When the Government of Canada announced changes to the Caregiver program two years ago, it was a welcome change because under the two pilots (Home Child Care Pilot and Home Support Worker Pilot), caregivers are given the chance to bring their dependants with them to Canada from the outset and they are not restricted to work for one specific employer. However, to be be eligible for the pilot programs, applicants need to get their credentials assessed, they must pass the English test and qualify with the new requirement for post-secondary education. These are some of the hurdles a caregiver must go through to be able to apply to the new pilots.
Allow me to quote from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) 2020 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration:
Home Child Care Provider Pilot and Home Support Worker Pilot
The Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker pilots opened for applications on June 18, 2019, and will run for five years. They replaced the expiring Caring for Children and Caring for People with High Medical Needs pilots. Through these pilots, caregivers benefit from a clear transition from temporary to permanent status to ensure that once caregivers have met the work experience requirement, they can become permanent residents quickly, they also benefit from occupation-specific work permits rather than employer-specific ones, as to allow for a fast change of employers when needed. The immediate family of the caregiver may also receive open work permits and study permits to help families come to Canada together.
Features of the new pilots reflect lessons learned from previous caregiver programs and test innovative approaches to addressing unique vulnerabilities and isolation associated with work in private households.
How applying GBA+ helped shape changes to the Caregiver Program
Caregiver immigration has taken multiple forms in recent years, including the legacy Live-in Caregiver regulatory program, two 2014 Ministerial Instruction pilots, and several initiatives in 2019: a public policy Interim Pathway for Caregivers, and the launch of two new pilots for caregivers.
To support new policy directions, in 2014 a gender-based analysis was conducted for the Live-in Caregivers Program which found that, while a helpful route to permanent resident status for many women, the live-in requirement created vulnerabilities. Caregivers were on employer-specific work permits that linked their accommodation to their work and employer, exposing them to abuse and exploitation. They were also generally isolated from their families overseas, working for years toward permanent residence without having their immediate families with them. Due to the limited number of admissions to permanent residence in any given year, a significant backlog of applications developed, leading to prolonged periods of family separation and ongoing vulnerability for the caregivers.
In 2014, the Live-in Caregiver Program was closed to new applicants. Priority was given to processing the significant backlog of applications which stood at about 27,000 applications (or 62,000 persons). To address some of the vulnerabilities that caregivers faced, two new caregiver pilots were launched, without the mandatory live-in requirement – the Caring for Children Class and Caring for People with High Medical Needs Class. These pilots acted as transition pathways for foreign caregivers with Canadian work experience. Complementary changes were also made to the
Temporary Foreign Worker Program so that in most cases, job offers made by Canadian families do not require the caregiver to live-in.
Consultations held in 2018, as part of the 2014 Caregiver Pilots review, revealed that many caregivers arrived in Canada as temporary residents without a clear pathway to permanent residence. Caregivers continued to face prolonged family separation and experienced vulnerabilities related to in-home work and having their employment status tied to a specific employer.
Responding to these findings and recognizing the significant contribution caregivers make in supporting the care needs of Canadian families, two new caregiver pilots were launched in June 2019 – the Home Child Care Provider Class, and the Home Support Worker Class. These pilots are designed to provide a clear, direct pathway to permanent residence for caregivers by assessing applicants for permanent residence and admissibility requirements before they begin work in Canada. With an occupation-specific work permit, a caregiver will be able to change jobs when necessary. The pilots also remove barriers that caregivers face in bringing their families with them to Canada, by providing open work permits for spouses/common-law partners and study permits for dependent children. IRCC will monitor the outcomes of the pilots, working to identify the impacts of these program changes on caregivers and their families, including GBA+ considerations.
I was hoping that these changes in the caregiver program in 2019, will reduce the backlog in the processing of caregiver permanent residence applications and thereby reduce or shortened the processing time to 12 months.
This is not the case unfortunately. I have submitted several applications since the introduction of the two pilots in June 2019 and up to now I have not received open work permits for any of my clients.
According to new data obtained by Vancouver immigration lawyer, Steven Meurrens, Ottawa received a total of 13,230 permanent residence applications from foreign caregivers between January 201 9 and November 2020. Only 4, 140 were processed and the approval rate was 74 per cent. From the applications received, IRCC has only processed 279 or less than seven per cent of them. Some 69 per cent of those were approved. You can just imagined the backlog which stands at over 9,000 applications.
I appreciate and understand that the processing of these applications have been affected by COVID-19, it is my belief that the caregiver program is not a priority of this government. If you recall, IRCC invited over 27,332 candidates under the Canadian Experience Class for permanent residence thru Express Entry.
IRCC reported that we are facing an aging population and lack of national child care, considering these facts, I would expect that the Caregiver program would be a priority for this government, however it appears this is not the case.
In 2019, IRCC reported that 827,586 international students held valid study permits, 98, 310 individuals were issued work permits thru the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, 306,797 individuals were issued a work permit under the International Mobility Program and 341,180 were admitted as permanent residents, however, applicants under the Caregiver Program, it has been 18 months and they are still in waiting.
It is my fondest desire that the Government of Canada will not ultimately abandon the caregiver program.
If you have questions regarding the above article you may contact Marjorie at [email protected]
Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
A word of caution: You should not act or rely on the information provided in this column. It is not a legal advice. To ensure your interests are protected, retain or formally seek advice from a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) in good standing of ICCRC. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of RCIC’s.
