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The perils of working Illegally in Canada
The topic of illegal workers has been featured prominently in the news recently with Canada
Border Services Agency (CBSA) in Vancouver conducting raids on several construction sites
with television cameras in tow.
This has drawn considerable media attention and has resulted in the BC Civil Liberties Association filing a formal complaint with the Privacy Commissioner against CBSA for filming migrant workers for a reality television series.
Putting aside the concern about CBSA and television cameras, the real issue is about illegal workers. Nobody questions that working illegally is improper, but who is responsible for this?
The worker, the employer, or both?
Regulation 196 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) clearly states: “A foreign national must not work in Canada unless authorized to do so by a work permit or these Regulations.”
There are some situations in which a work permit is not required. Regulations provide for numerous exceptions to the need for a work permit such as coming to Canada as a business visitor, diplomat, foreign news correspondent, guest speaker, or professional athlete.
However, in most situations a person will require a work permit in order to be lawfully permitted to work in Canada.
Working illegally without a work permit can result in a person being issued an exclusion order for a period of one year or a deportation order which is a permanent bar to re-entry to Canada.
In situations where a person leaves Canada prior to being discovered working illegally, an immigration officer is precluded from issuing another work permit for 6 months after the person has stopped the unauthorized work.
The consequences of working illegally in Canada are severe, but what are the potential consequences to an employer for hiring an illegal worker?
It is insufficient for an employer to say that they were unaware whether or not a person was in possession of a lawful work permit.
Employers have a duty to ascertain the status of the people they employ and are required by law to exercise due diligence to ascertain the immigration status of their workers.
An employer found guilty of the offence of employing a person without a work permit is severe. An employer convicted of a summary offence is subject to a fine of up to $10,000 or 6 months in jail or both.
An indictable conviction provides for a fine of up to $50,000 or imprisonment of up to 2 years or both.
For more information go to www.canadian-visa-lawyer.com or contact Catherine Sas (csas@millerthomson.com) - she is a Vancouver immigration lawyer.
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