What happened
A wholesale meat business in Coquitlam, B.C., has lost an appeal at the Employment Standards Tribunal, as reported by Talent Canada. The tribunal found the business broke the Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act.
The business hired a worker from Iran in May 2023 on a two-year closed work permit. He left soon after, saying his pay was cut and he was expected to pay money back to keep the job. Before he arrived, he had been told he must pay $52,000 to secure the job, and he deposited $12,000 into a Canadian bank account held by an unlicensed recruiter. That money was withdrawn in cash the same day.
An adjudicating delegate concluded the recruiter and the business owner received the $52,000. The tribunal described a deliberately opaque arrangement with several intermediaries and unexplained document transfers. The owner could not explain how the overseas recruiters got confidential LMIA documents or signed employment agreements. The business was ordered to repay $12,000 plus interest, $14,193 in total. The worker can recover $40,000 from the recruiter. On appeal, the business called the case a "witch hunt". The tribunal found no error and dismissed it.
Why it matters if you are hiring
Under B.C. law, a foreign worker cannot be charged for recruitment or employment, even indirectly through a third party. The ruling shows that a tribunal can trace the money through intermediaries and still find the employer responsible. Not knowing what a recruiter charged is a weak defence when the employer's own LMIA paperwork ended up in the recruiter's hands.
This matters most for employers in food processing, meat and other plant work that rely on temporary foreign workers, and for the HR leads, plant managers and owners who sign those hiring files. The report does not say whether other provinces have the same rule, so check yours.
The risk is concentrated in one place: overseas recruiters you did not choose and cannot see. A closed work permit ties the worker to you, which leaves them little room to push back.
One thing to do this week
List every recruiter or agent involved in your current foreign worker hires, including any who work through someone else. For each, get in writing their licence details where one is required and a signed statement that no worker pays any fee, directly or indirectly. If you cannot get both, pause the file and find out why.
Traverse Staffing places food manufacturing and industrial workers with employers across Canada, and we hire through channels an employer can account for from start to finish.