Are you frustrated with work and taking care of your children or elderly parents at the same time? Like to get some help from a caregiver that is experienced in the field? If you are looking to hire a foreign worker to Canada but not sure what steps you need to take as the employer or what requirements the caregiver has to meet then this blog is for you. Continue reading for further details.
Live-in caregivers are individuals that have the qualification and experience to provide care for children, elderly or persons with disability without supervision. The caregiver must be able to provide care on full-time basis and work in the home of the employer where care is provided. Also, the caregiver must meet the requirements set by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
The families or household employer are able to hire foreign workers either on live-in our live out basis. This blog will only focus on in-home caregivers which include caregivers for children and caregivers for people with high medical needs.
Caregivers for children:
Caregivers for children include children that are under the age of 18 years of age and include positions such as child care provider, live-in caregiver, nannies.
Caregiver for people with high medical needs include:
Caregiver for people with high medicals needs include persons that are 65 years of age or older and persons with disabilities. Some positions include registered nurse, registered psychiatric nurse, licensed practical nurse, home support worker, live in caregiver or personal attendant.
As the employer you would have to obtain a Positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) from Social and Development Canada/ Service Canada before hiring the foreign worker. What this means as the employer you must meet the program requirements for the Streams for High-Wage or Low-Wage Positions and on top it pay the Prevailing Wage for the occupation in the location where the work will be performed. Also, as the employer you must demonstrate recruitment and advertisement efforts to Social and Development Canada/Service Canada that you have tried to hire Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident but were not able to do so. Once Service Canada agrees with your efforts you are issued a Positive LMIA meaning the foreign applicant can now move to the second stage and apply for the Live in Caregiver Work Permit. So once the employer has received Positive LMIA and the caregiver has successfully obtained the work permit you as the caregiver are able to apply for permanent residence through Live in Caregiver Program when meeting the work requirements. If you received a negative decision on the application then unfortunately you cannot hire the foreign applicant. LMIA applications are not easy and proving recruitment efforts to Service Canada is not an easy task. To have a higher chance of success consult with an immigration expert prior to tackling this on your own.
When hiring a live-in caregiver as the employer you are responsible for creating the contract that will include the working arrangements between the employer and the foreign applicant. Both parties are required to sign the employment contract, once signed the foreign worker has to include the Positive LMIA and the employment contract with the Work Permit application. Remember the employment contract must be the same contract you had submitted for the LMIA application to get approved. If there are changes in the contract such as change in start date you must include that in the application and provide reasons for the changes taken place.
The employment contract should show that the requirements under the Live-in Caregiver program are met. These include:
To qualify as a live-in caregiver in Canada you must meet the education requirement which is having graduated from secondary school that should be equivalent to Canadian high school education. Due to the differences in school systems in Canada the number of years cannot be given but in most provinces to complete a high school is 12 years of schooling. The immigration officer reviewing your application will see if you meet the equivalency of Canadian education.
To be able to claim work experience, the experience attained has to be one year in length and the work experience must be in a field or occupation specific to what you will be doing as live-in caregiver. Also, you must show that you have worked at least six months continuously with the same employer. So when you apply for the Live-in Caregiver Work Permit you must ensure that your experience acquired was within the three years of submitting your application. You can also claim training that was conducted in a classroom setting such as early childhood education, pediatric nursing, geriatric care, or first aid.
Another requirement the immigration officer will be looking at when assessing the Live in Caregiver Work Permit application is whether the foreign worker is able to read, speak and understand English or French. If the foreign worker cannot demonstrate that he/she is able to speak, read and understand either English or French then most likely the application will be refused. Let’s say that you are taking care of an infant or elderly and an emergency rises and you are unable to call emergency or understand labels on medication to take care of them. Therefore you have put those individuals under your care at risk. Remember you will be unsupervised most of the day, so understanding English or French is very important to carry on the tasks assigned to you by your employer.
Yes, you require a work permit to be able to work as live in caregiver and this application must be submitted at a visa office outside of Canada. Once your work permit is approved you will receive a letter of introduction from the Canadian visa office responsible for your area. Once you arrive at the Canadian border you must present this letter to the immigration officer to obtain your work permit.
If you have past criminal record you have to overcome your inadmissibility issue first prior to applying for the work permit application. To overcome your inadmissibility you have to apply for Criminal Rehabilitation but if you have a removal order in the past you would have to apply for Authorization to Return to Canada. There are many reason you can be denied these include, financial, health or security inadmissibility. Taking care of inadmissibility issue is not easy task therefore consulting with an immigration expert first is highly recommended.
There are many steps involved when hiring a temporary foreign worker to Canada and attempting an LMIA or Work Permit application on your own is not recommended. LMIA applications are very complicated and stressful. To avoid getting refusal letter from the immigration officer contact Akrami & Associates at 416-477-2545. Our immigration experts have assisted many employers in obtaining a Positive LMIA and we certainly help you too. If you have received Positive LMIA and need assistance with the Work Permit then don’t hesitate to contact us.
With Akrami & Associates there is always a way!!
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