberta Total 6,890
British Columbia 0 - Managerial 1,930
A - Professionals 5,640
B - Skilled and Technical 5,475
C - Intermediate and Clerical 550
D - Elemental and Labourers 755
Not stated 125
British Columbia Total 14,420
Yukon 0 - Managerial 20
A - Professionals 45
B - Skilled and Technical 120
C - Intermediate and Clerical 80
D - Elemental and Labourers 120
Yukon Total 385
Northwest Territories 0 - Managerial 15
A - Professionals 20
B - Skilled and Technical 50
C - Intermediate and Clerical 10
D - Elemental and Labourers 15
Northwest Territories Total 110
Nunavut 0 - Managerial —
A - Professionals 10
B - Skilled and Technical 10
Not stated —
Nunavut Total 25
Not stated 0 - Managerial 385
A - Professionals 810
B - Skilled and Technical 580
C - Intermediate and Clerical 70
D - Elemental and Labourers 5
Not stated 80
Not stated Total 1,925
Grand Total 79,555
Note: “—“ replace numbers below 5. Due to rounding, numbers may not total correctly.
Source: IRCC Temporary Residents, October 31st, 2019 data
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APPENDIX II: RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL NORMS ON FAIR
RECRUITMENT
ILO
GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR FAIR RECRUITMENT
1. Recruitment should take place in a way that respects, protects and fulfils internationally
recognized human rights, including those expressed in international labour standards, and
in particular the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, and prevention
and elimination of forced labour, child labour and discrimination in respect of
employment and occupation.
2. Recruitment should respond to established labour market needs, and not serve as a means
to displace or diminish an existing workforce, to lower labour standards, wages, or
working conditions, or to otherwise undermine decent work.
3. Appropriate legislation and policies on employment and recruitment should apply to all
workers, labour recruiters and employers.
4. Recruitment should take into account policies and practices that promote efficiency,
transparency and protection for workers in the process, such as mutual recognition of
skills and qualifications.
5. Regulation of employment and recruitment activities should be clear and transparent and
effectively enforced. The role of the labour inspectorate and the use of standardized
registration, licensing or certification systems should be highlighted. The competent
authorities should take specific measures against abusive and fraudulent recruitment
methods, including those that could result in forced labour or trafficking in persons.
6. Recruitment across international borders should respect the applicable national laws,
regulations, employment contracts and applicable collective agreements of countries of
origin, transit and destination, and internationally recognized human rights, including the
fundamental principles and rights at work, and relevant international labour standards.
These laws and standards should be effectively implemented.
7. No recruitment fees or related costs should be charged to, or otherwise borne by, workers
or jobseekers.
8. The terms and conditions of a worker’s employment should be specified in an
appropriate, verifiable and easily understandable manner, and preferably through written
contracts in accordance with national laws, regulations, employment contracts and
applicable collective agreements. They should be clear and transparent, and should inform
the workers of the location, requirements and tasks of the job for which they are being
recruited. In the case of migrant workers, written contracts should be in a language that
the worker can understand, should be provided sufficiently in advance of departure from
the country of origin, should be subject to measures to prevent contract substitution, and
should be enforceable.
9. Workers’ agreements to the terms and conditions of recruitment and employment should
be voluntary and free from deception or coercion.
10. Workers should have access to free, comprehensive and accurate information regarding
their rights and the conditions of their recruitment and employment.
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11. Freedom of workers to move within a country or to leave a country should be respected.
Workers’ identity documents and contracts should not be confiscated, destroyed or
retained.
12. Workers should be free to terminate their employment and, in the case of migrant
workers, to return to their country. Migrant workers should not require the employer’s or
recruiter’s permission to change employer.
13. Workers, irrespective of their presence or legal status in a State, should have access to
free or affordable grievance and other dispute resolution mechanisms in cases of alleged
abuse of their rights in the recruitment process, and effective and appropriate remedies
should be provided where abuse has occurred.
