AINP: Using Recruitment or Employment Agencies
If you plan to use a recruitment or employment agency to help you find a job in Alberta, there is important information you need to know.
Under the Fair Trading Act all employment agencies in Canada and abroad must be registered and licensed by the Government of Alberta if they are:
finding jobs in Alberta for people
finding workers for employers in Alberta
testing or evaluating individuals for job-related skills on behalf of an employer.
Insist on seeing the employment agency’s Alberta business license and business registration to verify that it is a legitimate business.
An agency cannot charge a worker a fee for finding a job in Alberta. If you are a worker who has been charged a fee by an agency, contact the Temporary Foreign Worker Helpline.
It is illegal in Alberta to charge a worker for a job placement fee.
Employment agencies charge the employer a fee for recruiting a worker.
The employer is not allowed to recover the cost of this service from the employee. If an employer tries to recover recruitment agency costs from you as a worker, contact the Temporary Foreign Worker Helpline.