An Edmonton woman admitted to human trafficking offences Tuesday relating to the unlawful employment of foreign nationals in the local area work force.

Jennilyn Morris, 46, pleaded guilty in Court of Queen's Bench to two counts under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

The first involves Morris knowingly communicating false or misleading information or declarations with intent to induce immigration to Canada between 2007 and 2010.

The second involves Morris employing at least 68 foreign nationals in a capacity that they were not authorized to be employed in between 2006 and 2010.

Federal prosecutor Michelle Ferguson told court Morris made job offers to two men and a woman from the Philippines to get them to come to Canada and work for her company, Demot Cleaning, and produced employment contracts that were compliant with approved conditions.

"Morris made these offers knowing that she did not intend to pay the foreign nationals what was offered, that she did not intend to give them the hours promised and that she intended to employ them outside of the occupation promised," said Ferguson.

Court heard the three Filipinos, Robert Blando, Michael Faustino and Teodora Bautista, moved to Edmonton to work for Morris, however she did not pay them the wages promised or the required amount of overtime stipulated in the contracts, nor did she employ them solely in the positions approved in the contracts, said Ferguson.

The prosecutor also told court that Morris employed at least 68 foreign nationals who were not authorized to work in Canada for her or any of her related companies.

The group included people who had work permits for an unrelated company, people who were in Canada working under the Live-In Caregiver Program, people who held work permits for other employers, and people in Canada on visitor visas, said Ferguson.

According to agreed facts, Morris is from the Philippines and she entered Canada in 1998 under the Live-In Caregiver Program, which allows foreign workers to qualify for permanent resident status after working as a live-in caregiver for two years. Morris became a permanent resident in 2001 and a Canadian citizen in 2008.

As well as owning Demot Cleaning, Morris owns Smokey Joe's Hickory Smoke House, and she had a contract with Webco Printing to provide workers who would insert flyers into newspapers, operate the printing press, and stack newspapers. She also owned four city homes and used three of them as rental units for the foreign workers.

According to the agreed facts, Blando, Faustino and Bautista were only allowed to work for Demot, but Morris also had them working at Webco. She also paid them two dollars an hour less than their offers and didn't pay overtime rates. As well, Morris had Bautista illegally working as a caregiver for her children and as a housekeeper.

The workers felt Morris would fire them and send them home if they refused the work or complained about the pay and they were not aware of their rights in Canada.

Similar illegal scenarios also happened with the other 68 foreign nationals, including some never getting paid.

Court heard some of the victims are no longer in Canada.

A pre-sentence report was ordered to be done on Morris and a sentencing hearing was set for May 16.

Human trafficking can lead to a fine of $1 million, life imprisonment or both, while misrepresentation can garner up to $100,000 in fines and up to five years in prison.