New Brunswick news: The province wants to licence the people who recruit foreign workers, ban recruitment fees charged to workers, and give officials sharper tools to keep bad actors off its employer registry. That is the pitch behind New Brunswick Foreign Worker Protections in Bill 6, introduced October 27, 2026. It is a proposal, not yet law, and that distinction matters for every worker and employer watching it.
By Maplestime Desk | Sources: Government of New Brunswick, INC Visa analysis | Last updated: October 29, 2026
Key Takeaways
- New Brunswick introduced Bill 6 on October 27, 2026, to amend the Employment Standards Act and strengthen protections for foreign workers.
- If passed, the bill would require licensing for foreign-worker recruitment services and let officials approve, refuse, suspend, revoke or condition an employer’s place on the registry of employers of foreign workers.
- Charging workers recruitment fees would be prohibited, and amounts for administrative monetary penalties would be set.
- As of October 28, the bill was at first reading and had not received royal assent, so none of these measures are in force yet.
- If passed, implementation would be staged from royal assent through to March 31, 2029.
What Bill 6 Would Actually Do
Strip away the legislative language and the New Brunswick Foreign Worker Protections plan comes down to three practical changes. First, recruitment would become a licensed activity. Anyone offering foreign-worker recruitment services would need a licence, which gives the province a clear way to shut down unlicensed operators instead of chasing them after the damage is done.
Second, the employer registry would gain teeth. Under the proposal, the director of the employment standards branch could approve, refuse, suspend or revoke an employer’s inclusion on the registry, or attach conditions to it. In plain terms, an employer that does not meet the standard could lose access to the foreign-worker pipeline.
Third, the money question gets settled in workers’ favour. The bill would prohibit charging workers recruitment fees. That matters because fees charged to workers are one of the oldest routes into debt and coercion in temporary labour migration, and banning them outright removes the grey area.
The bill would also set amounts for administrative monetary penalties, giving enforcement a price tag that employers and recruiters can understand before they break a rule, not after.
Why New Brunswick Says It Is Acting Now
The government says the New Brunswick Foreign Worker Protections changes would bring the province’s protections in line with other Canadian jurisdictions. That framing is important. It suggests the province knows workers and employers can compare regimes across provincial lines, and it does not want to be the weak link.
The proposal followed consultations that included an anonymous online survey and written submissions. That consultation history matters for credibility: this was not drafted in a back room and announced the same afternoon. Workers and employers had a chance to weigh in, and the government is now showing its hand.
The minister responsible for labour, Alyson Townsend, put the case in human terms, saying foreign workers play an important role in New Brunswick’s economy and that the province has a duty to ensure foreign workers are not abused financially and have a safe workplace. Paraphrased or quoted, the message is the same: the workers this bill covers are already here, already working, and already part of the economy.
New Brunswick Foreign Worker Protections: What Advocates Want Next
Support from worker advocates came with a clear “good start, not enough” attached. Niger Saravia of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, quoted in the government’s own release, called licensing recruiters, screening employers and banning recruitment fees “important steps forward,” while also calling for joint liability and proactive enforcement.
That caveat deserves attention. Licensing and fee bans are only as strong as the enforcement behind them. Joint liability would mean more than one party in the chain answers when a worker is wronged. Proactive enforcement would mean inspectors finding problems rather than waiting for a vulnerable worker to file a complaint. Neither is in the bill as described, and advocates will be watching whether either appears as the bill moves through the legislature.
Related: Read more of Maplestime’s coverage of labour and immigration policy across Canada as provinces update their rules for temporary workers.
What Happens Next, And When
Here is the part readers should not get wrong. Bill 6 was introduced on October 27, 2026, and as of October 28 it was listed at first reading. It has not received royal assent. Nothing in the New Brunswick Foreign Worker Protections bill is law yet, and no worker or employer should act as though the new licensing or fee rules already apply.
If the bill passes, implementation would be staged from royal assent through to March 31, 2029. That long runway is both a promise and a warning. It gives employers and recruiters time to comply, but it also means workers waiting for protection may wait years for the full regime to arrive. The staging schedule itself will be worth scrutinising when the government publishes it in detail.
For now, the honest summary is this: the New Brunswick Foreign Worker Protections proposal closes real gaps, and the test will be whether the legislature passes it, and whether enforcement keeps pace with the promises.
Maplestime will provide updates from New Brunswick foreign worker protections as announcements are made.
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Do you think licensing recruiters and banning fees goes far enough to protect foreign workers in New Brunswick, or should the province add joint liability and proactive enforcement too? Share this story and tell us where you stand.
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