Allison Jones tried to skirt the law by ‘having fees fall under AJ Immigration Group Inc.’

The Ontario government has fined an employer for illegally charging foreign workers for job placements at Canadian Tire, according to a recent report.

The province’s Ministry of Labour found that Jones and her two businesses charged the workers between US$7,900 and US$12,000 to secure work permits and jobs at a Canadian Tire location in Toronto, The Globe and Mail reported.

None of the workers were aware at the time that charging recruitment fees is unlawful. Between 2023 and 2024, eight workers filed complaints with the ministry over how they were hired to work at the Canadian Tire store.

Previously, a Canadian Tire store in Toronto started being investigated by both provincial and federal authorities following allegations of mistreatment and financial exploitation of employees hired under Ottawa’s Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program.

Earlier this year, Canadian Tire announced it will be closing some stores under its Atmosphere brand as part of a four-year restructuring strategy.

Entities ‘functioned as one comprehensive and unified business’

The Ontario Ministry of Labour fined Jones $2,000 and ordered two companies she owns—Allison Jones Consulting Services Inc. and AJ Immigration Group Inc.—to reimburse the foreign workers up to a total of $150,000, according to the report.

Jones has 30 days to appeal the decision, which was issued on May 15.

The recruiter has maintained that...

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