Requirements For In-Home Caregivers

Families in Canada can hire foreign caregivers under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). However, the caregivers must:

• Provide care on a full-time basis (minimum 30 hours per week);
• Work in a private household where the care is being provided;
• And meet the requirements set by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)/ service Canada and citizenship and immigration Canada (CIC)

The families/private household employers are permitted hire foreign workers on a live-in or live out basis, for 2 categories of in-home workers, which include:

1. Caregivers for children

• Children that are under 18 years of age

This category includes positions such as: home childcare providers also called “nannies”- lower skilled

2. Caregivers for people with high medical needs

• Elderly persons, 65 years of age or over; or
• People with disabilities or a chronic// terminal illness

This category could include positions such as: registered nurse or registered psychiatric nurse – higher- skilled

Some Of The Requirements For Caregivers Are:
1. Language proficiency: employers must make sure that the caregiver they hired speaks, reads and understands either English or French. Caregivers must also have a level fluency that enables them to communicate effectively and independently in an unsupervised setting.

• Language Restriction: English and French are the only languages that can be identified as a job requirement both in LMIA applications and in job advertisements by employer because of the distinct language assessment factor has been introduced as subsection 203 (1.01) of the Immigration and Refugee protection Regulations (IRPR). Unless it can be demonstrated otherwise that another language is essential for the job.

2. Education, Training or Experience: the requirement for this is the same as lower-skilled occupations and Higher-skilled occupations depending on the position. In order to perform the job some jobs may require the foreign worker to be licensed by a professional body. E.g. registered nurses.

If you are looking at hiring a Caregiver, contact us today! At Akrami & Associates we will go over your matter and let you know all your options.