Winnipeg construction manager gets house arrest for luring foreign workers into unauthorized jobs: CBSA
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A Winnipeg construction manager has been sentenced to nearly two years of house arrest and fined $50,000 after pleading guilty to unauthorized employment of foreign nationals at a local construction site.
Gurwinder Singh Ahluwalia was charged under the Immigration Refugee and Protection Act in November, after a federal investigation that started in August 2023, prompted by a tip about the employment and mistreatment of unauthorized workers at the site, the Canada Border Service Agency said in a news release on Tuesday.
Investigators on the case found paperwork and work permit applications linked to Ahluwalia, and in May 2024 seized documents and electronic devices, the news release said.
Those documents revealed Ahluwalia lured foreign nationals to Canada to work without permission, the release said, and underpaid other workers who did have valid work permits.
The construction manager was charged in November and pleaded guilty on April 2. Ahluwalia's sentence included a total of 20 months house arrest, the release said.
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CBC
10-04-2025
- CBC
Brazilian says he was deported after blowing whistle on Winnipegger who illegally hired foreign workers
A Brazilian man says he was misled into working illegally in Winnipeg based on the promise he would eventually get a work permit. Ighor Santos, 27, says he was ordered to leave the country after blowing the whistle on the man who recruited him and other foreign nationals for a construction job in the city's Leila North neighbourhood. Santos said he came to Canada in March 2023 and worked at the site for nearly five months. He and his family first reached out to the authorities later that year. On May 31, 2024, he went to the border crossing at Emerson, Man., to apply for a valid work permit through another company. Santos said he provided Canada Border Services Agency officials with information indicating he'd been coaxed into working illegally, but after an interview that went on for several hours, a border agent told him he had to leave the country because he'd broken the law. "I was, of course, sad because I tried to [do] the right thing … to avoid this to happen to me, because none of this was my intention," Santos said in an interview from São Paulo. He was unsatisfied, he said, "because at the end of the day, the wrong people, they're still there." Gurwinder Singh Ahluwalia, 43, of Winnipeg pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized employment of foreign nationals in contravention of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act as part of a plea deal that avoided additional counts being brought up against him last week. He admitted during a provincial court hearing on April 2 to hiring the foreign nationals to work at the Templeton Heights development in the Leila North area, which he managed as general contractor for a construction company during a two-year period starting in 2022. Court heard at least 14 foreign nationals were illegally employed on the site. Ahluwalia, who had been living in Canada since moving from India in 2010 and became a Canadian citizen in 2019, was sentenced to 20 months of house arrest and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine, as recommended in the plea deal. The maximum prison sentence for the offence is two years. 'Come today, because we need people' The Canada Border Services Agency said in a Tuesday news release that the investigation started in August 2023, after the agency received information about the employment and mistreatment of unauthorized workers. Search warrants for Ahluwalia's home, truck, the construction site and an immigration consulting firm were granted in May 2024. Last week, court heard that a Brazilian national had come forward to Canada Border Services agents with evidence Ahluwalia had advised him to come to Canada under a visitor visa and work illegally, after he'd asked about opportunities in the country. Santos said he was the worker who contacted border services. He said he was in his last year of school in Ireland when he contacted Ahluwalia, after a relative told him Ahluwalia was looking for workers. Santos said he liked the idea of coming to Winnipeg, a place where he had family and that he had visited years before to study English. "I told him … could you just wait, like, for me to do my finals?" Santos said. "He was like, 'No, we need people right now.… If you [have a visitor visa], just come today, because we need people.'" Santos said he came to Canada with the expectation he would not work until he got a work permit through a labour market impact assessment. However, when Santos arrived with a friend who also wanted to work in Canada, Ahluwalia made it clear that he wanted them to start working immediately. Santos said Ahluwalia told him he'd only have to wait two weeks for his permit. He said every time he complained, Ahluwalia made up excuses as to why he didn't have permits yet. "I wasn't really talking to [the other workers] about this, you know, because from my point, I thought everyone had their own papers," he said. He only figured out others were in the same situation "when every week I saw something worse and worse happening," he said, referring to how the workers were treated. 