Owner of Edmonton Cleaning Company Jailed for Abusing Foreign Workers

In a landmark case, a 46-year-old businesswoman named Jennilyn Morris was sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of exploiting foreign workers. Morris misled 3 workers from her native Philippines into leaving home and coming to work for her Edmonton cleaning company. In addition to not paying promised wages and overtime, she charged the workers for plane tickets and recruitment fees. She also employed at least 68 foreign nationals, including live-in caregivers for her kids, jobbing them of nearly $50,000 in wages. “She dictated where and when they would work,” according to the court. Morris is the first person charged under Alberta’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.