South Okanagan winery banned from hiring foreign workers and slapped with $118K fine

Ban on foreign workers

Photo: Desert Hills Estate Winery

An Oliver vineyard has been permanently banned from hiring foreign workers.

Toor Vineyards, co-founded by Randhir Toor, was first slapped with a $90K settlement fee in 2022 when Toor was found to have been part of a larger circle of immigration fraud in British Columbia.

Toor Vineyards operates Desert Hills Estate Winery in Oliver on Black Sage Road.

In December 2024, the organization was slapped with yet another fine from the Canadian government — $118K for non-compliance with mandated employment-related standards, and was also banned from hiring temporary foreign workers ever again.

Reasons for the fine and ban include that the vineyard did not provide the inspector documents they requested, that the pay or working conditions did not match what was listed on the offer of employment, and that the vineyard did not "put in enough effort" to make sure the workplace was free of any type of abuse, including physical, sexual, financial or otherwise.

Randhir Toor is no longer the president of Desert Hills Estate Winery. But his personal legal woes may not be over, as he faces allegations of sexual assault from a Mexican farmworker who was in his employ recently.

Those allegations have not been tested in court.