As a live-in caregiver, you have legal rights to fair working conditions and fair treatment under labour laws in most provinces and territories. Nothing in your contract or working conditions can change this.

You also have the right to leave an unsatisfactory employer. Regulation 185 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, lists the conditions that may be put on your work permit.

Working conditions, such as minimum hourly wages, vary widely across Canada. You should find out what the labour laws are where you work by checking with your provincial or territorial labour standards office.

Labour laws may cover rights in areas such as:

• days off each week
• vacation time with pay
• paid public holidays
• overtime pay
• minimum wage
• maximum charges for room and board.

Public holidays are days when most workers, including live-in caregivers, can have the day off with pay or receive a premium for working, which could be overtime pay.

In Canada, some common holidays are:

• New Year’s Day (January 1);
• Good Friday (the Friday before Easter);
• Victoria Day (late May);
• Canada Day (July 1);
• Labour Day (early September);
• Thanksgiving (mid-October); and
• Christmas Day (December 25).

Some provinces or territories have one or two other public holidays.