Alberta couple charged after foreign workers victimized

An Alberta couple who allegedly arranged for foreign nationals to work illegally in Calgary and around Canada have been arrested on immigration charges.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) allege Raquel Obras Figueroa and Enriquito Balbin Figueroa organized employment contracts for foreign nationals in Ontario to work in jobs in Alberta and British Columbia.

This included work as residential health care aides or community support workers in Calgary and as hotel housekeepers in Edmonton and in Hope, B.C.

The husband and wife, from Edmonton, have been charged jointly with aiding and abetting foreign nationals to contravene the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Raquel Figueroa is also charged with being an unauthorized immigration consultant for a fee.

The foreign nationals came to Canada lawfully, CBSA said, as visitors, students or workers and came into contact with the Figueroas while looking for work.

They were promised work permits and job security through Labour Market Opinions by the couple, the

The CBSA will not rest until those who exploit and victimize foreign nationals for their personal gain are brought before a court of law

KIM SCOVILLE

agency said, but they did not follow through.

Many of the illegal workers were victimized by employers who breached employment contracts and failed to provide the protections afforded to foreign workers, CBSA said.

“The CBSA will not rest until those who exploit and victimize foreign nationals for their personal gain are brought before a court of law,” Kim Scoville, acting regional director general, CBSA Prairie Region, said.

The CBSA alleges the couple also worked for an immigration consulting firm between 2007 and 2010.

An Edmonton employer, Jennilyn Morris, has been charged separately in connection with the Figueroa case. No other employers have been charged.

The Figueroas are due to appear in Calgary Provincial Court on August 19.