$365,750 fine, foreign worker ban overturned against N.B. lobster processor

The Federal Court has overturned sanctions against a New Brunswick lobster processor that had banned the company from using the foreign worker program and had fined it hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In 2024 the federal government fined LeBreton & Sons Fisheries $365,750 and banned it from both the temporary foreign worker and international mobility programs for two years.

Ottawa had cited a number of infractions for its decision, including around salaries and failing to provide a violence-free workplace.

The company, which operates two lobster processing plants in the province’s Acadian Peninsula, had challenged the decision via a judicial review in Federal Court.

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In a December ruling, the court agreed with LeBreton & Sons that some evidence around the violence-free workplace allegation was withheld from the deputy minister who had made the decision, calling it a breach of procedural fairness.

The government admitted during the court challenge that it had made an “unreasonable” decision when it said the company must make available a guide on temporary foreign worker rights to employees.

The court, however, upheld other parts of the federal government’s decision on the company, involving salary, statutory holidays and record keeping.