SERVICE CANADA WILL START PERFORMING UNANNOUNCED INSPECTIONS ON EMPLOYERS OF TEMPORARY FOREIGN WORKERS. CANADIAN FARMERS ARE CONCERNED THAT THEY’RE BEING UNFAIRLY TARGETED.
Unannounced audits upset farmers
Service Canada will start performing unannounced inspections on employers of temporary foreign workers — something Canadian farmers aren’t happy about. Some 30,000 employers using the Temporary Foreign Worker Program — including those part of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program — received an email last month reminding them that, “Service Canada has the authority to conduct an inspection, with or without prior notice, in order to verify your compliance with the TFW program.” And while these inspections apply to anyone who uses the program, employers in the agricultural sector feel they’re being targeted.
In a conference call to discuss the updated policy, it was stated that unannounced inspections would be focused on agriculture and caregiver employers because they are the most vulnerable sectors. But many farmers think the government is taking things too far. “There are no concerns about doing the actual inspection. When there’s government programs involved, there should be accountability and openness,” said Dave Quist, executive director of Western Canadian Wheat Growers. “But it seems like these guys can just come in and do whatever they want. There needs to be some due process and transparency involved here.”
A grain farmer in Western Canada who the Post has agreed not to name for fear of retribution describes the intensity of these inspections as “unheard of” and that showing up unannounced is an invasive tactic.
“If there has been a complaint, then maybe taking this next step makes sense, but otherwise this is pretty extreme,” he said.
In an email to the Post, Matt Pascuzzo — press secretary for the minister of employment, workforce development and labour — said while auditors can show up announced, “inspectors do not have the authority to enter a private dwelling of an employer without their consent or a warrant. Inspectors would not arrive on site and begin their inspection without first announcing themselves to the employer or their onsite representative.”
As for accessing documents, Pascuzzo said inspectors can ask to examine anything on the premise, take photographs and video and ask to see any relevant documentation. What they can’t do is go onto a computer themselves to find documents. Pascuzzo says audits have been ongoing since the start of the program and announced on-site inspections have been happening for several years. The introduction of unannounced audits is simply a way to improve the TFW program.
But many farmers feel the government doesn’t understand how big an impact these audits can have. Marshall Schuyler is a fruit farmer in Simcoe, Ont., who was subject to an announced onsite audit last year. A farmer can face an audit if there’s reason to suspect they’re not complying with program requirements, they’ve previously been found to be noncompliant or through random selection.
For Schuyler, it was the former. He said the audit took nearly three months, in which time he provided countless documents to prove he was treating his 130 foreign workers fairly. “All of a sudden you’re in the middle of an audit and you don’t know when it will be done and basically you have no assurance that you’re going to have your employees,” he said. “You’re basically guilty until you can prove yourself innocent.” When an audit takes place, any pending permits for new workers can be suspended. Depending on how long the audit takes, Marshall said farmers are at risk of not getting their employees in time for the season. On his farm, for example, cherry picking takes place over 21/2 weeks and requires 92 foreign workers.
“If the audit had happened during that time and we didn’t get the workers, then the business couldn’t have run,” he said. Schuyler said the announced audit was stressful enough and can’t even imagine what an unannounced one would feel like.
“I was waking up every night at 1 or 2 a.m. while I was being audited. It really had a profound effect on me,” he said. “I have no problem with the concept of audits, but I think they should be trying to target the bad apples. The level of scrutiny could be a little more relaxed.”
The audit found Schuyler was treating his workers fairly. But for those who don’t, the consequences can be severe, ranging from monetary penalties of up to $1 million to being banned from the program altogether. A bee-keeper in Saskatchewan who asked to be kept anonymous said that while some employers likely do mistreat their workers, they’re the minority. The actual process of getting foreign workers requires a lot of paperwork and screening, not to mention most workers “simply won’t come back” if they’ve been abused.
For this bee-keeper, the cost of these audits is also concerning. This year’s federal budget promised $194.1 million over five years to ensure the rights of temporary foreign workers in Canada are protected. According to Pascuzzo, $15 million of this will be used to implement unannounced on-site inspections over three years. “I think there’s disappointment in the fact that the federal government is investing so much money to do these audits instead of trying to invest this money to set up a program where we can help increase the efficiency of getting workers into the country or getting these workers a permanent residency status,” said the Saskatchewan bee-keeper. In terms of how many unannounced audits will take place, that’s still to be determined. In the most recent fiscal year, Service Canada reported that 2,800 inspections of various forms took place. Of these, just over 30 employers have been deemed non-compliant, mainly because they failed to provide appropriate wages and working conditions.
THERE NEEDS TO BE SOME DUE PROCESS AND TRANSPARENCY INVOLVED HERE.