(BRITISH COLUMBIA) – Employment and Social Development Canada penalized San Industries Ltd. with a $429,000 CAD fine and barred it from hiring temporary foreign workers for two years, after federal inspectors found five breaches of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.

The decision became final on May 15, 2026. As of June 2, 2026, the company remains listed as ineligible under the Government of Canada non-compliance list until May 15, 2028.

Federal authorities identified the company as Vancouver-based, with operations in Port Alberni and Langley, British Columbia. The case falls under Canadian federal enforcement tied to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, with jurisdiction involving Employment and Social Development Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

Inspectors cited five violations. They found inaccurate information in the Labour Market Impact Assessment application, including job descriptions that did not match reality, breaches of recruitment and hiring laws, wages or working conditions that did not match the original offer of employment, a failure to show the employer was actively engaged in the business for which the foreign national was hired, and a failure to obtain or pay for private health insurance for workers not yet covered by provincial health insurance.

The violations were recorded under specific IRPR provisions: Code 4 under 209.3(1)(c)(i), Code 8 under 209.3(1)(a)(ii), Code 9 under 209.3(1)(a)(iv), Code 15 under 209.3(1)(a)(i), and Code 30 under 209.3(1)(a)(xiii). Together, they place San Industries Ltd. among the most heavily penalized employers in British Columbia under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

An official summary of the decision said, “This enforcement action demonstrates the federal government’s commitment to upholding the rules that govern temporary labour mobility in Canada. The two-year prohibition serves to deter future non-compliance while protecting the integrity of a system designed to address genuine labour shortages.”

The $429,000 CAD penalty ranks as the second-largest immigration-related penalty issued to a British Columbia company. Only Kanwar Walia Farms received a larger fine, at $435,000 in February 2026.

The sanction lands while San Industries is already in insolvency proceedings. The company sought creditor protection in November 2024, facing more than $150 million in claims.

Local scrutiny had already built before the federal decision. In July 2024, the City of Port Alberni raised concerns about the living conditions and accommodations provided to the company’s temporary foreign workers, and those events later fed into a lawsuit filed by the San Group after what was described as a “clandestine” search by local authorities.

The enforcement action carries immediate consequences for the company’s labor supply. During the two-year ineligibility period, the ban is intended to ensure available roles go first to Canadian citizens and permanent residents rather than new hires through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

Workers already employed by San Industries may have another route. Federal rules allow temporary foreign workers facing abuse, or working for an employer found non-compliant, to seek Open Work Permits for Vulnerable Workers so they can pursue employment elsewhere in Canada.

That option matters in cases where an employer loses access to the program after workers have already arrived. A finding of non-compliance can reshape the balance of power at a worksite, especially in sectors where housing, transportation and immigration status can all depend on the employer.

Employment and Social Development Canada enforces employer obligations through inspections and penalties meant to test whether conditions promised at the hiring stage match conditions on the ground. In this case, the agency concluded that San Industries failed on both paperwork and workplace obligations, reaching from LMIA accuracy to pay, business activity and insurance coverage.

The company’s listing on the federal non-compliance register places the penalty in public view alongside the ban period and the underlying breach codes. That public listing serves a second function beyond punishment: it warns workers, recruiters and competing employers how Ottawa is applying its rules in the forestry and labor sectors.

San Industries Ltd. is part of the San Group, a business name that has drawn attention in British Columbia well beyond immigration enforcement because of its operations in Port Alberni and Langley. The federal decision now adds a formal immigration penalty to that wider financial and legal pressure.

The case also shows how Canadian authorities are using the Temporary Foreign Worker Program’s compliance system to reach beyond a single disputed housing or payroll issue. Inspectors cited failures at multiple stages of employment, from what was put in an LMIA application to whether workers received promised conditions after arrival.

Under Code 4, inspectors said the LMIA information was not accurate. Under Code 8, they found violations of laws governing recruitment and hiring. Under Code 9, they concluded wages or working conditions did not match the original offer. Under Code 15, they found the employer was not actively engaged in the business for which the foreign national was hired. Under Code 30, they found the company failed to secure private health insurance for workers awaiting provincial coverage.

Each of those findings addresses a different point in the chain that allows an employer to bring in foreign labor. Accuracy in job descriptions goes to government approval, lawful recruitment goes to entry into the program, matching wages and conditions goes to workplace compliance, active business engagement goes to whether the position was genuine, and insurance coverage goes to worker protection in the first period after arrival.

No U.S. agencies were involved in the matter. This was a Canadian enforcement action under federal immigration regulations, handled through the Canadian system rather than by the Department of Homeland Security or USCIS.

By the time the ban lifts on May 15, 2028, San Industries will have spent two full years outside the program and under the weight of one of British Columbia’s largest immigration penalties, a rare combination of monetary sanction, public listing and hiring prohibition imposed while the company faces insolvency pressure on another front.