Employers who break the rules of Canada's temporary foreign worker program now face much steeper penalties. Fines have jumped from $102,250 across 74 companies in 2018-19 to $4.8 million for 147 companies last fiscal year.

McMaster University professor Catherine Connelly notes the government shifted from an educational approach to a deterrence strategy.

The change comes as public scrutiny of the program intensified.

Despite larger penalties, experts believe many violations still go undetected. Meanwhile, employer applications for the program dropped sharply from 150,000 in 2023-24 to just 63,000 in the current fiscal year.

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