Employers using cheap foreign labor to fill work shortages in Canada are paying more fines for violating the rules of a government program that allows them to temporarily hire employees from outside the country.

Monetary penalties issued to businesses failing to comply with the rules of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program rose to C$2.1 million in the fiscal year ending March 31. That’s a 36% increase compared with a year earlier, according to data released Wednesday by Employment and Social Development Canada.

Twelve employers were temporarily banned from using the program, compared with seven in the previous fiscal year, the report showed. Of some 2,100 businesses inspected, 6% were found to be non-compliant, a similar level to the previous fiscal year.

Misuse of the program has been on the rise as the number of foreign workers surged after the pandemic. And though Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government plans to reduce the temporary immigrant population by about 20% over the next three years, newcomers remain an important source of labor.

Part of the increase in penalties is due to a ramping up of government efforts to investigate and weed out bad actors — including hiring more inspectors and the introduction of a “worker protection tip line.”

Employers can be banned from the program or forced to pay fines if they fail to offer appropriate wages, put the life or safety of a foreign worker at risk, or fail to provide safe working conditions and accommodations.

In one violation, an employer in the food service industry was fined and banned from the program for two years after breaking laws while hiring and recruiting workers and failing to offer appropriate pay and working conditions.