The Government of Canada highlights doubling of compliance monetary penalties under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program

GATINEAU, QC, July 9, 2026 /CNW/ - The federal government is focused on building lasting economic strength. This starts right here at home.

When it comes to jobs, Canadians are always first in line. To be clear: the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program is a last resort option for employers who cannot find qualified Canadians and permanent residents to fill job vacancies.

There's a stringent process in place to ensure that Canadian workers are always prioritized first. Employers seeking to use the TFW Program must meet a range of requirements, including demonstrating that they have taken measures to recruit and train workers within Canada and special requirements to ensure Canadian youth have been sought out. Employers who hire temporary foreign workers must also provide safe, healthy and dignified working conditions. These requirements are enforced by a strong compliance regime, including employer inspections.

From April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026, the TFW Program finalized 1,488 compliance inspections, concentrating on areas with the highest risk of potential non-compliance. Of the employers inspected, 12% were found to be non-compliant. Over $10.2 million in monetary penalties were issued to these employers, more than doubling last year's total of $4.5 million, and 30 employers were banned from accessing the Program.

These results follow tightening measures that were put in place as of September 2024. Additional measures have recently been implemented to ensure stronger compliance with the Program and to continue to protect the domestic labour market.

• Before seeking to hire a temporary foreign worker in the Low-Wage stream, employers must:
  • Advertise their position for 8 consecutive weeks (up from 4 weeks) before submitting a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) application.
  • Demonstrate adequate efforts to target youth in their recruitment efforts to fill those positions.
• Coordination between Job Bank and the TFW Program has been strengthened, providing more detailed and up-to-date information for processing officers to assess the employer's recruitment efforts and the availability of domestic job seekers, including Employment Insurance (EI) recipients.
• The LMIA assessment process has been enhanced with stringent reviews of high-risk sectors, including those with high youth employment, retail, food services, accommodation, and trucking.
• Advanced analytics, along with information gathered through tips, allegations, and inspections, are used at the LMIA processing stage to identify higher risks of Program misuse and to focus inspections on areas with greater potential for non-compliance.

Examples of non-compliance violations include:

• An employer in the long-haul trucking industry in Manitoba was fined $240,000 and banned from the TFW Program for five years for failing to provide proper working conditions to workers, failing to comply with federal and provincial labour laws, and failing to provide required documentation to inspectors.
• An employer in the management, scientific and technical consulting services sector in Quebec was fined $122,000 and banned from the TFW Program for five years for failing to employ the worker in the occupation described in the job offer, providing inaccurate information in the LMIA application, and for failing to make reasonable efforts to provide a workplace that is free of abuse.
• An employer in the restaurant business in Nova Scotia was fined $126,000 and banned from the TFW Program for two years for failing to provide proper wages and working conditions, lack of compliance with federal and provincial labour laws and for failing to protect workers from abuse in the workplace.

The Government of Canada will continue to monitor labour market conditions and work closely with provinces, territories, industry stakeholders and labour organizations to protect the integrity of the TFW Program and ensure Canadians continue to have access to available jobs across the country. Our work to reduce the reliance of Canadian employers on the TFW Program is part of that plan.

Quotes 

"Workers in Canada deserve safe workplaces where their rights are protected, and strong economies depend on employers being able to find the workers they need to keep businesses operating and communities thriving. The TFW Program is a last resort measure for businesses – it is no substitute for Canadian talent, and its misuse will never be permitted. By strengthening our inspection practices to weed out employers who misuse the program, we are putting workers at the forefront and safeguarding their well-being as we build, together, one Canadian economy that will benefit all generations."

– Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario

Quick Facts 

• The TFW Program is small in scale, with temporary foreign workers making up approximately 1% of the labour force in Canada, which represents less than 10% of all non-permanent residents in Canada. 
• The TFW Program's employer compliance regime aims to verify employers' adherence to program requirements and conditions through inspections. Consequences for employers who do not respect TFW Program requirements include administrative monetary penalties of up to $1 million per year, as well as being temporarily or permanently banned from the Program.
• Non-compliant employers are listed on the public-facing list, Employers who have been found non-compliant, managed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
• To support workers, Service Canada offers a confidential tip line and online platform, where temporary foreign workers and other interested parties can anonymously report situations of potential wrongdoing and program misuse. The tip line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with access to live agents offering services in over 200 languages from Monday to Friday (6:30 am to 8:00 pm EST).
• ESDC works with partners such as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to share information on any potential fraudulent or criminal activity that may be reported to the Department, uncovered during the assessment of the employer's LMIA application, or over the course of an inspection.

Associated Links 

• Government of Canada taking action to support rural employers under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program
• The Government of Canada highlights reduced usage of Temporary Foreign Worker Program and increased penalties
• Penalties doubled compared to last year for non-compliant employers using the Temporary Foreign Worker Program
• Minister Boissonnault provides next steps on recent changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program
• Government of Canada continues to take action to protect Temporary Foreign Workers, non-compliant employer penalties increased by 36%
• Government of Canada takes action to improve employer compliance and better protect foreign workers
• Government of Canada strengthens protections for temporary foreign workers as new regulations come into force 

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SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada

Contacts : For media enquiries, please contact: Jennifer Kozelj, Senior Communications Advisor and Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario, [email protected]; Media Relations Office: Employment and Social Development Canada, 819-994-5559, [email protected]