ILO MULTILATERAL FRAMEWORK ON LABOUR MIGRATION
Objective 13. Governments in both origin and destination countries should give due consideration
to licensing and supervising recruitment and placement services for migrant workers in
accordance with the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), and its
Recommendation (No. 188).
Guidelines
The following guidelines may prove valuable in giving practical effect to the above principle:
13.1. providing that recruitment and placement services operate in accordance with a
standardized system of licensing or certification established in consultation with
employers’ and workers’ organizations;
13.2. providing that recruitment and placement services respect migrant workers’
fundamental principles and rights;
13.3. ensuring that migrant workers receive understandable and enforceable employment
contracts;
13.4. providing arrangements to ensure that recruitment and placement services do not recruit,
place or employ workers in jobs which involve unacceptable hazards or risks or abusive
or discriminatory treatment of any kind and informing migrant workers in a language they
understand of the nature of the position offered and the terms and conditions of
employment;
13.5. working to implement legislation and policies containing effective enforcement
mechanisms and sanctions to deter unethical practices, including provisions for the
prohibition of private employment agencies engaging in unethical practices and the
suspension or withdrawal of their licences in case of violation;
13.6. consider establishing a system of protection, such as insurance or bond, to be paid by
the recruitment agencies, to compensate migrant workers for any monetary losses
resulting from the failure of a recruitment or contracting agency to meet its obligations to
them;
13.7. providing that fees or other charges for recruitment and placement are not borne directly
or indirectly by migrant workers;
13.8. providing incentives for recruitment and placement services that meet recognized
criteria for good performance.
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GLOBAL COMPACT FOR SAFE, ORDERLY AND REGULAR MIGRATION
Objective 6: Facilitate fair and ethical recruitment and safeguard conditions that ensure decent
work
We commit to review existing recruitment mechanisms to guarantee that they are fair and ethical,
and to protect all migrant workers against all forms of exploitation and abuse in order to
guarantee decent work and maximize the socioeconomic contributions of migrants in both their
countries of origin and destination.
To realize this commitment, we will draw from the following actions:
1. Promote signature and ratification of, accession to and implementation of relevant
international instruments related to international labour migration, labour rights, decent
work and forced labour;
2. Build upon the work of existing bilateral, subregional and regional platforms that have
overcome obstacles and identified best practices in labour mobility, by facilitating cross-
regional dialogue to share this knowledge, and to promote full respect for the human and
labour rights of migrant workers at all skills levels, including migrant domestic workers;
3. Improve regulations on public and private recruitment agencies in order to align them
with international guidelines and best practices, and prohibit recruiters and employers
from charging or shifting recruitment fees or related costs to migrant workers in order to
prevent debt bondage, exploitation and forced labour, including by establishing
mandatory, enforceable mechanisms for effective regulation and monitoring of the
recruitment industry;
4. Establish partnerships with all relevant stakeholders, including employers, migrant
workers’ organizations and trade unions, to ensure that migrant workers are provided with
written contracts and are made aware of the provisions therein, the regulations relating to
international labour recruitment and employment in the country of destination, and their
rights and obligations, as well as of how to access effective complaint and redress
mechanisms, in a language they understand;
5. Enact and implement national laws that sanction human and labour rights violations,
especially in cases of forced and child labour, and cooperate with the private sector,
including employers, recruiters, subcontractors and suppliers, to build partnerships that
promote conditions for decent work, prevent abuse and exploitation, and ensure that the
roles and responsibilities within the recruitment and employment processes are clearly
outlined, thereby enhancing supply chain transparency;
6. Strengthen the enforcement of fair and ethical recruitment and decent work norms and
policies by enhancing the abilities of labour inspectors and other authorities to better
monitor recruiters, employers and service providers in all sectors, ensuring that
international human rights and labour law is observed to prevent all forms of exploitation,
slavery, servitude and forced, compulsory or child labour;
7. Develop and strengthen labour migration and fair and ethical recruitment processes that
allow migrants to change employers and modify the conditions or length of their stay with
minimal administrative burden, while promoting greater opportunities for decent work
and respect for international human rights and labour law;
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8. Take measures that prohibit the confiscation or non-consensual retention of work
contracts and travel or identity documents from migrants, in order to prevent abuse, all
forms of exploitation, forced, compulsory and child labour, extortion and other situations
of dependency, and to allow migrants to fully exercise their human rights;
9. Provide migrant workers engaged in remunerated and contractual labour with the same
labour rights and protections extended to all workers in the respective sector, such as the
