Employer compliance

Employer Responsibilities

The employer must:

• make sure that the worker has the necessary work authorization
• arrange workers’ compensation benefits and medical coverage when the worker arrives in Canada, as required by the province or territory
• comply with the conditions and time limits outlined in the worker’s work permit
• remain actively engaged in the business that submitted the offer of employment for as long as the worker is employed
• comply with all federal, provincial and territorial employment laws, including laws about recruiting workers
• provide the worker with a job in the same occupation that was listed in the offer of employment
• provide the worker with wages and working conditions that meet or are better than those listed in the offer of employment
• make reasonable efforts to provide a workplace that is free of physical, sexual, psychological and financial abuse
• keep any documentation related to the hiring and employment of the worker for a period of six years after the work permit is issued
• attend any inspection and provide all requested documentation or information.

Inspection

Overview

The reason of an inspection is to ensure the employer meets the conditions laid out in the employment offer, the positive LMIA letter and the annexes, thus making sure that the workers are treated well. The inspection may occur anytime in the six years after the date of the authorized employment period for which the work permit was issued.

Reasons for an Inspection

Following are the three reasons an employer could be selected for an inspection:

• There is reason to suspect that the company is non-compliance;
• In the past, the company has been found non-compliant
• The employer was chosen at random.

Penalties

Employers who were found non-compliant for a violation could face a variety of consequences. These are determined on a points system that considers the following factors:

• the type of violation;
• compliance history;
• the severity of non-compliance;
• the size of the business (for financial penalties only); and
• whether the employer voluntarily disclosed information about possible non-compliance before an inspection was initiated.

Employer Compliance Review (ECR)

Overview

The ECR takes place before the approval of the LMIA application in order to check the past compliance with respect to wages, working conditions and employee duties are consistent with the actual reported wages, working conditions and duties of the foreign worker during the actual period of work.

Penalties

Employers who are fail to demonstrate their past compliance will be found non-compliant.

Employers found to be non-compliant are subject to:

• possible refusal to process applications for two years from the TFWP and International Mobility Program (IMP)
• a negative LMIA being issued for pending applications if any and
• the cancellation of previously-issued LMIAs.