Alberta companies ordered to repay almost $165K to temporary foreign workers

Two Alberta-based companies are appealing Ontario labour ministry decisions that say they charged temporary foreign workers tens of thousands of dollars to be placed in retail jobs at a Canadian Tire. The companies were ordered to repay almost $165,000.

Some of the workers were originally from the Philippines but ended up at a Canadian Tire in Etobicoke, Ont. Though they said they each paid up to $7,900 US to an Alberta company to get the position, once they got the jobs, they say they were underpaid and poorly treated.

Many of the workers quit and found jobs in Atlantic Canada and other provinces around the country.

An employment standards officer from the Ontario Ministry of Labour conducted an investigation following a series of complaints from workers in October 2023. The ministry issued repayment orders on May 14 against Allison Jones Consulting and AJ Immigration Group in eight cases. Both companies share an owner, Allison Jones, and a common address in St. Albert, Alta.

Allison Jones declined an interview and told CBC News via email that the companies are appealing the decisions.

We trust the appeal process and are committed to a fair and accurate resolution based on a complete review of the facts, she wrote.

One of the workers who received the recent decision was Rowell Pailan, who previously shared his story with CBC News from his home in Wolfville, N.S.

Pailan says he came to Canada in 2023 after being offered a position as a stock clerk supervisor at an Ontario Canadian Tire. However, paystubs he showed CBC News indicated that while he started being paid at the wage in his contract, his wages were later reduced, making it challenging for him to pay his bills and provide for his family in the Philippines.

He says he got the position after he paid the fee to Jones’ company using money borrowed from family members.

The Ontario Labour Ministry’s employment standards officer said Jones should repay Pailan $10,655.52 in Canadian dollars, the calculated equivalent of the $7,900 US he paid in 2022, plus a ten per cent administration fee.

An archived version of Allison Jones Consulting’s website from Feb. 25, 2024. The text at that time described the owner as the head of ‘one of Canada’s leading recruitment agencies and immigration consultancies.’ The text has since been changed. (Wayback Machine/CBC) Photo: (Wayback Machine/CBC)

I [was] so happy and teary-eyed, because finally I got justice, he said in a phone interview.

Maybe they [were] thinking that they can do whatever they want, because we are eager to come into Canada, Pailan said, adding that he wants to send a message that people should not take advantage of temporary foreign workers.

We didn’t have any idea about the amount in regards to the immigration fee, or whatever it is to come into Canada.

Companies acted together, decision says

It’s illegal under federal and Ontario law for a recruiter to charge a foreign worker for a job placement; the recruiter is supposed to be paid by the employer.

However, it is legal to charge a fee for immigration advice or assistance with immigration paperwork.

In the written decision issued to Pailan and reviewed by CBC News, a lawyer for the two companies told the employment standards officer that Allison Jones Consulting and AJ Immigration are separate and independent companies, each with their own branding and invoicing.

The lawyer told the officer that Allison Jones Consulting charged Canadian Tire for recruiting services, while AJ Immigration Group was a separate entity that provided immigration services to the foreign workers and charged them fees for these services.

This did not convince employment standards officer Charles Beauparlant, who concluded the fees were not legal because both companies were related. He found they shared common management in the owner, Allison Jones.

It does not change the fact that both businesses functioned as one comprehensive and unified business, Beauparlant wrote in his decision in Pailan’s case.

Jones’ position, according to the lawyer, was that she is the directing mind behind the recruitment company, but not the other company as she does not participate in the day-to-day operation of AJ Immigration.

In her email to CBC News, Jones re-stated her position.

We respectfully disagree with the findings and with the characterization of these two companies — Allison Jones Consulting Services Inc. and AJ Immigration Group Inc. — as a ‘unified business,’  she wrote.

Each is a distinct legal entity, and both maintain that their respective practices fully comply with applicable legislation.

Beauparlant found that evidence like employee emails and information on Jones’ two business websites showed both companies were sharing employees and that Jones was the controlling mind behind both.

He also noted that Jones was described as the leader of both companies in a sentence on the website for Allison Jones Consulting that read: She has successfully led the companies since inception creating one of Canada’s leading recruitment agencies and immigration consultancies.

As well, Beauparlant wrote, having AJ Immigration Group Inc. collect fees through a retainer agreement after each phase of recruitment demonstrates not only their involvement but further confirms that AJ Immigration was assisting in the process of finding the claimant employment.

Pailan previously told CBC News that he had to pay in three stages.

The officer issued identical orders to both of Jones’ companies, but the Ontario Labour Ministry told CBC News the intent was that the companies should repay Pailan jointly, not twice over.

The ministry also fined Allison Jones Consulting $250 for each of the eight cases, totalling $2,000.

‘An affront to our entire system’

Chris Ramsaroop is an instructor at the University of Toronto and an organizer with Justice for Migrant Workers, which supported Pailan’s case.

He says it concerns him that workers must be the ones to ensure the process is followed.

There’s an expectation that [the workers] need to come forward, rather than the province or the federal government taking steps to protect the interests of workers, he said.

This is an affront to our entire system — this is disgusting.

Ramsaroop feels temporary foreign workers like Pailan are in extremely vulnerable positions, and placing the onus on them to pursue the case to the next level when there is an appeal is a high burden.

Pailan says he worries that he won’t get the money back after an appeal.

That amount is not a joke, it’s totally big, he said, adding that he’s trying to repay his relatives who lent him the money.

Ramsaroop noted that temporary foreign workers are often tied to a single job by virtue of the closed-permit system, which makes their position in Canada vulnerable.

These injustices will continue as a result of a system where we have workers tied to a particular employer, he said.

WATCH | Why this professor believes closed permit system should end:

HR professor on why closed work permit system should end

Catherine Connelly, a professor of human resources and management at McMaster University, explains why she believes the closed permit system that ties temporary foreign workers to workplaces should be scrapped.

Canadian Tire store still under investigation

The Ontario Ministry of Labour confirmed it’s also investigating complaints against the Canadian Tire store where the workers were employed, but the case is still open.

There is a separate federal investigation underway by Employment and Social Development Canada into that Canadian Tire, but as of early June, it wasn’t complete either.

The store owner, Ezhil Natarajan, previously told CBC News he vehemently denies all the allegations against him.

Canadian Tire Corporation made a policy change in the fall of 2024 to prohibit its stores from using recruiters that charge fees to temporary foreign workers.

The corporation said it made the decision together with its dealers, who own franchised stores and make their own hiring decisions.

This article is republished from RCI.