'I left everything behind' Crown prosecutor Matthew Sinclair said during last week's hearing that many of the people working on the site were unaware of Canadian laws that would protect them, which made them vulnerable to exploitation. Workers endured poor conditions, got low wages or missed payments, and lacked Workplace Safety and Health protections granted to those working legally, the prosecutor said. Santos said Ahluwalia had offered $32 an hour while he was still in Ireland, but the promised wages kept dropping until he got his first payment, when he received $15 an hour for his work. Ahluwalia bumped his wages up to $18 an hour after he complained, Santos said. He was paid in cash at first, but later on got e-transfers. The Brazilian man said the payments were regularly late and the foreign workers — from Mexico and Brazil — were often asked to work overtime and were subject to verbal abuse. Santos said he worked nine to 10 hours a day, mostly lifting heavy objects. He said he didn't get protective equipment like gloves until he asked for them. Money for the gloves was taken from his pay, Santos said. "I knew I was illegal. I was not feeling comfortable, but again, I left everything behind," he said. "I left my college, I left my life and everything. And I was counting on the promised money." Canada Border Services said in a statement Wednesday it can't comment on the specifics of Santos's removal, because the details of individual cases are protected by the Privacy Act. Anyone seeking entry to Canada "must present to the CBSA and may be subject to a more in-depth exam," the agency said. Their admissibility "is decided on a case-by-case basis and based on the information made available at the time of entry," it said. Hiring workers was 'only option,' court told Crown prosecutor Sinclair told court workers at the site delayed medical treatments for job injuries out of fear of missing work, and some of the people working legitimately were also being underpaid. Marty Minuk, Ahluwalia's lawyer, said the construction company overseeing the Templeton Heights project had run out of people to work on the project, and Ahluwalia was at risk of defaulting on a loan arranged to build the project because no work was happening at the site. "All of my family invested in the project," Ahluwalia said in court. "About 50 families would have gone bankrupt.… This was the only option." The workers "enjoy all the benefits," he said. "They get paid. They get money for the lodging, and here we are." Provincial court Judge Rachel Rusen told Ahluwalia part of the plea was for him to accept responsibility and express remorse about committing a crime. "These are vulnerable people, sir," she said. "They come here without the protections, they have no recourse, they have certainly fear of reprisal for things that can go wrong." Santos said "no one enjoyed" working illegally at the site. "Winnipeg was in my heart because that was where I learned English, where I meet friends," he said. "I just went back there to try to … live the same memories [through] people that I thought I could trust."
CBC
08-04-2025
- CBC
Winnipeg construction manager gets house arrest for luring foreign workers into unauthorized jobs: CBSA
Social Sharing A Winnipeg construction manager has been sentenced to nearly two years of house arrest and fined $50,000 after pleading guilty to unauthorized employment of foreign nationals at a local construction site. Gurwinder Singh Ahluwalia was charged under the Immigration Refugee and Protection Act in November, after a federal investigation that started in August 2023, prompted by a tip about the employment and mistreatment of unauthorized workers at the site, the Canada Border Service Agency said in a news release on Tuesday. Investigators on the case found paperwork and work permit applications linked to Ahluwalia, and in May 2024 seized documents and electronic devices, the news release said. Those documents revealed Ahluwalia lured foreign nationals to Canada to work without permission, the release said, and underpaid other workers who did have valid work permits. The construction manager was charged in November and pleaded guilty on April 2. Ahluwalia's sentence included a total of 20 months house arrest, the release said.
CBC
19-12-2024
- CBC
Ottawa proposes 24/7 surveillance of Canada-U.S. border, new 'strike force' to stave off tariff threat
The federal government is promising a suite of measures to disrupt the flow of fentanyl and strengthen 24/7 surveillance of the Canada-U.S. border — including outfitting the RCMP with helicopters, drones and mobile surveillance towers and creating a new joint "strike force" to go after organized crime. Newly sworn-in Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, flanked by a handful of cabinet colleagues, provided more details Tuesday about how the government plans to spend $1.3 billion to secure the Canada-U.S. border and allay U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's concerns about irregular migrants and drugs. The drive to strengthen border security follows Trump's threat to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian imports, which he claimed was in response to concerns about border security, migrants and illegal drugs, especially fentanyl. Tariffs at that level could devastate Canada's economy. The government's plan is based on what it calls five pillars: detecting and disrupting the fentanyl trade, introducing new tools for law enforcement, enhancing operational coordination, increasing information-sharing and tightening the immigration and asylum system. To address concerns about the flow of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals, Ottawa is promising to use artificial intelligence and imaging tools to help law enforcement and border officials detect illegal drugs before they enter Canada. The government is giving the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) funds to train new dog teams to sniff out illegal drugs, and new chemical detection tools to deploy at high-risk ports of entry. The news release did not say how much of the available money the border agency is getting. LeBlanc said Health Canada will also ramp up its investigative capacity to help law enforcement determine the source of illegal drugs, and take measures to ban precursor chemicals. Tuesday's announcement pitches