New Westminster construction company charged with hiring illegal workers

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. – A Metro Vancouver construction company and its owners have been charged with six counts of employing illegal workers.

The Canada Border Services Agency says in a news release that John Psarrakis and Constantina Psarrakis hired six people who were not authorized to work in Canada under immigration laws.

CBSA spokeswoman Faith St. John says one other company in Canada was convicted of hiring foreign nationals this year and fined $40,000.

St. John says she doesn’t know if the workers were in Canada illegally before they were hired.

She says the six foreign nationals in this case worked for New Westminster company Nektarios Stripping Construction Ltd., as labourers who stripped wood off dried concrete.

John Psarrakis and Constantina Psarrakis are expected to appear in court on Jan. 8.