If you are wondering about How to Immigrate to Canada as a Caregiver? this article would be the right one for you. Presently, Canada has two immigration programs for caregivers that are functioning. It was started in 2019 as the Interim Pathway for Caregivers came to a close.
Two Pilot Immigration Programs for Caregivers in Canada
The Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker pilots are the programs. These programs ensure that international caregivers immigrating to Canada do not have to leave their families behind. Their path to permanent residence will also become a lot smoother. These programs that started in 2019 replaced the Caring for Children and Caring for People with High Medical Needs pilot. These had expired and were very much criticized because they kept many caregivers in abusive work conditions. These programs were slow at the start. In 2021, the Government declared a new initiative. The aim was to process a minimum of 6000 applications by year-end.
According to the current Government, many caregivers did not understand the changes that were made in 2014. Many were employed as caregivers but discovered later that they were ineligible for permanent residency under this new program. Now, they will receive a work permit only if they possess a job offer in Canada and qualify for economic immigration programs. This will also allow them to gain the required two years’ work experience and apply for permanent residence.
Benefits of these Programs
1. These provide employment-specific work permits and not employee-specific work permits. As such, you can easily change jobs if you need to.
2. These also give open work and/or study permits to the caregivers’ immediate family. Under this, your spouse can also apply for an open work permit. This helps families stay together and is very important.
3. This allows a smooth and clear transition from temporary to permanent status. The hassle for permanent residence, thus, is a lot less.
These new programs, thus, have features that reflect innovation in approaches to address vulnerabilities that internationals face in domestic households. They have relaxed language requirements and age is also not the primary criterion. Moreover, the employer is also free from the requirements of the Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).
How has the application of GBA+ helped brought changes to the Caregiver Program?
In recent years, multiple caregiver programs have been launched. The Live-in Caregiver regulatory program, two ministerial Instruction pilots in 2014 and many initiatives in 2019 are some instances.
In 2014, a gender-based analysis of the Live-in Caregivers Program revealed that though it helped women to get permanent residence, it led to much vulnerability as well. Their permits were employer-specific. This caused their lodging to be linked to their work and employer. As a result, many instances of abuse and exploitation took place. They also worked for years to obtain permanent residence without having their loved ones with them. The number of admissions for permanent residence each year is limited. This created pileup that is not so easy to clear. And this only added to the caregivers’ perilous situation.
How do these Programs work?
It has already been stated that if you have a valid job offer, you may apply for a temporary work permit. After the mandatory work experience period, your status will change to permanent. There are a few other eligibility requirements as well:
- Post-higher secondary training in an associated discipline/field)
- Language proficiency of CLB-5 (IELTS R-4. W-5, L-5, S-5)
- Prior job experience in the relevant area in India (or your home country) is beneficial too.
There is also an onus on the employer to prove his offer is legitimate. Also, the fact that they are economically able to hire a caregiver needs to be proven as well.
Eligible jobs
Presently, the applicants’ that are eligible fall under two job titles, NOC 4411- Home childcare providers and NOC 4412- Home support workers of the National Occupation Classification (NOC). Please keep in mind that housekeepers and foster parents are not included in these titles.
Conclusion
With these programs, immigrating to Canada as a caregiver has become easier. But these bureaucratic processes are still beyond many people’s understanding. Hopefully, this write-up gave you some insight into How to Immigrate to Canada as a Caregiver?
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