‘Significant problems’ in COVID-19 safeguards for temporary workers, Auditor General finds
Global News
A particular area of concern was around whether the workers were able to quarantine if they were exposed to or contracted COVID-19, given many live in group accommodations.
The systems intended to safeguard temporary foreign workers working in Canada’s agricultural sector have “provided little assurance of protection” for their health or safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, the auditor general says.
In a report issued Thursday, Auditor General Karen Hogan said her office examined inspections done by the department responsible for assessing the protections for temporary foreign workers beginning in April 2020, just one month into the official declaration of a pandemic.
“By the end of that year, we had identified significant problems in the department’s performance with respect to its own inspection policies and processes,” the report states.
“For example, we found that the department assessed almost all employers as compliant with the COVID-19 requirements set out in the amended Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, despite having gathered little or no evidence to demonstrate this.”
READ MORE: Ottawa has no idea if 75 per cent of air arrivals obeyed hotel quarantine rule: AG report
“These findings speak to a systemic problem,” said Hogan in a press conference on Thursday afternoon, urging “immediate” action by the government to crack down and fix the process.
“It is long past time to fix the situation for temporary foreign workers who come to Canada.”
READ MORE: Migrant worker fired for speaking about COVID 19 wins labour case against farm
After nearly 20 years in federal politics, Mark Holland says 'it's time to go home,' announcing he will not run in the upcoming election.
A 19-year-old woman accused of stabbing a six-year-old boy in downtown Halifax last month has been ordered to undergo a 30-day psychiatric assessment.
The scene of the bus flying through the air and quickly slamming to the ground was captured by a security camera. Parents and witnesses watched on helplessly.
Montreal is increasing police patrols and cracking down on loitering in the metro system in response to a massive rise in people struggling with drug addiction and mental illness.
Like Liberal leaders before him, the Conservatives are attempting to define Liberal Leader Mark Carney to voters before he has a chance to.
'I'm proud to have served a country full of people who stand up for what's right,' Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a video on his last day in office.
Shortly after midnight, stargazers can catch a glimpse of the total lunar eclipse, or a full worm blood moon.
The Canada Revenue Agency says it's working to update its systems to reflect the current inclusion rate on capital gains after a last-minute reversal by the federal government.
The family behind one of Canada’s most well-known ice-cream brands says they’re absorbing “all immediate increases in our costs” as the U.S.-Canada trade war heats up.
Friedrich Trump called his business in Bennett, a town that sprang up because of the Klondike Gold Rush, the Arctic Restaurant & Hotel.
A new poll suggests that 40 per cent of Canadians are worried about losing their jobs as many businesses scale back hiring plans in response to the trade war with the U.S.
At the Halifax Stanfield International Airport, the tariff trade war between Canada and the U.S. is leaving flyers who travel between the two countries feeling very uneasy.
The man pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Migratory Birds Regulations after hunting snow geese without a permit, says a release from the ECCC.