Emma Smith 
From hiring foreign employees to work in Canada, three Ontario-based companies recently got penalized for illegal business practices.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced CDA Landscape Services in Ajax lay a fine of $400,000 for hiring 20 workers not permitted to work in Canada, whereas TDA Landscape Services and SDA Services were each fined $25,000 for hiring two such workers.
The three businesses pleaded guilty to the charges before the courts on February 28.
The investigation started in 2019 when a foreign national was arrested due to drunk driving. This one case is where the CBSA and Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officials uncovered evidence of a much bigger issue — a whole network of over 700 unauthorized workers spread out in several regions of southern and eastern Ontario.
Some of these individuals were also not allowed to stay in Canada and were sent back to their home countries.
“This case shows how seriously we take protecting Canada’s immigration system,” said Aaron McCrorie, a senior official at the CBSA.
Since last year, the CBSA said it has removed more than 16,000 people from Canada for immigration rule violations.
