Immigration continues to be a divisive topic in Canada and Alberta.
The provincial government tabled Bill 26, the Immigration Oversight Act, on Wednesday in the legislature.
If passed, the bill would allow the province to create a registry of employers looking to hire temporary foreign workers. Employers would need to register with the province before they’d be able to access federal programs, such as a positive labour market impact assessment under the temporary foreign worker program.
Immigration consultants and foreign worker recruiters would have to become licensed under a new program, and would be subject to “prohibited practices,” as would employers and other parties involved in recruitment or immigration services.
The bill would also create a set of established offences for these parties as well as a system to investigate those who violate the law. Those found to have broken the rules could face fines, licence/registration restrictions, administrative penalties, and in severe cases — jail time.
One Calgary immigration lawyer says he’s seen large growth in the profession in recent years, and it is now common with “bad players.”
“About 55 per cent of [immigration consultants] have less than five years of experience. Which is a big knowledge gap when you talk about providing the kind of service that affects the very lives of those foreign workers who are coming here to work in Canada,” said Jatin Shory of Shory Law LLP.
“The right type of checks and balances, they exist, I guess, in spirit, but they are not really being effectively executed upon.”
Police have shed light on this fraud in recent months.
In July 2025, an Edmonton father and son were charged with exploiting foreign workers with 90-hour workweeks at two rural businesses in Calmar and Fox Creek, and gained more than $160,000 in unpaid earnings, and overcharged rent.
Last October, Canada Border Services Agency went to the construction of Calgary’s Scotia Place as part of an immigration protection investigation. No word came on whether anyone was taken into custody.
But the restaurant industry sees its proposed oversight from the province as expensive red tape.
Restaurants Canada says businesses go to temporary foreign workers if they can’t find anyone locally to fill roles. The organization says these workers make up 3 per cent of the food service workforce and are critical for overnight shifts and in rural regions.
Alberta’s immigration minister said Wednesday the industries that normally rely on temporary foreign workers, like manufacturing and agriculture, will still be supported.
“It is clear, we have become over-reliant on temporary foreign workers. As a result, some of the jobs that usually would have gone to Albertans as entry-level positions are now going to temporary foreign workers,” said Joseph Schow, Alberta Jobs, Economy, Trade, and Immigration Minister, on Wednesday.
Shory says this bill likely won’t limit immigration or the number of people trying to come to Canada.
“The step that’s being taken here to battle immigration fraud, that is the priority.”