TorontoLiveInCare.com

It’s been over one month since the new legislation took effect in Canada and caregivers across the country can still be heard celebrating the triumph for Live-In Caregivers in the federal immigration program.  Indeed, they have every right to celebrate; they are already here approaching their Permanent Residency to ensure a better life for them and their family.  Workers who want to come here now seem to have one of the best job opportunities available; competitive wages, affordable room and board, free immigration processing, free health care till provincial coverage kicks in, workers compensation, paid airfare, no obligation to stay with the employer if they don’t like the job and Permanent Residence within 2 years or less in one of the best countries you could choose to settle in.  To top it off, these workers are highly in demand to fill a role that the Canadian labour market lacks entirely.

In a recent appearance at a caregiver meeting, Minister Kenney stated..

… the experience of most caregivers is a good one… most caregivers are with good families…

He went on to say the Filipino caregivers will be..

… a growing part of our immigration process in the future.

So why is it that overseas sponsorship in the Live-In Caregiver Program has almost come to a complete halt, according to agencies across Canada?

> Families have no guarantee that their worker will stay with them for longer than 2 weeks.

With all the great additions to protect the caregivers we employ, which are fantastic, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has overlooked an important part of the equation: the families responsible for sponsoring and employing the nannies.  We have spoken to over a hundred clients in the province of Ontario since the legislation took effect and they are “astounded” and “outraged” that there is not at least a clause under which a nanny can be held responsible for leaving their job for faulty reasons; they don’t like the location that they agreed to, they want to be closer to their friends in Toronto, they want to start at 8am instead of 7:30, etc.  All these general factors that the workers agreed to in their contract can also be reasons why they give 2 weeks notice and leave a family without a nanny after paying for recruitment, flights and health care, all which are non-refundable.

A client recently called Citizenship and Immigration for more information on hiring from overseas and specifically wanted to know what would happen if the worker they paid for arrived in Canada and decided to not even start with them.  The representative simply stated “you take that risk.” Incredibly helpful response from the government agency WE are paying for to facilitate this program.

Contrary to what the Toronto Star will have you believe, the majority of employers and agencies treat their nannies well, pay them correctly, provide them with a clear job description and don’t take advantage of their flexibility.  Our 23 years of experience in this field shows that most people want to treat their nanny like part of the family because they are providing an invaluable service.  But even those employers who have been following the rules for many years are now being reprimanded.

We deal with clients who have no problem paying thousands of dollars to have a hand-picked, qualified and experienced nanny from overseas who will be able to provide them with a longer term commitment.  They do so to fill their own needs but to also help a family from abroad.    Surely, these types of employers should not be penalized.

What do caregivers have to say about the lack of, and even complete elimination of, employers to sponsor them?

> Caregivers WANT to pay to come to Canada!

Since April 1, we have received no less than 20 calls per day from overseas workers or relatives in Canada who are inquiring about sponsorship.  Many are completely unaware of the situation with the new legislation and are frustrated when they hear that agencies have closed their overseas recruitment programs and are focusing only on local caregivers.  They want their relatives to come to Canada, but there is nobody willing to pay with no reassurances.  The applicants or their family beg to allow us to accept their money, but we must tell them that we abide by the law and will not risk our clients’ or our business to do so.

Our satellite office in Hong Kong has hundreds of very qualified and experienced nannies who would make incredible workers for Canadian families.  They tell us that everyone there does not understand why the government would put these rules in place when it means that there will no longer be a chance for them to be sponsored.  They ask, “is the government trying to close down the program?” We think the same thing ourselves.

Is this all about the money?  Do Canadian families really not want to part with the same amounts the caregivers did to come here?

> This is NOT about the money.

Adding ~3000-5000 dollars to the overall cost of a caregiver’s salary in recruitment costs is not the end of the world.  For the money they are saving to employ these caregivers, families who really need the care can fit it in to their budget.  We’ve heard this first hand and consult with many clients per month.  It is completely and entirely about the lack of any guarantee or fair agreement regarding their obligation in the process.

Should we all be celebrating?  Has this new legislation finally put an end to the cases of abuse?

> Abuse will continue to occur and the shortage of labour will only get worse.

For those that are celebrating, consider that, in your triumph, you have unintentionally eliminated the chance for your fellow people to enjoy the same good life you are experiencing now.  The Juana Tejada law, over-time hours calculation, health insurance, and workers compensation aside, the government listened to suggestions from the community and implemented them in such a way that cannot be easily repaired and will end up killing off this program and creating a larger labour shortage UNLESS the government pays attention to the needs of the Canadian families in an equal way to the workers they intended to protect.

There will always be workers, in any job under any status, that will be mistreated and underpaid.  Our obligation as families, employers, agencies and Canadians is to work our hardest to protect the rights of the people we employ.  For workers in Canada, the risk will always be there, but that is what our Employment Standards branches are here for to protect.  For overseas workers, they can now be assured that they have less of a chance of abuse when coming to Canada, but alternatively they are also almost guaranteed that they probably won’t ever settle in this country.  Not in the near future, at least.

Want to make your voices heard?  Contact the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the Prime Minister of Canada…

Jason Kenney: minister@cic.gc.ca

Stephen Harper: pm@pm.gc.ca