A Burnaby cleaning company has been fined $53,000 and banned from hiring temporary foreign workers for five years after running afoul of the program’s regulations.
Green West Building Maintenance Ltd. operates a cleaning business out of a residential address in Burnaby.
The company has employed temporary foreign workers but was fined in February for being “non-compliant with wages and working conditions,” according to an email from Employment and Social Development Canada.
Under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, an employer who makes an offer of employment to a foreign national, has to provide them with the same occupation set out in the offer, as well as wages and working conditions that are “substantially the same” but “not less favourable” than those in the job offer.
For temporary foreign workers at Green West Building Maintenance, “the pay or working conditions didn't match, or were not better than, what was listed on the offer of employment, or the job was not the same as what was listed on the offer of employment,” states a summary of the case posted online.
Citing “privacy considerations,” Employment and Social Development Canada declined to provide any more specific details about Green West Building Maintenance’s fine and ban.
Companies that employ temporary foreign workers are subject to inspections that can be on-site or virtual, announced or unannounced and conducted without a warrant (unless a private dwelling is involved).
“While temporary foreign workers have the same workplace protections and rights as Canadians and permanent residents, their temporary status can make them more vulnerable to potential exploitation and abuse,” government media liaison officer Samuelle Carbonneau said in an emailed statement. “This is why the TFW Program uses inspection and compliance regulations to help ensure that employers protect the health and safety of workers, and that those who are found to be non-compliant face a range of consequences.”
Green West Building Maintenance owner Patrick Samiyani declined to comment on the fine and ban when contacted by the NOW.
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