Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act (Live-in Caregivers and Others), 2009,163 (Bill 210) prohibits a recruiter from charging a foreign national who is employed as a live-in caregiver a fee, directly or indirectly, for any service, good or benefit provided to the foreign national. Bill 210 also prohibits an employer from directly or indirectly recovering or attempting to recover any cost incurred by the employer in the course of arranging to employ the foreign national. Parties are prohibited from contracting out of the Act so that even if a migrant worker has signed an employment or recruitment contract which permits the charging of these fees, it would be unenforceable.
In 2008, Manitoba’s Worker Recruitment and Protection Act (WRAPA) was passed and marked a subsequent shift in Provincial legislation towards licensing systems for agencies recruiting foreign workers that provide for proactive and enforcement mechanism. Recruiters must obtain licenses to operate and need to pay a security deposit of CDN 10,000. Recruiters are prohibited from charging any fees to foreign workers and employers from recovering recruitment fees from workers. It applies to all migrant workers in all labour migration programmes in Manitoba. The Manitoba Employment Standards Division (MESD) carries out inspections to ensure that migrant workers are being properly paid and provided with legal benefits. MESD carried out over 500 inspections between 2009 and 2014, over 200 (40 percent) of which found at least one issue of non‐compliance. Under WRAPA, employers are held accountable for recruitment abuses across their whole supply chain.