Feds stepping up inspections of foreign worker job sites following audit
OTTAWA — The federal Liberal government, chastised last year in an auditor’s report that found a lack of oversight of Canada’s controversial temporary foreign workers program, is stepping up employer inspections and naming and shaming those caught breaking the rules.
Since the start of the year, roughly 1,600 employers have been flagged as “high-risk employers” and selected for inspections by the Employment and Social Development Department, with more than 1,340 on-site inspections launched and in various stages of completion.
That’s more than seven times the number of on-site inspections conducted during the same period in 2016-17.
It’s all part of the government’s effort to address oversight concerns with the temporary foreign worker program flagged last year by auditor general Michael Ferguson.