OTTAWA — The federal government is proposing legislation that would protect temporary foreign workers recruited by Canadian businesses, CBC reports.

The new rules would ensure that foreign employees brought to Canada are actually working at the organization and doing the job that was advertised.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada says that employers sometimes misrepresent the jobs foreign workers believe they are applying for. Other times the skilled job is no longer available and immigrant workers are told to work as laborers for far less pay.

Foreign workers, usually recruited under various provincial nominee programs, are quite popular in the transportation sector.

According to Stats Canada’s Immigrant Labour Market report, after the retail sector, newcomers mostly migrate to transportation businesses.

Employers who break the new rules — which are expected to pass next spring — would be barred from bringing in foreign workers and could also face criminal charges.

For more information on recruiting foreign workers to the trucking industry, see this program recently launched by the Canadian Trucking Human Resources Council.