Saskatchewan Secures First Conviction Under Foreign Worker Law in Afghanistan

Dhyan Jeny Enterprises Ltd. pleaded guilty in Moose Jaw Provincial Court on Aug. 11 to charging a foreign worker for employment. The company was ordered to pay $12,000 in restitution to the victim, a $5,000 fine, and a $2,000 victim fine surcharge.

Saskatchewan Immigration and Career Training Deputy Minister Greg Tuer said the ministry's investigation in Moose Jaw found a worker was required to pay $12,000 for employment. "There is a significant number right now of you know, where people are inappropriately using our immigration program or committing fraud anywhere where there's money available people bad actors get involved, Tuer said." Tuer said not every employer is a bad actor, and the ministry is taking steps to address issues. "People come here from all over the world and the law and the customs here in Canada and Saskatchewan are different from where they came from, said Tuer.

In Swift Current, another employer, Husky Travel Centre / Husky Energy, is facing multiple charges of imposing an employment fee on two foreign nationals and a charge of exploiting one's lack of knowledge of FWRISA." Tuer said a change in legislation from the Saskatchewan Foreign Worker Recruitment to the Immigration Services Act in 2024 has allowed more charges to be laid. "With the change to that act, our enforcement capabilities were broadened. We actually built a larger compliance team here.

And with that, more capacity to do investigations, said Tuer." He said this year the ministry has canceled more than 10 businesses' certificates of registration to employ foreign workers. Saskatoon immigration lawyer Oluwadamilola Asuni said bad actors can make an already competitive process more difficult for workers trying to build a life in Canada. "It is seriously eroding the confidence people have in the Canadian immigration system when they now have to pay to get a job.

It confers undue advantage on those people who have paid in the competitive immigration process, said Asuni. "The rate at which these things happen is more often than the one or two convictions here and there that we have seen. Asuni said employment exploitation goes beyond the relationships between foreign nationals and companies.

Earlier this month, Saskatoon Provincial Court heard another case of two employers, Sohel Hadiar and Muhammad Masum, who were allegedly exploiting a foreign national's attempt to find employment and were found guilty of human trafficking. This year, Saskatoon resident Balvir Singh pleaded guilty to advising foreign nationals to misrepresent employment information on immigration applications while charging up to $40,000 for immigration sponsorship. Saskatchewan Association of Immigrant Settlement and Integration Agencies executive director Innocent Minega said there are things prospective immigrants can do to protect themselves. Just like any other profession, you will find malpractices everywhere, said Minega.