a new aerial intelligence taskforce for the RCMP using helicopters and drones the federal government has promised already. The news release did not say how much new equipment the Mounties are getting, or what it will cost. The government said counter-drone technology will help the RCMP provide 24/7 surveillance between ports of entry. RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said the RCMP might have to rent helicopters to deploy them as quickly as possible. "I can't just buy a helicopter tomorrow but there are processes where you could rent a helicopter," he told reporters at a news conference. "The objective for us is to get the technology out there as soon as we can." Duheme also said the RCMP will hire another 150 Mounties to build up its border patrols, but will first need to recruit and train those officers. Money for intelligence collection The federal government also is promising to invest an unknown sum in expanding the intelligence collection capacity of the RCMP and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) to better target transnational organized crime and fentanyl trafficking. CSE is responsible for collecting foreign signals intelligence. WATCH | LeBlanc says border security plan 'important step' for U.S.-Canada relations LeBlanc says border security plan 'important step' for U.S.-Canada relations 1 day ago Duration 1:42 Minister of Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc was asked whether the federal government's plan for the Canada-U.S. border is enough to avoid the 25 per cent tariff threatened by U.S. president-elect Donald Trump. LeBlanc said he's 'encouraged' by conversations he is having with people in Trump's incoming administration. LeBlanc said Canada will also propose to the United States the creation of a new "North American joint strike force" to target transnational organized crime. "This new joint strike force could include, for example, support in operational surges, dedicated synthetic drug units, expanded combined forces, special enforcement units, binational integrated enforcement teams, and new operational capacity and infrastructure," he said. Monday's fall economic statement — largely overshadowed by Chrystia Freeland's shocking resignation from cabinet — promised more than a billion for border security but was light on how that be divided up. The document did propose legislative requirements that would give CBSA new powers to inspect goods destined for export. If they go ahead, the chances would expressly require that port owners and operators provide the CBSA with the space and facilities it needs, free of charge, to conduct export inspections The economic statement also proposes multiple legal changes related to money-laundering that are meant to target organized crime in Iran, China and at home. They include more stringent administrative and criminal penalties and other compliance tools. The border plan includes multiple promises to bolster intelligence-sharing with the U.S. and increase operational coordination domestically. It proposes creating "regional hubs" to bring federal, provincial and local law enforcement officers together on organized crime and illegal drug files. As it indicated last week, Ottawa is also looking at the flow of people. Tuesday's border plan promises changes to curb the practice of " flagpoling" — a way for holders of student or work visas to renew them quickly and easily. Freeland says she was at odds with Trudeau on Trump LeBlanc said he has spoken already to Trump's chosen border czar Tom Homan and is "optimistic' about the conversation. But it remains unclear whether the measures proposed by the Trudeau government will be enough to discourage Trump on tariffs. Trump's return to the White House has shaken up official Ottawa and — as Freeland said in her resignation letter Monday — has exposed disagreements within the Trudeau government itself. In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and posted to social media, Freeland, who has been finance minister since 2020, said the only "honest and viable path" for her was to leave cabinet after the prime minister approached her Friday about moving her to another cabinet role. WATCH | Is Freeland's resignation a fatal blow to Trudeau's government? At Issue | Is Freeland's resignation a fatal blow to Trudeau's government? 2 days ago Duration 16:39 At Issue special edition: Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigns from cabinet hours before she was to deliver the fall economic statement. Can Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's political career survive the blow, and what comes next from the opposition? Freeland, who led Canada's trade team during Trump's first administration, wrote that she had been at odds with the prime minister about the best path forward for Canada in the face of Trump's tariff threat. "We need to take that threat extremely seriously. That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war," Freeland wrote, "That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment." Trump entered the conversation late Monday, taking a jab at Freeland on his site Truth Social. "Her behavior was totally toxic, and not at all conducive to making deals which are good for the very unhappy citizens of Canada," he wrote. "She will not be missed!!!" Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Trump's post shows "that Justin Trudeau and his chaotic clown show makes Canada weak." He said Canadians shouldn't judge the Liberals' border policies on the price tag alone. "We should judge it based on what it can do. How many helicopters, how many drones, how many boots on the ground, that's the question I will be asking when I am prime minister," he said. "And how do we deliver it for the lowest possible price to taxpayers." The head of the union representing thousands of Mounties is already welcoming the federal plan.
