Temporary foreign workers (TFWs) in Canada have workplace rights and protections that apply regardless of their immigration status or the type of work permit they hold. Employer obligations under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) include providing a signed employment agreement, paying the approved wages, providing health insurance where provincial coverage has not commenced, and maintaining safe working conditions. Employers are prohibited from withholding workers' passports or identity documents, retaliating against workers who report violations, or forcing workers to perform unsafe work. TFWs who are experiencing abuse can apply for an open work permit for vulnerable workers, which allows them to leave the abusive situation while remaining lawfully in Canada. ESDC and IRCC enforce employer compliance through inspections and penalties; TFWs can report violations through the government's tip lines and complaint mechanisms. This page explains the rights available to TFWs, the employer obligations framework, and the available remedies.

For current information on TFW rights, refer to the ESDC temporary foreign workers — your rights are protected page and the IRCC TFW rights and labour standards page.

• Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR), s 209.2 — employer conditions for hiring TFWs through the TFWP; employers must comply with the terms of the offer of employment and must not mistreat workers
• IRPR, s 209.3 — prohibited employer conduct: cannot confiscate documents, charge recruitment fees, use violence or threats against workers, or interfere with the worker's right to organize
• IRPR, s 207.1 — open work permit for vulnerable workers; TFWs experiencing or at risk of abuse can apply for an OWP that is not tied to the employer
• Provincial/territorial employment standards legislation — minimum wage, overtime, notice of termination, workplace safety, and anti-discrimination protections apply to TFWs in each province/territory; these standards apply regardless of work permit conditions
• ESDC: Temporary foreign workers — your rights are protected — canada.ca/tfw-rights

Core workplace rights — same as Canadian workers

TFWs have the same rights under provincial and territorial employment standards as Canadian citizens and permanent residents. These include:

• Minimum wage: TFWs must be paid at least the applicable provincial minimum wage — or the wage specified in their LMIA/offer of employment if it is higher
• Overtime pay: applicable overtime rules apply to TFWs in the same way as other workers in that province
• Safe working conditions: occupational health and safety legislation applies; TFWs have the right to refuse unsafe work without being punished for doing so
• Freedom from discrimination: human rights legislation protects TFWs from discrimination on protected grounds
• Right to organize: TFWs have the right to join a union and participate in collective bargaining under applicable labour relations legislation

Employer obligations under the TFWP

Employers who hire TFWs through the TFWP have specific obligations under the IRPR in addition to employment standards legislation:

• Signed employment agreement: on or before the first day of work, the employer must provide a signed employment agreement in English or French specifying the occupation, wage rate, working conditions, and other terms — the agreement must be consistent with the LMIA-approved offer
• Approved wages: the employer must pay the wages specified in the LMIA or offer of employment — deductions are only permitted where they are lawful under employment standards legislation
• Health insurance: if the TFW is not yet covered by provincial health insurance (which may have a waiting period), the employer must obtain and pay for private health insurance covering emergency medical care — at no cost to the worker
• Workplace free of abuse: employers must make reasonable efforts to ensure the workplace is free of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse and reprisals

Prohibited employer conduct

The IRPR explicitly prohibits employers from:

• Withholding or confiscating identity documents: employers cannot hold, withhold, or refuse to return a TFW's passport, work permit, identity documents, or any other personal documents — document confiscation is a serious form of labour trafficking and should be reported immediately
• Charging recruitment fees: employers in Canada cannot charge or recover recruitment fees from TFWs — the cost of recruiting a TFW must be borne by the employer, not the worker
• Retaliation: employers cannot fire, punish, intimidate, or threaten TFWs for reporting violations, cooperating with government inspections, or exercising their rights
• Forcing unsafe work: employers cannot require TFWs to perform work they reasonably believe to be unsafe

Changing employers on an employer-specific work permit

Most TFWs hold an employer-specific (closed) work permit — a work permit that names the employer and occupation and does not permit work for a different employer. TFWs on closed permits must stay with the named employer unless they obtain a new work permit. If a TFW wishes to change employers, they must:

• Find a new employer who is willing to sponsor them and apply for or receive a new LMIA (or use an LMIA exemption), and then apply for a new work permit
• Continue working for the existing employer while the new work permit is being processed — or use the maintained status provisions if the existing permit expires during processing

In practice, the employer-specific work permit creates dependency on the employer — TFWs who are subject to abuse may feel they cannot leave without losing their immigration status. The open work permit for vulnerable workers addresses this.

Open work permit for vulnerable workers

A TFW who is experiencing or is at risk of abuse in their workplace can apply for a special open work permit for vulnerable workers under IRPR s207.1. This permit is not tied to any employer — it allows the TFW to work for any employer while their situation is resolved. Key features:

• The permit is processed as a priority application
• The TFW can leave the abusive situation while remaining lawfully in Canada and authorised to work
• Evidence of abuse is required — but the threshold for sufficient evidence is set at a level that does not require the worker to have already reported to police or completed an investigation

For more detail on this permit, see the open work permit for vulnerable workers page.

Reporting abuse and violations

TFWs can report employer violations to:

• ESDC (Employment and Social Development Canada): ESDC operates the employer compliance regime for the TFWP; complaints can be submitted online or by phone
• Provincial/territorial labour standards authorities: for minimum wage violations, unpaid wages, and other employment standards breaches
• Workplace health and safety authorities: for safety violations
• IRCC: for immigration-specific violations such as document confiscation or employment conditions that differ from the approved offer

Reporting is protected — employers cannot legally retaliate against a TFW for making a report or cooperating with a government inspection. For current contact information for ESDC complaints and the TFW rights page, refer to the ESDC TFW protected rights page.

Employer compliance inspections and penalties

ESDC and IRCC conduct compliance inspections of TFWP employers. Non-compliant employers face:

• Financial penalties (fines) for violations
• Bans from the TFWP — temporary or permanent
• Publication of employer names on the list of non-compliant employers at canada.ca

As of April 1, 2026, employers submitting LMIA applications for low-wage positions must advertise the job for a minimum of 8 consecutive weeks in the 3 months before submitting the application. For more on employer compliance, see the TFWP employer compliance page.

Despite the formal protections in place, exploitation of temporary foreign workers remains a documented challenge in Canada — particularly in sectors such as agriculture, food processing, and domestic work, where workers may be isolated, language-constrained, or economically dependent on their employer. The employer-specific work permit creates structural vulnerability: workers who report abuse risk losing both their employment and their immigration status. The open work permit for vulnerable workers helps address this, but awareness of this pathway among affected workers is often low. NGOs, legal clinics, and migrant worker organisations play an important role in connecting TFWs with their rights and available remedies. The prohibition on charging recruitment fees in Canada is significant — in some source countries, TFWs pay large sums to recruiters; while Canadian law prohibits Canadian employers from charging these fees, the worker may have already paid overseas. IRCC's approach to overseas recruitment fees is evolving. For current TFW rights information, the open work permit for vulnerable workers process, and the ESDC employer complaints mechanism, refer to the ESDC TFW protected rights page.