"Ontario investigating recruiter in Alberta who helps supply low-wage foreign workers to Canadian Tire stores,"

...

A ministry spokesperson told The Globe and Mail in an e-mail that it is conducting an open investigation into Allison Jones, the owner of a recruiting agency and an immigration consulting agency in St. Albert, outside of Edmonton. It did not provide any additional details about the probe...

Dozens of e-mail exchanges viewed by The Globe between a Canadian Tire foreign worker and an Allison Jones Consulting recruiter illustrate how the payment and hiring process works.

In an e-mail to The Globe, Ms. Jones herself pushed back on the characterization of her businesses.

She said any fees charged to workers are collected “as the immigration services are performed.” She added that funds collected from workers are held in trust until the work is completed, ensuring that clients only pay for “services rendered.”...

But three of the former workers at the Toronto Canadian Tire store under investigation told The Globe that Allison Jones Consulting recruiters never asked them if they wanted immigration services or not. They said they were told to sign a retainer agreement and send a US$3,000 deposit before they were interviewed or hired by Canadian Tire. Their understanding is that they needed to pay US$7,900 for their job...

At least 45 Canadian Tire stores across Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta have used Allison Jones Consulting to hire temporary foreign workers. The Globe linked the stores to Allison Jones Consulting through documents, conversations with former employees of the agency and job postings on websites that are popular with foreigners seeking jobs in Canada...

said that the franchise model of its business means that the corporate office has no authority over the hiring of workers – whether foreign or domestic. But since it was revealed in a Globe investigation last month that one owner of a Canadian Tire store in Toronto was being investigated for mistreating foreign workers, the company sent out a memo to its dealer community reminding them to comply with rules of the TFWP....