A Kelowna business was fined after hiring temporary foreign workers without doing any business at all.

The federal government hit Blossum Fresh Fruits Inc. with a $60,000 penalty last month, but the company is still allowed to hire foreign workers in the future.

Records don’t specify what the business is doing, but Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada investigators found Blossum was “not actively engaged” in the business it hired workers for. The employer also did not show up to a meeting with an inspector nor give over documents the federal government demanded.

There are very few online records for Blossum Fresh Fruits. It was incorporated in 2023, but it has no Kelowna business licence, no website and no apparent social media presence marketing the business. Its address is registered to a Kelowna law office, according to the federal government.

iNFOnews.ca has reached out to the law office for comment.

The fine comes amid a federal government crackdown on the temporary foreign worker program across the country, which has meant fewer hirings and greater scrutiny on employers. The program has been important for agriculture in the Okanagan particularly, but there have been numerous reports across the country over the years of poor working conditions and scams.

Legal director at the Migrant Workers Centre of BC, Jonathan Braun, said the crackdown largely hasn’t led to better conditions for workers.

“A lot of these things are increasing because scammers are taking advantage… of the squeeze,” he said.

Whether Blossum’s fine was due to fraudulent hiring isn’t known, but Braun said it’s rampant across the province, particularly among organizations posing as immigration consultants.

More than two dozen employers have been fined in BC in the past six months, including one in Osoyoos and another in 70 Mile House, but most are in the Lower Mainland.

iNFOnews.ca has reached out to Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada for comment on its fine for Blossum Fresh Fruits.