Job Offer, Work-Permit & Paycheque Scams in Canada

Legitimate employers in Canada pay workers — they do not charge upfront fees to apply, interview, secure a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), buy laptops from a “company vendor,” or route third-party e-Transfers through a new hire’s personal bank account. Knowing four clear legal boundaries stops the most expensive job and work-permit schemes before money or identity documents leave your hands.

PART 1: Illegal recruitment & LMIA fees — federal and provincial bans

Charging a job seeker to land a job or obtain an employer’s LMIA is unlawful under both federal immigration regulations and provincial employment laws. Current fraud rules are also tracked on our Scams right now Facts page.

• Federal law (Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, ss. 209.2 & 209.3): Employers hiring under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program or International Mobility Program cannot charge or recover any recruitment-related fees from a foreign national — directly, through a third-party recruiter, or through later paycheque deductions — and must ensure anyone who recruited the worker did not charge them either. Under IRCC rules, no person can guarantee a Canadian job, work permit, or permanent residence, and under section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, only a licensed provincial/territorial lawyer or paralegal (in good standing with a law society), a Chambre des notaires du Québec notary, or a licensee of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) may legally charge a fee for immigration advice or representation.
• Ontario (Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act, 2009 & ESA, 2000): Recruiters and employers in Ontario cannot charge foreign nationals any fee for finding employment (or recover costs through wage deductions) and cannot take or hold a worker’s passport or work permit. All recruiters and temporary help agencies operating in Ontario must hold a valid Ministry of Labour licence listed in Ontario’s public licensing database.
• British Columbia (Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act & Employment Standards Act, s. 10): Under B.C. law, no person or employment agency may charge anyone a fee for hiring them or helping them find work — any unlawful fee paid is recoverable as unpaid wages through the Employment Standards Branch. Foreign-worker recruiters in B.C. must also hold an individual provincial licence published in B.C.’s Licensed Foreign Worker Recruiter Registry, and employers cannot take a worker’s passport or threaten deportation.
• Alberta (Employment Agency Business Licensing Regulation, Alta. Reg. 45/2012, s. 9): Employment agencies in Alberta must hold a provincial licence and are prohibited from demanding or collecting any fee, reward, or compensation from an individual seeking employment (narrow optional-service rules apply only to separate services like résumé preparation when not tied to placement).

Before signing or paying an immigration representative, verify their licence directly on the CICC Public Register (register.college-ic.ca) and check whether the prospective employer appears on IRCC’s public list of non-compliant employers (canada.ca).

PART 2: Three paycheque & identity traps targeting Canadian job seekers

1. The fake equipment or “overpayment” cheque scam

• How it works: After a quick text, Telegram, WhatsApp, or email “interview,” a fake employer sends a cheque (or mobile-deposit image) for $2,000–$5,000 to buy a laptop, headset, or software — or claims payroll “accidentally overpaid” your signing bonus — and instructs you to Interac e-Transfer, wire, buy gift cards, or send cryptocurrency to an “approved vendor” right away.
• Why people lose money: Canadian banks make provisional cheque funds visible in your balance within days, before the cheque actually clears the issuing bank. Weeks later, when the counterfeit cheque bounces, your bank reverses the full cheque amount from your account — while the Interac e-Transfer or wire you sent out cannot be reversed once deposited. As the Competition Bureau notes, no legitimate employer sends an upfront cheque and asks a worker to send money back out.

2. The “payment processor” or money-mule job trap

• How it works: A remote “administrative assistant,” “payroll agent,” or “crypto/e-commerce coordinator” job asks you to receive client Interac e-Transfers or deposits into your personal bank account (or open a new business/crypto account in your name), keep a 5%–10% commission, and forward the rest.
• Why it is dangerous: The incoming transfers come from hacked bank accounts or other fraud victims. As the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre warns, moving funds for third parties makes the account holder a money mule — resulting in frozen bank accounts, closed banking relationships, liability for reversed transfers, and potential criminal money-laundering investigations.

