Noralta Lodge Ltd has been criticized for forging job applications in order to benefit from the temporary foreign workers program. The federal government recently added their name to the black list, which now includes five companies.
Minister of Employment Jason Kenney made the announcement last spring just after the government had tabled a new bill. The rules pertaining to the temporary foreign worker program will become stricter from this point forward. With the number of company inspections increasing, the first penalties have been handed out quickly. The most recent involves the Albertan company Noralta Lodge Ltd, which runs several camps for oil sands workers in the province.
According to data gathered during the investigation, Noralta Lodge Ltd forged employment applications in order to hire foreign workers under the federal program. On the website for Employment and Social Development Canada, we read that the company “provided false, misleading or incorrect information in the context of the application related to this LMO (Labour Market Opinion, editor’s note)“.
It should be noted that in order to benefit from the temporary foreign worker program, a company must first prove that it has made every effort to hire Canadian workers but has been unsuccessful, usually due to a shortage in the labour market.
Cancellation of 19 licence applications of foreign workers
Penalties followed quickly. The Ministry of Employment cancelled 19 licence applications for foreign workers in progress for Noralta Lodge Ltd. The company was also added to Ottawa’s “black list”. More importantly, it is prohibited from using the federal program for the next two years.
The Albertan company currently employs 560 workers, 33 of whom are foreign. The majority of these work in jobs in the hospitality sector (reception, customer service, housekeeping and kitchen).
Suspensions and revocations
Four other companies have made the “black list” published by the Ministry of Employment. As with Noralta Lodge Ltd, licence applications from the Boathouse Restaurant in Fenelon Falls, Ontario were revoked for providing false information.
For the other three companies, licence applications for the program have been temporarily suspended. The companies involved are three McDonald’s restaurants in Victoria, British Columbia, three restaurants in Labrador City, Newfoundland and Labrador and the photo studio Parvaz Film Corporation in Maple Ridge, British Columbia.
The penalties may still increase in the following months. As the federal government tightens the law pertaining to the temporary foreign worker program, it is aided by 40 inspectors investigating potential violations, a number that may soon increase to 60 according to the CBC.