REGINA -- Saskatchewan's immigration minister says he hopes employers act responsibly under Ottawa's temporary foreign worker program, despite reports Canadian workers have been laid off from a potash mine jobsite.

Jeremy Harrison was commenting Wednesday after word that Alliance Energy Ltd., recently cut 58 Canadian employees from an expansion project at Vanscoy, southwest of Saskatoon.

Reports indicate temporary foreign workers were kept on the payroll.

Harrison says the provincial government has no control over the program, but is gathering information on a federal investigation into the layoffs.

Alliance is an employee-owned company which provides electrical contracting and maintenance services throughout Saskatchewan.

The company has said it's fully compliant with the federal program.