ESDC cites efforts 'to concentrate inspections on areas with heightened risk of potential non-compliance'

Employers using Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) are facing unprecedented financial penalties and lengthy bans, even as the number of federal inspections has fallen, according to a report.

In the 2018–19 fiscal year, 74 companies were fined a total of $102,250 for breaking TFWP rules, CBC reported, citing data from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).

By last fiscal year, the number of sanctioned employers had nearly doubled to 147, while the total value of penalties skyrocketed to $4,882,500 — more than 45 times higher than seven years earlier. At the same time, applications to use the program have dropped: after reaching roughly 150,000 in 2023–24, the number of employer applications has fallen to about 63,000 so far in the current fiscal year.

This is the case even though enforcement activity has not grown in parallel. ESDC conducted 1,853 inspections in 2018–19; that number increased during the pandemic but then declined to 1,435 last year, CBC reports.

ESDC told CBC the higher penalties reflect “recent efforts to concentrate inspections on areas with a heightened risk of potential non-compliance” and said “employers now face greater consequences when violations occur, and the impact of these changes is now becoming more evident in our inspections.”

In the 2024–2025 fiscal year, ESDC conducted 1,435 employer compliance inspections,...

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