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2mo ago

Federal Government Fines N.B. Seafood Processor $1 Million, Imposes 10-Year TFWP Ban

The owner plans a court challenge, with advocates urging Ottawa to direct penalties to affected workers.

A crate of lobsters is shown in Halifax on Friday, Oct. 16, 2020.
Bolero Shellfish Processing Inc. was fined and banned for 10 years from using the temporary foreign worker program. The company is owned by Montreal-based exporter Sogelco International Inc., whose multiple plants in Atlantic Canada produce lobster, sea cucumber and crabs.
Bolero Shellfish Processing Inc. has been fined $1 million and banned from using the temporary foreign workers program for 10 years for a long list of infractions, including the abuse of its employees.
Acadian Peninsula St. Simon-based Bolero Shellfish Processing Inc. has been leveled what amounts to the largest penalty ever issued by the federal government over the mistreatment of temporary foreign workers. Photo by GOOGLE MAPS

Overview

  • Employment and Social Development Canada issued the record penalty on Sept. 17, citing failure to ensure a workplace free of abuse, mismatches between pay or conditions and offers of employment, and breaches of hiring and recruiting rules.
  • Sogelco International, which owns Bolero Shellfish Processing Inc., says it categorically rejects the findings and intends to contest the decision in court.
  • Roughly 40 workers from Mexico and the Philippines reported reduced hours, pay discrepancies and alleged pressure to repay wages despite contracts that promised more work, according to migrant-rights advocates and worker accounts.
  • ESDC says it conducted 1,435 employer inspections in 2024–25, found about 10% non-compliant, issued nearly $5 million in fines and banned 36 employers from the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
  • Migrant-rights groups argue workers receive no reparations under the compliance regime and call for fines to be paid to those harmed, as federal data show about $7.5 million in penalties since 2016 remain uncollected.