rights to just and favourable conditions of work, to equal pay for work of equal value, to
freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and to the highest attainable standard of
physical and mental health, including through wage protection mechanisms, social
dialogue and membership in trade unions;
10. Ensure that migrants working in the informal economy have safe access to effective
reporting, complaint and redress mechanisms in cases of exploitation, abuse or violations
of their rights in the workplace, in a manner that does not exacerbate vulnerabilities of
migrants who denounce such incidents and allows them to participate in respective legal
proceedings whether in the country of origin or the country of destination;
11. Review relevant national labour laws, employment policies and programmes to ensure
that they include considerations of the specific needs and contributions of women migrant
workers, especially in domestic work and lower-skilled occupations, and adopt specific
measures to prevent, report, address and provide effective remedy for all forms of
exploitation and abuse, including sexual and gender-based violence, as a basis to promote
gender-responsive labour mobility policies;
12. Develop and improve national policies and programmes relating to international labour
mobility, including by taking into consideration relevant recommendations of the ILO
General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment, the United Nations
Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the International Organization for
Migration (IOM) International Recruitment Integrity System (IRIS).
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ILO DEFINITION OF RECRUITMENT FEES AND COSTS
The terms “recruitment fees” and “related costs” refer to any fees or costs incurred in the
recruitment process in order for workers to secure employment or placement, regardless of the
manner, timing or location of their imposition or collection. Recruitment fees or related costs
should not be collected from workers by an employer, their subsidiaries, labour recruiters or other
third parties providing related services. Fees or related costs should not be collected directly or
indirectly, such as through deductions from wages and benefits. The recruitment fees and related
costs considered under this definition should not lead to direct or indirect discrimination between
workers who have the right to freedom of movement for the purpose of employment, within the
framework of regional economic integration areas.
Recruitment fees include:
− payments for recruitment services offered by labour recruiters, whether public or private, in
matching offers of and applications for employment;
− payments made in the case of recruitment of workers with a view to employing them to
perform work for a third party;
− payments made in the case of direct recruitment by the employer; or
− payments required to recover recruitment fees from workers.
These fees may be one-time or recurring and cover recruiting, referral and placement services
which could include advertising, disseminating information, arranging interviews, submitting
documents for government clearances, confirming credentials, organizing travel and
transportation, placement into employment.
Related costs are expenses integral to recruitment and placement within or across national
borders, taking into account that the widest set of related costs are incurred for international
recruitment. These costs are listed below and may apply to both national and international
recruitment. Depending on the recruitment process and the context, these cost categories could be
further developed by the government and the social partners at the national level. It is recognized
that the competent authority has flexibility to determine exceptions to their applicability,
consistent with relevant international labour standards, through national regulations, and after
consulting the most representative organizations of workers and employers. Such exceptions
should be considered subject, but not limited, to the following conditions:
− they are in the interest of the workers concerned; and
− they are limited to certain categories of workers and specified types of services; and
− the corresponding related costs are disclosed to the worker before the job is accepted.
When initiated by an employer, labour recruiter or an agent acting on behalf of those parties;
required to secure access to employment or placement; or imposed during the recruitment
process, the following costs should be considered related to the recruitment process:
• Medical costs: payments for medical examinations, tests or vaccinations;
• Insurance costs: costs to insure the lives, health and safety of workers, including enrollment
in migrant welfare funds;
• Costs for skills and qualification tests: costs to verify workers’ language proficiency and
level of skills and qualifications, as well as for location-specific credentialing, certification or
licensing;
75
• Costs for training and orientation: expenses for required trainings, including on-site job
orientation and pre-departure or post-arrival orientation of newly recruited workers;
• Equipment costs: costs for tools, uniforms, safety gear, and other equipment needed to
perform assigned work safely and effectively;
• Travel and lodging costs: expenses incurred for travel, lodging and subsistence within or
across national borders in the recruitment process, including for training, interviews, consular
appointments, relocation, and return or repatriation;
• Administrative costs: application and service fees that are required for the sole purpose of
fulfilling the recruitment process. These could include fees for representation and services
aimed at preparing, obtaining or legalizing workers’ employment contracts, identity
documents, passports, visas, background checks, security and exit clearances, banking
services, and work and residence permits.
