Canadian Tire Corp. CTC-T has barred its franchisees from using recruiters and immigration consultants who charge fees to temporary foreign workers and place them in jobs at the retailer’s stores.

The retail giant’s new policy, which took effect at the start of December, comes after a Globe and Mail investigation exposed how dozens of Canadian Tire franchise owners were using an Alberta-based recruiter, Allison Jones Consulting Services, to staff their stores with temporary foreign workers...

Canadian Tire made the internal policy change alongside its franchise owners, also known as dealers.

Eight foreign workers who worked at a Canadian Tire store in west Toronto say that they paid AJ Immigration Group – an immigration consultancy owned by Ms. Jones – roughly $10,000 to come to Canada. This figure was confirmed by The Globe through e-mails, invoices and text messages between the workers and staff at AJ Immigration.

Ms. Jones did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. She has previously denied charging foreign workers for recruiting services, which is illegal. She also denied that there was a continuing investigation into her and her companies, although she acknowledged that there were complaints filed by individuals to the Ontario Ministry of Labour against Allison Jones Consulting...

In a statement to The Globe sent this week, Canadian Tire said that its policy prohibits its franchise owners from using middlemen such as recruiters and immigration consultants who charge fees to foreign workers for any services, including immigration advice...

Two former employees of Ms. Jones told The Globe that staff at the two companies routinely worked together to bring foreigners into Canada to work at large retailers and restaurants, charging the workers US$7,900 for the entire process. The former employees also said that Canadian Tire was a popular client of Ms. Jones and she generated a lot of business from recruiting foreign workers for the retailer’s stores. Ms. Jones also recruited foreign workers for Tim Hortons and A&W restaurants...