3. Pre-hire SIN, passport, and CRA/task phishing

• Identity harvesting: Fake job postings copy the logo of a real hospital, warehouse, retailer, or airline and ask applicants to upload a Social Insurance Number (SIN), driver’s licence, passport, and void cheque before any verifiable interview or job offer, using those documents for tax or credit identity theft.
• “Task optimization” app jobs: Texts offering daily payouts for rating apps, hotels, or products show fake balances on a web dashboard, then demand escalating crypto or e-Transfer “top-ups” to unlock your own wages. Real jobs never require depositing money to unlock earned pay.

PART 3: Written verification check (or employer/bank notice)

Before accepting a remote offer or handing over onboarding documents — or if a recruiter asks for a fee — send this verification note to an address found on the company’s real official website (never reply only to the Gmail, WhatsApp, or spoofed domain in the message):

Copy, fill in, sendCopy template

Subject: Job offer verification — [job title / reference number] — [your full name]

Hello [Company HR or Recruiting Team],

I received an offer / interview message for the role of [job title] from [sender name, email address, and phone number] on [date].

Before sharing any onboarding documents, could you please confirm via your official company HR channel whether [sender name] is an authorized representative of [Company Name] and whether this recruitment is genuine? [Optional: The sender requested an upfront fee / equipment payment, which I have not paid.]

Thank you, [Your full name] · [Phone number]

If you already sent an e-Transfer, deposited a suspicious cheque, or shared banking credentials, call the number on the back of your bank card immediately (under Financial Consumer Agency of Canada rules, federally regulated banks must give a detailed written response to formal complaints within 56 calendar days, after which unresolved disputes can go free of charge to the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments — OBSI).

Where these rules stop. Under Canadian banking rules, statutory zero-liability / $50-cap protections apply to unauthorized debit and credit card transactions — no federal law automatically requires a bank to refund an authorized push payment (such as an Interac e-Transfer, wire, or crypto transfer that an account holder approved under deception), though prompt reporting gives your bank the best chance to flag or freeze recipient accounts. Provincial recruiter-licensing rules differ outside Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta — workers in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut check their own provincial employment-standards or foreign-worker protection registries. Quebec (CNESST agency licensing) is not covered on this page (Quebec workplace rules will be added alongside a French edition). Nothing on this page names private individuals or replaces police, bank-fraud, or legal advice.

Free help contacts

Sources

• Federal immigration & recruitment rules: Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27, s. 91; Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, SOR/2002-227, s. 209.2 and s. 209.3; College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants, Public Register; IRCC, Employers who have been found non-compliant; ESDC, Temporary foreign workers: When to call the tipline; CBSA, Contact the Border Watch Line. Last checked 2026-11-13.
• Federal fraud & banking rules: Competition Bureau Canada, Job and employment scams; Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Money mule awareness and Report fraud and cybercrime; Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Unauthorized credit and debit transactions and How to file a complaint with your bank; Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments, OBSI banking complaints. Last checked 2026-11-13.
• Ontario: Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act, 2009, S.O. 2009, c. 32; Government of Ontario, Employment rights and obligations for foreign nationals and Licensing for temporary help agencies and recruiters. Last checked 2026-11-13.
• British Columbia: Employment Standards Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 113, s. 10; Province of British Columbia, Protections for foreign workers. Last checked 2026-11-13.
• Alberta: Employment Agency Business Licensing Regulation, Alta. Reg. 45/2012, s. 9; Government of Alberta, Temporary Foreign Worker Advisory Office. Last checked 2026-11-13.

iamonmybreak publishes general information for working people. It is not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it is not a substitute for advice about your own situation. Rules differ by province and country and change over time; the date at the top of this piece is when we last checked. For your specific case, especially anything involving money you are owed, contact a free community legal clinic or your provincial or territorial labour standards office.