Enumeration of related costs in this definition is generalized and not exhaustive. Other related
costs required as a condition of recruitment could also be prohibited. These costs should be
regulated in ways to respect the principle of equality of treatment for both national and migrant
workers.
Illegitimate, unreasonable and undisclosed costs
Extra-contractual, undisclosed, inflated or illicit costs are never legitimate. Anti-bribery and anti-
corruption regulation should be complied with at all times and at any stage of the recruitment
process. Examples of such illegitimate costs include: bribes, tributes, extortion or kickback
payments, bonds, illicit cost-recovery fees and collaterals required by any actor in the recruitment
chain.
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APPENDIX III: SELECT PROVINCIAL REFERENCE DOCUMENTS
S
ASKATCHEWAN RECRUITER CODE OF CONDUCT
Code of Conduct for Foreign Worker Recruiters
[Appendix of Foreign Worker Recruitment and Immigration Services Regulations]
Interpretation
In this code:
“Act” means The Foreign Worker Recruitment and Immigration Services Act;
“affiliate” means, with respect to a foreign worker recruiter, a person other than an agent, partner or
employee of the foreign worker recruiter who has a business relationship with the foreign worker recruiter
to provide services to or for the foreign worker recruiter that are related to the recruitment of foreign
workers or the provision of immigration services;
“agent” means, with respect to a foreign worker recruiter, a person, other than an affiliate, partner or
employee of the foreign worker recruiter, who is authorized by the foreign worker recruiter to act for the
foreign worker recruiter on matters related to the recruitment of foreign workers or the provision of
immigration services;
“employer” means a person who hires or recruits a foreign national and includes an agency that represents
a group of persons who hire or recruit foreign nationals;
“partner” means, with respect to a foreign worker recruiter, a person other than an affiliate, agent or
employee of the foreign worker recruiter who carries on the business of recruiting foreign workers in
conjunction with the foreign worker recruiter with a view to profit;
“unlawful activity” means an act or omission that, at the time of the occurrence, is contrary to the laws of
Canada, of Saskatchewan, of another province or territory of Canada, of another country or of a state
within that country.
This code is to be read subject to the Act and the regulations made pursuant to the Act.
Purpose of code
This code establishes standards of professional conduct for licensed foreign worker recruiters and
provides guidance for their practice.
Application of code
This code applies to all licensed foreign worker recruiters.
Prohibitions
No licensed foreign worker recruiter shall:
a) engage in any unlawful activity;
b) provide advice or create false expectations that would lead a foreign national to divest assets, quit his or
her job or relocate without certainty of the right to work in Canada;
c) represent, either expressly or by implication, that services provided by the foreign worker recruiter are
endorsed by the Government of Saskatchewan.
Professional responsibilities
Every licensed foreign worker recruiter shall:
a) provide assistance and services in a fair, honest, open, timely and competent manner and only with
respect to matters that the foreign worker recruiter is capable of handling;
b) forward all communications addressed to or from a foreign national or the foreign national’s potential
employer without alteration or undue delay;
c) hold in strict confidence all information related to a foreign national’s job application, all other personal
information related to the foreign national and all information respecting an employer’s recruitment
activities and not divulge that information unless authorized by the foreign national or the employer or
required by law;
d) provide truthful, accurate and complete information in all communication to a foreign national, his or her
potential employer and any ministry or agency of the Government of Saskatchewan, any department or
agency of the Government of Canada or department or agency of the government of another province or
territory of Canada; and
e) ensure, to the best of his or her ability, the authenticity of the documents and the truthfulness of the
information provided to the minister.
