In a recent move, Canada has implemented a ban on hiring foreign nationals into the country’s sex-related businesses. Canadian employers linked to the country’s sex trade will no longer be allowed to hire foreign workers for their company, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced today.
Effective without delay, the ban will put an end to foreign hire for the country’s sex industry that includes strip clubs, escort services and massage parlours. The Human Resources and Skills Development Canada will immediately issue negative Labour Market Opinions (LMOs) on all temporary foreign work applications from employers linked to the country’s sex trade. This will also cover “other businesses where the workplace presents a risk of sexual exploitation or degrading work.”
Mr Kenney issued the statement on Wednesday, adding: “Frankly this should have been done a long time ago. Why would we grant visas to girls that we have a strong suspicion are going to end up under the thumb of a criminal gang being exploited and trafficked? We’re not going after the women – we’re protecting them from what they might not know will happen to them when they get to Canada.”
From 14 July, Citizenship and Immigration Canada will stop processing new temporary work permit applications from foreign workers who are looking to gain employment in the country’s sex trade-related businesses.
In an interview to The Vancouver Sun, Mr Kenney said: “This is not based on a hunch. This is based on a great deal of research and police work which demonstrates the connection in the broader (sex) industry.”
The move has been positively received by the country’s anti-sex trafficking campaigners.
