N.b. Seafood Company Hit With $1m Fine, Temporary Foreign Worker Ban - Beritaja

A New Brunswick seafood processing institution has been barred from employing temporary overseas workers for a decade and fined the maximum punishment imaginable for violating rules of the program.

Bolero Shellfish Processing Inc. successful Saint-Simon, N.B., was fined the maximum financial punishment and had the prohibition imposed connected Sept. 17.

“To date, this is the biggest punishment ever issued by the department, because immoderate mistreatment of workers aliases misuse of the programme will not beryllium tolerated,” Employment and Social Development Canada said successful a statement.

The section says the employer was issued the punishment owed to failing to comply pinch national and provincial labour laws, and failing to supply a workplace that is free of abuse.

The punishment was 1 of respective imposed by the national authorities past period connected aggregate companies that were recovered to person violated its impermanent overseas worker program.

Employment and Social Development Canada conducted 1,435 employer compliance inspections successful the 2024-25 fiscal twelvemonth and recovered 10 per cent were non-compliant.

It collected $4.9 cardinal successful non-compliance fines during this fiscal play compared to the erstwhile twelvemonth of $2.1 cardinal and banned 36 employers from the program, a “threefold increase” from 2023-24.

Under the rules, employers who prosecute impermanent overseas workers are required to supply safe, patient and honorable moving conditions.

Bolero Shellfish is listed doubly connected a Social Development Canada database of non-compliant employers.

Prior to past month’s penalty, the institution faced a $2,000 punishment for akin infractions, but was deemed to still beryllium eligible for the program.

In that instance, the institution was recovered to person “pay aliases conditions that did not match, aliases were not amended than, what was listed connected the connection of employment, aliases the occupation was not the aforesaid arsenic what was listed connected the offer.”

It besides was deemed to not person put successful “enough effort to make judge the workplace was free of” physical, sexual, psychological aliases financial maltreatment aliases reprisal.

In past month’s decision, the institution faced the aforesaid reasoning, but besides was recovered to person collapsed federal, provincial aliases territorial laws for “hiring and recruiting labor successful the state aliases territory wherever the overseas nationalist worked.”

Sogelco International Inc., the genitor institution of Bolero, said successful a connection to BERITAJA that it “categorically rejects” the national government’s determination and will situation it successful court.

“Bolero Shellfish categorically rejects the conclusions of the national government, which do not bespeak the reality of its practices nor its committedness to the well-being of labor hired nether the Temporary Foreign Worker Program,” the connection said.

As the punishment faces a imaginable tribunal situation by the company, groups representing migrants are urging the national authorities to usage the fines collected from non-compliant companies to compensate workers.

“There are nary reparations nether the compliance enforcement system, which is why we’re calling connected the national authorities to really administer these fines to the workers who were abused and the workers who were exploited,” said Syed Hussan, executive head for Migrant Workers Alliance for Change.

Last year, the national authorities implemented changes to the impermanent overseas worker programme to make it harder to get a permit.

In its study connected Monday, the authorities said the changes resulted successful a 50 per cent wide simplification successful applications and 70 per cent successful the low-wage stream.

While restrictions person reduced applications and usage of the program, groups for illustration the Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre says the national authorities needs to do more.

“We do want the authorities to return existent action and that besides includes inspections,” said Tracy Glynn, laminitis of the centre.

“There needs to beryllium proactive, unannounced inspections to drawback abuses. It can’t beryllium near to migrant workers to make the complaint. The load shouldn’t beryllium put connected them erstwhile they are already excessively acrophobic to study the abuses.”

—with files from BERITAJA’ Suzanne Lapointe

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