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Report of breach
Subject to the duty of confidentiality in clause 5(c), a licensed foreign worker recruiter shall report to the
director any conduct that the recruiter reasonably believes is a contravention of the Act, the regulations
made pursuant to the Act or this code.
Competence
1) For the purposes of this code, “competence” means having adequate skill, ability and knowledge to engage in
the practice of being a foreign worker recruiter.
2) A licensed foreign worker recruiter has a duty to be competent to perform any services undertaken for an
employer in connection with recruiting a foreign national.
3) A licensed foreign worker recruiter shall at all times use best efforts to adapt to changing laws, requirements,
and standards.
Response to illegality
If a licensed foreign worker recruiter is employed or retained by a person to act in a matter the licensed
foreign worker recruiter knows is dishonest, fraudulent, criminal or illegal with respect to that matter, the
licensed foreign worker recruiter shall:
a) advise the person that the proposed conduct would be dishonest or unlawful and should be stopped; and
b) if the person, despite the advice, intends to pursue the proposed course of conduct, withdraw from acting
in the matter.
Required action on discovery of error or omission
If a licensed foreign worker recruiter discovers, in connection with a matter for which the licensed foreign
worker recruiter was retained, an error or omission that is or may be damaging to the employer or the
foreign national and that cannot be readily rectified, the licensed foreign worker recruiter shall:
a) promptly and fully inform the employer or foreign national of the error or omission, and, when so informing,
make every reasonable effort to not prejudice any rights of indemnity that either of them may have under
an insurance or clients’ protection or indemnity plan or otherwise;
b) recommend that the employer or foreign national obtain legal advice elsewhere concerning any rights the
employer or foreign national may have arising from the error or omission; and
c) advise the employer or foreign national that in the circumstances, the licensed foreign worker recruiter may
no longer be able to act for the employer or foreign national.
Supervision of partners, affiliates, agents and employees
A licensed foreign worker recruiter is fully responsible for all work entrusted to his or her employees,
partners, affiliates and agents.
Maintenance of contact information
A licensed foreign worker recruiter shall immediately notify the ministry and the employers and foreign
nationals to whom the licensed foreign worker recruiter is providing recruiting services or with whom the
licensed foreign worker recruiter is dealing of any changes in contact information, including the licensed
foreign worker recruiter’s home and business address, telephone number and email address.
Obligation to respond to ministry
A licensed foreign worker recruiter shall reply promptly to any communication from the director or the
minister.
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Saskatchewan ethical conduct disclosure and consent form
Foreign nationals must read and sign this Ethical Conduct Disclosure if they are:
assisted by anyone with their immigration application; and/or
recruited by a foreign worker recruiter for a Saskatchewan employer.
anyone who is living in Canada and is not a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident is a foreign national.
This includes paid and unpaid assistance or recruitment unless it is provided by a family member or an
organization or individual exempted under The Foreign Worker Recruitment and Immigration Service Act.
Foreign nationals coming to Saskatchewan through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
(IRCC), temporary resident classes or through the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP)
are protected under The Foreign Worker Recruitment and Immigration Services Act (Saskatchewan) and
The Immigrant and Refugee Protection Act (Canada).
Protections under The Foreign Worker Recruitment and Immigration Services Act, its regulations
and Codes include:
1) No person can, directly or indirectly, charge any person other than an employer, a fee or expense for
recruitment services. This means you cannot be charged a fee by a foreign worker recruiter, immigration
consultant, employer or anyone else for finding you a job with a Saskatchewan employer or helping you find a
job.
2) You can be charged fees for immigration services that is, for assistance in preparing an immigration
application, representing you with immigration authorities or providing you or your family with settlement
services. These services must be provided under a written contract signed by you that identifies the services
and their cost. You do not have to pay charges that are not clearly identified in a signed contract.
