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An Ontario man pleaded guilty and was fined $70,000 for illegally employing foreign workers in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains.
Kevin Kielty pleaded guilty in March. In addition to the fine, he received two years probation and must do 50 hours of community service.
The investigation by the Canada Border Services Agency and the RCMP began in 2022 after information was passed along by the Ontario Provincial Police and Barrie Police Service.
The initial investigation found foreign nationals were travelling from Ontario to Alberta to work illegally in the hospitality industry in Banff National Park. Police say the work was being co-ordinated by an employment agency called One Team, which Kielty ran.
Authorities then discovered 90 more foreign nationals from Mexico were working illegally in four resort hotels in the Banff and Jasper areas.
Kielty was charged in May 2024 with two counts under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for employing and counselling foreign workers not authorized to work in Canada.
In a statement, Canada Border Services Agency’s regional director general for the prairie region Janalee Bell-Boychuk said the “successful conviction” comes after lengthy work between multiple policing agencies.
In November 2023, Kielty pleaded guilty to four counts of illegally employing foreign workers in Ontario. He was sentenced to 18 months house arrest.
