Human smuggling facilitated in eastern Canada

Published on: August 28, 2023

It’s a criminal offence to falsify immigration documents to assist a foreign national enter Canada irregularly. It’s an offence to demand and/or accept payment(s) for assisting a foreign national obtain work and/or permanent residency in Canada. However, in Canada foreign nationals are entering Canada irregularly and they’re paying as much $1000 a month to help them get permanent residency.

While most migrants and refugees arrive in Canada legally, there are others who try to take shortcuts around our country’s immigration system using human smugglers.

Human smuggling occurs when you willingly pay someone to help you enter Canada irregularly. Human smugglers assist foreign nationals enter Canada irregularly by any of the following methods or a combination of them:

Using stolen passports

Forging fake travel documents or visas

Presenting false documentations to acquire a work visa to Canada

Human smuggling is illegal in Canada. Section 117 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) defines human smuggling and its consequences.

Human Smuggling and Trafficking

Organizing entry into Canada

117 (1) No person shall organize, induce, aid or abet the coming into Canada of one or more persons knowing that, or being reckless as to whether, their coming into Canada is or would be in contravention of this Act.

Penalties — fewer than 10 persons

(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) with respect to fewer than 10 persons is guilty of an offence and liable

(a) on conviction on indictment

(i) for a first offence, to a fine of not more than $500,000 or to a term of imprisonment

A Moncton area motel that the New Brunswick government (Premier Blaine Higgs) used to secretly quarantine Chinese students during COVID-19 was used to help well to do South Korean nationals enter Canada irregularly. One South Korean confided that she was paying the motel owner $1000 per month to help her get permanent residency. When she realized what she had just said she claimed the $1000 a month was for taxes on income despite the fact she only worked 8-12 hours a week for $13 an hour pay rate. No one pays $1000 in taxes each month on a $624 per month income.

On December 5th, 2020 a South Korean family was brought in after midnight (1:12AM). It would appear that the Atlantic Motel owner turned off the motel’s exterior lights so that other Atlantic Motel guests couldn’t see or witness what was going on outside.

Reasonable suspicion other South Koreans paid the Atlantic Motel owner to help them get permanent residency. The South Korean Atlantic Motel owner paid off the 3/4 million dollar mortgage for the motel in just 4 years. 2 of the 4 years wasn’t very busy due to COVID-19. A reasonable person would therefore conclude that part of the mortgage was more than likely paid using proceeds of a crime – human smuggling.

A RCMP officer from the Shediac RCMP major crimes unit said he was looking into this in 2021. Cst Carl Champagne of the Shediac NB RCMP had the full name of at least one person who paid the Moncton area motel owner $1000 a month to help her get permanent residency as well a bank account number that was suspected of being used for making human smuggling payments.

That Moncton New Brunswick area motel was recently sold June 9, 2023 for $965,000. No mortgage was obtained for the purchase of the motel. The cash purchase of the motel was made by a recent college graduate. A student whose former job was a cook for Boston Pizza. The East Indian college graduate obtained a mortgage for the motel “after” the Atlantic Motel was bought for $965,000 cash. Motel purchaser and owner posted on his Facebook page that he is a “volunteer at Atlantic Motel”.

Government of Canada states:

The former South Korean owners went back to South Korea after they sold the motel for $965,000 as did the woman who said she paid the motel owner $1000 a month to help her get permanent residency. The former owner of the motel made plans to move back to Calgary Alberta after he sold the motel. He was looking into buying a liquor store in Calgary. Will more than likely continue to help South Koreans enter Canada irregularly.