3) Your immigration consultant, foreign worker recruiter, or employer cannot:
a) produce or distribute false or misleading information;
b) take possession of or retain your passport or other official documents or property;
c) misrepresent employment opportunities, including misrepresentations respecting position, duties, length of
employment, wages and benefits or other terms of employment;
d) threaten deportation or other action for which there is no lawful cause;
e) contact you or your family or friends after being requested not to do so by you;
f) take action against or threatening to take action against you or anyone else for participating in an
investigation or proceeding by any government or law enforcement agency or for making a complaint to
any government or law enforcement agency; or
g) take unfair advantage of your trust or exploit a foreign national’s fear or lack of experience or knowledge.
4) A foreign worker recruiter or paid immigration representative must:
a) provide assistance/services to you in a fair, honest, open, timely and competent manner and only with
respect to matters that you are capable of handling;
b) forward to you all communications addressed to or for you from the SINP or IRCC or your potential
employer without alteration or undue delay;
c) hold in strict confidence, all applicant information related to your immigration or job application or other
personal information and not divulge such information unless authorized by you or required by law; and,
d) provide truthful, accurate and complete information in all communication to you, SINP and IRCC officials
and your potential employer at all times.
5) Your foreign worker recruiter or paid immigration representative must not:
a) make any false or inaccurate statement, or present any falsified document, which may mislead provincial
or federal immigration authorities about your identity, background, qualifications, experience, or any other
relevant matter;
b) encourage you to apply to a federal or provincial immigration program unless you have a reasonable
chance of being eligible;
c) engage in any unlawful activity in connection with your or any other immigration application to Canada and
must not collaborate with anyone who is engaged in any unlawful activity;
d) behave in an inappropriate manner towards immigration officials in an attempt to influence decisions
regarding your application;
e) knowingly submit or continue with your SINP application if they believe you do not intend to settle (live and
work/be an entrepreneur) in Saskatchewan or to work for an employer in Saskatchewan as you have
indicated in your application; and,
f) f) provide advice or create false expectations which would lead you to divest assets, quit your job or
relocate without certainty of legal residence and right to work in Canada.
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Additionally, whether your immigration representative is paid or unpaid, you should understand that:
a) your representative is an independent agent and is not a representative of the Government of
Saskatchewan or Canada or their ministries and agencies;
b) your representative does not receive additional or supplemental information on programs from the
Government of Saskatchewan or Canada or their ministries and agencies which may expedite your
application
c) using the services of a representative will not result in any special consideration or priority processing of
your application to the SINP or IRCC;
d) the Governments of Saskatchewan and Canada do not require you to use the services of a representative
in making an application;
e) you may contact the SINP or IRCC directly, even if you have authorized a representative to assist you and
act as your representative;
f) SINP and IRCC immigration forms are available free of charge on the Government of Saskatchewan and
Government of Canada website and you cannot be charged for those forms; and,
g) Your representative is personally accountable to you and federal and provincial immigration authorities
respecting all aspects of your application.
Conflict of Interest
Your foreign worker recruiter or immigration consultant must, by law, deal with potential conflicts between
your best interest and their interests as follows:
1) If they are acting as your immigration consultant and providing recruitment services to your employer or
potential employer, they must:
a) disclose to both you and the employer that he/she is acting for both parties and the nature of the services
that they are providing to each party;
b) obtain the written consent of you and the employer to provide those services to both parties; and,
c) have signed, written contracts with you and the employer.
2) They must clearly disclose in writing to you if they receive any fee or compensation for referring you to another
person.
Making a Complaint
If you believe your immigration representative, foreign worker recruiter or employer has contravened
these rules and guidelines, you may:
Cancel the appointment of your immigration representative at any time. If you do so, you should
immediately advise the SINP and IRCC, as appropriate, of the cancellation.
Make a complaint to the Program Integrity and Legislation Unit
at (306) 798-1350. This is an agency of the
Government of Saskatchewan that investigates complaints by foreign nationals coming to Saskatchewan.
Submit a complaint with the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC), in the case
of an issue with your paid immigration representative.
Make a complaint to the IRCC office dealing with your application.
I have read and understand the protections for foreign nationals described above.
Foreign National’s Signature
Date
