Number of temporary worker applications fell as fine total increased, government says

OTTAWA — Ottawa ordered companies to pay almost $5 million in fines in the last fiscal year for failing to comply with the rules for temporary foreign worker permits, new government data shows.

A new Employment and Social Development Canada report also says that after revised rules kicked in last year making it harder to get a temporary foreign worker permit, the number of applications made under the program fell by half.

That decrease included a 70 per cent drop in low wage stream temporary worker applications, says the federal government.

The temporary foreign worker program is split into low- and high-wage streams, reserved for jobs either below or above the provincial median income.

The number of temporary workers actually arriving in Canada appears to be on a downward trend. Government data shows that about 235,000 fewer temporary workers arrived between January 1 and July 31 compared to the same period last year.

Employment and Social Development Canada said it collected about $4.9 million in fines for non-compliance in the 2024-25 fiscal year, compared with $2 million in 2023-24.

Bolero Shellfish Processing Inc. of New Brunswick was fined $1 million — the maximum financial penalty — and was banned from the program for 10 years on Sept. 17.

The federal government says Bolero was fined for breaking federal or provincial hiring laws, paying less than the listed offer and not doing enough to ensure the workplace is free of physical, sexual, financial and/or psychological abuse.

Under the new rules introduced in September 2024, Ottawa refuses applications for permission to hire someone through the temporary foreign worker program in any census metropolitan area where unemployment is above six per cent.

There are exceptions to this rule for jobs in certain sectors, like agriculture, construction and health care, and for jobs with a duration of less than 120 days.

The rules also limit the number of low-wage temporary workers an employer can hire to 10 per cent of the workforce, or 20 per cent for certain sectors, including health care, construction and food manufacturing.

Of the roughly 260 non-compliance fines posted publicly since the start of September 2024, about 44 per cent were solely for employers not producing necessary documents to inspectors.

High national youth unemployment has put more political pressure on the temporary foreign worker program, which the government says accounts for only about one per cent of the national workforce.

The Conservatives recently began to call for the program to be terminated.

“The program should be abolished immediately,” Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel-Garner said Monday on her way into question period.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2025.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press