Workers in Canada under the Live-In Caregiver Program have been dealt a blow as the government again reduced numbers for transition to permanent residence in the latest immigration levels announcement.

Immigration Minister John McCallum’s announcement saw the target reduced from 22,000 for 2016 to 18,000 for 2017. It means numbers have dropped by 12,000 since 2015, when they were as high as 30,000.

Now advocacy groups say the hopes have been dashed of many caregivers who have been in Canada for several years under the program, and are waiting to make the transition to permanent residence.

Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Particularly disappointed are those caregivers who have been in Canada since before the program was revamped, by the previous Conservative government in 2014.

New rules to speed up application processing times for permanent residence were put in place, but they were not applied to caregivers already in the country since before the changes were made.

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Government Guidelines on Processing Live-In Caregivers

It has meant wait times of up to eight years for these people, many of whom are lucky to see their families once a year during that time, while applicants under the new system can get their permanent residence in two months.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said there is currently a backlog of 31,000 applications, down from 57,000 at the start of 2015.

Although the old system has significantly longer processing times, the requirements to be granted permanent residence are not as stringent.

Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Caregivers have the option of applying under the new system, but are put off doing so by fears they would not meet the required higher standards.

The result is that many are stuck in a loop of continually renewing their work permits in the hope their permanent residence application will eventually be processed.

A government Standing Committee recently conducted a top-to-tail study of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, including the Live-In Caregiver stream, with a view to making it more fit-for-purpose for Canada’s labour market needs.

Here are the recommendations made by the committee that are relevant to caregivers:

RECOMMENDATION

Extend work permits for caregivers in the low-wage stream from one to two years

RECOMMENDATION

1. Review the current pathways to permanent residency for all temporary foreign workers, with a view to facilitating access to permanent residency for migrant workers who have integrated into Canadian society and are filling a permanent labour market need.
2. Allocate adequate resources to allow for the timely processing of permanent residency applications for those migrant workers that are hired under the TFWP.

RECOMMENDATION

Establish measures to ensure incoming migrant workers and their employers are informed of their rights and responsibilities under TFWP, including dispute resolution and abuse reporting procedures, as well as information on wages, benefits, accommodations and working conditions. This information should be provided in the language of preference of the migrant worker.

The government is yet to say which of the recommendations it will adopt, or by when.

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