Sask. ranks low in terms of abuse, mistreatment of temporary foreign workers: data shows

As the federal government has vowed to reduce the number of temporary foreign workers in the country – citing mistreatment and abuse as one concern among many – statistics show that Saskatchewan is on the bottom of the spectrum when it comes to employers taking advantage of their workers.

As the federal government has vowed to reduce the number of Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) in the country – citing mistreatment and abuse as one concern among many – statistics show that Saskatchewan is on the bottom of the spectrum when it comes to employers taking advantage of their workers.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) makes data concerning employers who are found non-compliant with the regulations surrounding the TFW Program public.

Since 2017, a total of 41 businesses and individuals have been found to be non-compliant. Those implicated range from a fast food restaurant in Wadena not supplying the correct paperwork to inspectors – to a Regina sports bar not being accurate in its job listing.

This is compared to a province like B.C. – which had 238 businesses found to be non-compliant with regulations in the same time period. Ontario was not far behind with 235.

Manitoba proved to be a bit better than Saskatchewan with 31 – while Alberta recorded 200 non-compliant employers.

According to the Government of Saskatchewan, a total of 2,000 people were recruited through the TFW program in 2023. About a quarter of those came to the province to work in the agriculture sector.

Saskatchewan's 2,000 is a small contribution to the approximately 183,000 TFWs across the country – up from 98,000 in 2019.