Hundreds of migrant, immigrant people ‘induced to work under the false promise of obtaining a valid work permit in Canada’
The Superior Court of Quebec has approved a $2.1‑million settlement in a class action over an alleged fraudulent migrant‑worker recruitment scheme, ordering compensation for hundreds of workers and imposing ongoing compliance obligations on the companies involved.
In a judgment, Justice Catherine Piché approved the settlement and class counsel’s fees, ending the proceeding. She described the case as “an unusual class action brought on behalf of migrant workers who were victims of a system that allegedly induced them to work under the false promise of obtaining valid work permits in Canada.”
“For the following reasons, the application for approval is granted. The settlement agreement is fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class members. It, along with the fees requested by the class counsel, is approved,” she wrote.
The Immigrant Workers Centre (ITWC) brought the class action after it learned in the summer of 2023 of a system “set up and operated by the Defendants, through which hundreds of migrant and immigrant people were induced to work under the false promise of obtaining a valid work permit in Canada.”
On Oct. 3, 2023, the applicant filed an application for authorisation to institute a class action against several Newrest entities, Trésor‑related staffing and immigration companies, numbered companies and an immigration firm. The claim sought compensatory and punitive damages under Quebec’s Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and the Civil Code of Québec for workers allegedly induced to work without valid permits, including in Newrest’s Montreal production units.
The court later authorised the class action for settlement purposes only. The class covers “any person who has worked since Oct. 3, 2020, regardless of the duration, but without holding a valid work permit, including in Newrest’s production units located in Montreal” after being placed or paid by one of the specified entities and, in the event of death, their heirs.
Settlement structure and compensation
The defendants agreed to pay a global settlement amount of $2.3 million, including a sum already committed as a remedial measure, “in consideration for a global settlement of the class action.” After the parties received 11 exclusions, they applied the settlement’s adjustment clause and reduced the amount to $2.1 million.
The court noted that the final amount each person receives will depend on the number of eligible claims and the distribution formula.
Plaintiff’s counsel estimate the group includes roughly 300 to 400 people and project that members “could receive, on average, compensation ranging from $4,000 to $6,000 each,” subject to the claims process and the approved Distribution Plan.
Newrest had already paid $500,000 into class counsel’s trust account on 24 October 2023 to fund an “Urgent Campaign to Regularize the Immigration Status of Group Members.” The court recognised this as a remedial measure under article 595 of the Code of Civil Procedure and treated it as part of the overall settlement amount.
“In summary, the Agreement provides direct financial compensation to the members and is fair and reasonable. This criterion, which is the most important, favours the approval of the transaction,” Justice Piché wrote.
The parties drafted the discharge so that it preserves wage‑recovery claims. The Agreement expressly excludes “claims of a monetary nature for the recovery of unpaid wages,” so more than 80 wage claims before the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST) remain active and fall outside the settlement.
Regularisation campaign and policy impact
The court placed the Regularization Campaign at the centre of its analysis and treated it as a collective remedial measure that directly addressed the alleged harm.
Starting in September 2023, ITWC and its lawyers negotiated with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) “to put in place an exceptional process for the accelerated and simplified processing of applications for temporary resident permits and open work permits for Group Members.”
During the campaign, several hundred group members met with lawyers, obtained legal information about their status and received assistance to file applications under the negotiated process. Of those who participated, 175 people applied, including 159 group members and 16 spouses or children.
By the time the parties signed the Agreement, IRCC had accepted 164 applications: 150 from group members and 14 from family members. The judgment records that “most importantly, no application was rejected on its merits,” and notes that remaining applications ended for technical reasons such as a pending asylum claim or voluntary departure.
Justice Piché called the initiative “unprecedented.” She wrote that “the Campaign led by the Applicant and his lawyers is unprecedented and has undoubtedly made a significant contribution to the advancement of the rights of migrant workers in Canada,” and concluded that “the Regularisation Campaign was an extremely beneficial and salutary measure for Members, initiated and carried out for their fullest benefit.”
The court found that many members “were unaware of their rights in Quebec and Canada,” spoke mainly Spanish and had limited financial means. It held that “the free legal assistance they received in this context would have been inaccessible to them without the involvement of the Plaintiff and his lawyers, and without the class action.”
According to the reasons, the campaign also influenced federal policy. The court stated that it “brought a serious problem to IRCC’s attention and led to a major change in government policy,” citing IRCC’s August 2024 decision to abolish a temporary COVID‑era policy that had allowed visitors to apply for work permits from within Canada, after the department said it was “aware that some malicious actors were using the policy to deceive foreign nationals into working in Canada without authorization.”
In 2025, Amnesty International released a report detailing how the country has implemented rules that lead to harsh working conditions for migrant workers. That came after, in an August 2024 report, Tomoya Obokata, United Nations special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, noted that the TFW Program “serves as a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery, as it institutionalizes asymmetries of power that favour employers and prevent workers from exercising their rights”.
Compliance obligations and court oversight
The Settlement Agreement also creates ongoing compliance obligations for Newrest and the other defendants.
Clause 7.1 requires Newrest to ensure “that all immigrant and migrant workers employed in its Montreal production units hold a valid work permit and benefit from the same working conditions as non‑immigrant workers performing the same duties.”
Clause 7.2 requires the other defendants to guarantee that any immigrant worker they refer, directly or indirectly, to a workplace in Quebec possesses a valid work permit. Clauses 7.3 and 7.4 state that an independent audit firm conducted an internal investigation and that the company imposed disciplinary measures on some employees.
“These provisions of the Agreement aim not only to guarantee a form of fairness in working conditions, but also to prevent a situation similar to the present one from recurring in the future,” Justice Piché wrote.
The court approved a Distribution Plan that it described as “simple, fast and efficient.” The plan sets a 120‑day claims period, requires only basic supporting evidence and instructs the administrator to assist claimants. In its formal order, the Superior Court states that “Members have a high expectation of privacy regarding information provided to Proactio Services Inc. in the claims process and that all information provided to Proactio that could, directly or indirectly, identify Members must be kept confidential.”
The court approved class counsel’s fees at 20% of the $2.1‑million settlement, or $420,000 plus taxes. “The fees are fair and reasonable and are approved,” Justice Piché wrote, pointing to the high risk the lawyers accepted, the complexity of the file and at least one thousand hours of work.
Recently, the Quebec government moved ahead with a new skilled worker selection regime that will replace the popular Quebec Experience Program (Programme de l’expérience québécoise, PEQ) and change how many international students and temporary foreign workers can settle permanently in the province.
