the CanadaVisa Team - 18 July, 2015
Maple Leaf Foods has abandoned its program at its Brandon, Manitoba plant to bring in workers from China, after it was revealed that 61 workers had paid fees of $10,000 to the immigration consultant hired by the company. The actions were not illegal, however the company was concerned about the debt burden faced by the employees.
While it is illegal to pay to secure passage to Canada under the temporary worker program, there is no indication this has occurred in this case. The workers received training in meat cutting and English as a second language in exchange for their payments, which helped them to secure employment. "What we've been able to learn is that these workers had responded to ads in China from a company that offers its services to people wanting to secure international employment" said George Rohulych of Human Resources and Social Development Canada.
Maple Leaf learned of the payments—equal to over four times the average annual salary in China—when several workers asked to move out of the housing arranged for them by the company. When they explained that the apartments were too costly, it emerged that they were struggling with heavy debts.
The company has made it clear that the concern is not related to the performance of the employees. A spokesperson for Maple Leaf Foods stated that the 61 workers in question have been adjusting well to the community and doing well at work since arriving in Manitoba last spring. The company has long recruited from abroad to fill human resource needs, particularly for its processing plants in Western Canada. Maple Leaf has already secured government approval to bring in 182 more temporary foreign workers this year, but they will be recruiting from outside of China until they can put to rest their concerns about workers taking on heavy debt.
