Employer Responsibilities with Foreign Workers

Please note that the Certificate of Registration process has changed, as of September 1, 2024, to align with the new Immigration Services Regulations. See the Employer FAQs for an overview of the changes.

The Immigration Services Act (ISA) helps to ensure that employers, immigration consultants, and recruiters treat immigrants foreign workers in a fair, honest and respectful manner.

Under ISA, it is illegal to:

• charge foreign workers recruitment fees for a job, or require them to reimburse you for your recruitment costs, including fees you paid to recruiters and immigration consultants;
• provide misleading information about your job offer;
• unlawfully take possession of the property of a foreign worker;
• threaten deportation or other action without legal cause;
• contact your international worker, or your worker's family or friends, when requested not to do so;
• threaten to take action against a foreign worker for making a complaint to government and law enforcement agencies, or for investigations conducted by these agencies; or
• require a foreign worker to use an immigration consultant or to use a particular consultant. (If your worker wants your help in sourcing a consultant, you can recommend a consultant who is licensed by the Government of Saskatchewan. View a list of licensed immigration consultants under the Immigration Consultant and Foreign Worker Recruiter Licensing and Responsibilities page.)

Employers must prepare the following records and maintain them for at least five years:

• Any contract entered into with a recruiter, and payments plus amounts paid to the recruiter.
• Job offers to foreign nationals, and other contracts that were entered into with them.
• Any SINP job application approvals.
• Labour Market Impact Assessments from the federal government and any other information related to those applications.
• Any work permit information from the federal government pertaining to foreign workers the employer hired.

Penalties under ISA

Employers are subject to audits and investigations to ensure compliance with the ISA, Employer Terms and Conditions for the Certificate of Registration and the Employer Code of Conduct.

Employers may face a number of penalties if it is proven they have violated any provisions of the ISA, the Employer Terms and Conditions for the Certificate of Registration, or the Employer Code of Conduct. Examples of violations include:

• the use of an unlicensed foreign worker recruiter who charges illegal recruitment fees (view a list of licensed foreign worker recruiters under the Immigration Consultant and Foreign Worker Recruiter Licensing and Responsibilities page); or
• recouping recruitment costs from a foreign worker.

Such employers may be required to compensate the foreign worker. Other penalties for violation of ISA or the Immigration Services Regulations include:

• suspension or cancellation of the employer's registration. Such employers will not be able to hire additional foreign workers through the SINP or federal immigration streams;
• a fine of up to $750,000 for an individual, and $1,25,000 for a corporation; and
• administrative penalties up to $200,000 for an individual or up to $400,000 for a corporation.