New rules for federal live-in caregivers program

Changes to the live-in caregivers program and reaction from some of the caregiver advocacy groups:

The changes are bad news for caregivers, says Pura Velasco, a spokesperson with the Caregivers Action Centre, a Toronto-based group with 1,000 plus members.

“The pathway to permanent residency has been revoked,” says Velasco, a former caregiver herself. “It’s gone.”

Under the terms of the old program caregivers had a “guaranteed pathway to permanent residency,” Velasco says. But not anymore, thanks to the annual cap.

The caregivers advocacy group says what’s needed is permanent residency upon arrival for all caregivers. It’s the only thing that would protect workers from abuse and allow them to speak up about abuses without risk of deportation.

According to the group’s website, the annual average of caregivers who have come to Canada over the past five years is over 8,000 — well above the cap Ottawa has set.

To qualify for permanent residency caregivers must now have one year-post secondary study in Canada or a foreign diploma or certificate that has been given equivalency here.

Caregivers must also pass stringent language requirements — a Level 5 language test in either English or French, or if the caregiver is a registered nurse or a psychiatric nurse he or she must pass a Level 7 language test.

Under the new program Ottawa has removed the requirement that caregivers must live in — a move that has pleased some.

Level 5 language test is not that stringent (Level 5 – Centre for Canadian Language Benchmark) but the removal of a pathway to permanent residency and the caps will likely have a larger impact.

New rules for federal live-in caregivers program | Toronto Star.