MANILA – Filipino Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said Canada has implemented sweeping reforms in its caregiver program – a feature of its immigration system as a component of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program – and promises faster action on applications for permanent residence.
Baldoz said the Philippine Labor Attache in Toronto, Leonida Romulo, has reported this latest development in Canada’s care giver program. Romulo said Minister Chris Alexander, of the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), announced the reforms in its Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP).
Filipinos who wish to work in Canada as caregivers must study the reforms to ensure they make correct decisions about their plans, according to Baldoz.
She said the LCP, now the Caregiver Program, enables Canadian employers to recruit foreign nationals to live and work in their homes to provide childcare or home support for senior citizens or Canadians with disabilities when there are no Canadians or permanent residents to fill available positions. After two years of work, caregivers have the option to apply for permanent residence.
The CIC said on its website that the removal of the live-in requirement will result to greater opportunities for Canadians in caregiver occupations and an increase in wages for foreign caregivers after employers clearly demonstrate that there are no Canadians available for the job.
It also said Canada plans to admit 30,000 caregivers (including their spouses and dependents) in 2015 by fast-tracking applications from those who have completed their work experience, but are facing long waits for their permanent residence to be finalized.
Under the reforms, caregivers are no longer required to live in the home of their employer, which can place them in vulnerable conditions, including unpaid overtime work, poor working conditions, or worse, until they are able to achieve the status of permanent residents.
The reforms provide for two career pathways for caregivers – the Caring for Children Pathway and the Caring for People with High Medical Needs Pathway.
For the first pathway, applicant caregivers must have a two-year work experience in Canada as a home child care provider; “initial intermediate” Canadian language benchmark 5 provided in a designated third-party language test; and a Canadian post-secondary education of at least one year, or an equivalent foreign education credential. The limit or cap to the number of applicants to be accepted under this pathway is 2,750 per year.
The second pathway is for caregivers who provide support to those with high medical needs. The requirements are the following: two-year full-time work experience in Canada providing in-home care or care in a health facility to the elderly or persons with disabilities or chronic diseases; licensed to practice in Canada; and “intermediate” Canadian language benchmark 7 provided in a designated third-party language test, if applying as a registered nurse or registered psychiatric nurse.
Baldoz said the limit or cap to the number of applicants to be accepted under this pathway is 2,750 per year. Baldoz advised those who would like to work in Canada as caregivers to visit the CIC website for more detailed information, and urged them to only deal with legitimate and licensed Philippine recruitment agencies to avoid getting duped or victimized by illegal recruitment agencies and individuals with criminal intent.
“Still, the safe and legal pathway to work overseas is through the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration,” she said. (Mindanao Examiner)
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