Dozens of contract workers hired through a third-party agency and working in Lake Louise have been ordered to leave the country after the Canada Border Services Agency found they were working in Canada without proper documentation.
Canada Border Agency (CBSA) officers were in Lake Lewis on Tuesday. Officers were there as part of an ongoing Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Criminal Code of Canada investigation.
According to Anastasia Martin-Stilwell, spokeswoman for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Canada’s Western Mountain Region, the CBSA interviewed 32 contract employees who worked in the housekeeping, stewards, culinary and housing departments.
“A total of 31 individuals were found to have unknowingly had inappropriate employment documentation, including work permits and the appropriate visa,” Martin-Stillwell wrote in a statement emailed to CBC News.
“The contract workers were recruited and paid by a third party staffing provider, One Team. Hotels use third-party staffing agencies to help with labor shortage challenges.”
Martin-Stillwell wrote that Chateau Lake Louise has done due diligence on One Team’s operations and has been assured that the contracting company will be responsible for ensuring that workers have proper documentation, are properly employed and are able to work legally in Canada.
Three of Fairmont’s Alberta hotels – Chateau Lake Louise, Banff Springs and Jasper Park Lodge – had a total of 105 employees on contract with One Team.
“After consultation with the CBSA, RCMP and in-house legal counsel, we no longer have contracts with One Team, resulting in the immediate end of all contracted shifts given to workers,” Martin-Stillwell said.
The full extent of this investigation, outside of the Fairmont chain, has not been made public by the CBSA.
“As this is an ongoing investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time,” CBSA spokeswoman Rebecca Purdy said in a statement.
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