"Almost 100 employers fined $1.54 million for migrant worker violations,"

Federal government inspectors gave out the highest-ever fines in 2022, a record $1.54 million, to companies that did not follow the regulations for migrant workers, the Department of Employment announced on Wednesday...

“Last fiscal year, over 2,100 inspections were completed,” the department said in a statement.

“Of the employers inspected, 94% were ultimately found compliant and 6% were found non-compliant.”

A total of 116 employers were considered scofflaws and all of them were publicly named on a federal website. However, a total of 94 were fined a combined $1.54 million.

“In addition, 23 employers were issued a warning and seven are now banned from using the program, some for up to five years,” it said.

Records show fines typically averaged less than $10,000 and included penalties for minor breaches of Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, such as inadequate bookkeeping. Other fines ranged as high as $258,000 for misrepresentations or failing to comply with an inspector’s order.

The department reported receiving 5,465 tips last year that alleged employer misconduct in relation to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. During that time, a total of 204,700 migrant workers were part of the national workforce...

As of 2017, the department had not conducted any spot inspections under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. It was not until a critical audit that year that enforcement efforts were initiated...