INTERVIEW WITH Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister, Chris Alexander, 9AM EST (OTTAWA TIME), SATURDAY. DEAR DJ REGINA show at WWW.TINIGPINOY.NET YOU GOT QUESTIONS? Please comment here your questions for the Minister. We will try to ask them for you during the interview. ************************************************ BREAKING NEWS: Eligible caregivers will have two pathways that will lead to permanent residence within SIX MONTHS. NEWS RELEASE For immediate release Improving Canada’s Caregiver Program Government of Canada announces reforms to end the live-in requirement, reduce family separation and provide more options to caregivers in Canada October 31, 2014 — Ottawa — Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister, Chris Alexander, announced significant reforms to the Caregiver Program that acknowledges the valuable contributions caregivers make to Canadian families and the economy. Changes to the program include ending the live-in requirement, and providing eligible caregivers with two pathways that will lead to permanent residence within six months. One pathway features criteria for child care providers that are very similar to current requirements, but without the need for the caregiver to live in the home of their employer where they may be vulnerable to abuse. In addition, caregivers in a variety of health care occupations, including registered nurses, registered psychiatric nurses, licensed practical nurses, nurse aides, orderlies, patient service associates and home support workers, will also have a pathway to permanent residence. Eligible caregivers in this stream would be able to gain their work experience either in providing in-home care or care in a health-care facility to an elderly person or a person with a disability or chronic medical condition. This pathway offers more career options for eligible caregivers, and targets workers in occupations that are expected to face labour shortages in the future. Applications in this stream would also be processed within six months. The Government of Canada is taking aggressive action to reduce the backlog of applications for permanent residence through the Live-in Caregiver Program. As part of the 2015 Levels Plan tabled today in the House of Commons, Canada will welcome 30,000 new permanent residents in this category. Reducing the backlog and processing times will mean that eligible caregivers will be reunited sooner with their families. Caregivers who have already applied for Live-in Caregiver Program work permits, and any who apply based on an employer’s approved Labour Market Impact Assessment submitted before November 30, will also be able to complete the work requirement on a live-in basis and eventually apply for permanent residence. Quick facts · Citizenship and Immigration Canada will set an all-time record in the number of caregiver permanent resident admissions in 2014, with levels set at 17,500. · Both pathways will have a cap on applications of 2,750 each year, for a total of 5,500. This does not include spouses and dependants, and is consistent with the number of caregivers coming to Canada in recent years. From 2011 to 2013, about 4,500 principal applicants applied each year for permanent residence through the Caregiver Program. · In recent years, the Government of Canada has made a number of improvements to the Caregiver Program, including making open work permits available to live-in caregivers immediately upon applying for permanent residence, increasing the amount of time available for a caregiver to complete the work requirement from three years to four, adopting a standardized employment contract for live-in caregivers that defines the employer’s obligations to the caregiver and arranging emergency processing of new work permits for caregivers who have been abused and need to leave their employment urgently. Quote “We have listened to the concerns of caregivers across Canada and have taken action to improve Canada’s Caregiver Program. Our government’s changes protect caregivers from potential abuse and reduce family separation. With our improvements caregivers will be provided with more pathways toward permanent residence, and will have the tools they need to achieve success in the Canadian labour market and contribute to the economy.” Chris Alexander, Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Related products Backgrounder – Improving Canada’s Caregiver Program News Release – Ensuring Long-Term Prosperity and Economic Growth Follow us on Twitter: twitter/CitImmCanada Photos of Minister Alexander available at: cic.gc.ca/engl…/department/media/photos/index.asp – 30 – Building a stronger Canada: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) strengthens Canada’s economic, social and cultural prosperity, helping ensure Canadian safety and security while managing one of the largest and most generous immigration programs in the world. BACKGROUNDER Improving Canada’s Caregiver Program -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Improvements to the Caregiver Program § Formally known as the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP), the Caregiver Program has been a feature of Canada’s immigration system for many years as a component of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. § The Caregiver Program enables Canadian employers to recruit foreign nationals to live and work in their homes to provide childcare or home support for seniors or people with disabilities when there is a shortage of Canadians or permanent residents to fill available positions. After two years of work, caregivers have the option of applying for permanent residence. § The Government of Canada values the contributions caregivers make to Canadian families and after extensive consultations, has made reforms to improve the Caregiver Program by ending the live-in requirement, reducing family separation and providing more options to caregivers in Canada. Backlog reduction § The current LCP has a significant backlog of applications for permanent residence. § For those who have spouses and/or children at home, lengthy processing times usually mean an extended period of separation from their loved ones. § CIC nearly doubled permanent resident admissions levels for caregivers in 2014, with the 2014 levels plan setting out an all-time record of 17,500 admissions. § The Government plans to admit 30,000 caregivers (including their spouses and dependants) in 2015, ramping up the processing of applications from those who have completed their work experience but are facing long waits for their permanent residence to be finalized. End of the live-in requirement § Requiring caregivers to live in the home of their employer can place them in vulnerable situations, including uncompensated overtime, poor working conditions, or worse, until they are able to achieve permanent residence status. § With the absence of Canadian live-in caregivers to compare to, the prevailing wage rate for live-in caregivers has generally been skewed. This situation distorts the labour market for Canadians working in this field and has kept the salaries paid to foreign caregivers artificially low. § The removal of the live-in requirement will result in greater opportunities for Canadians in caregiver occupations and an increase in wages for caregivers hired from abroad after employers clearly demonstrate that there are no Canadians available for the job. § Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications sent from employers to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) after November 30, 2014, will only include a live-in arrangement if the employer and caregiver have agreed to that arrangement. In those cases, the LMIA will include an assessment of the living arrangements and employers will not be permitted to make room and board deductions from the wages of the caregiver. Caring for Children Pathway § On November 30, 2014, a pathway for child care providers will be launched and applications will be processed within six months. § The requirements for the pathway include: o two years of full-time work experience in Canada as a home child care provider within the past four years; o a minimum language requirement of “initial intermediate” by meeting Canadian Language Benchmark 5 in a designated third-party language test; and o a Canadian post-secondary education credential of at least one year, or an equivalent foreign credential supported by an Educational Credential Assessment. § The number of applications through this program each year will be capped at 2,750 principal applicants. Spouses and dependants will not be counted against the cap. § The caregiver will no longer be required to live in the home of their employer. Caring for People with High Medical Needs Pathway § On November 30, 2014, a pathway will be launched for caregivers who provide support to those with high medical needs and applications will be processed within six months. § This program will feature criteria that many current live-in caregivers already meet. The requirements for the pathway include: o two years of 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 disease as, for example, a registered nurse, a registered psychiatric nurse, a licensed practical nurse, a nurse aide, a patient service associate or a home support worker; o demonstrating that they are licensed to practice in Canada, if applicable; o a minimum language requirement of “intermediate” by meeting Canadian Language Benchmark 7 in a designated third-party language test, if applying as a registered nurse or registered psychiatric nurse; o a minimum language requirement of “initial intermediate” by meeting Canadian Language Benchmark 5 in a designated third-party language test, if applying in any other qualifying occupation; and o a Canadian post-secondary education credential of at least one year, or an equivalent foreign credential supported by an Educational Credential Assessment. § The occupations chosen for this pathway were identified in consultation with ESDC and Health Canada as health-care occupations that are likely to experience labour shortages in the future. § Additional information about the pathways to permanent residence will be made available on CIC’s website prior to their launch on November 30, 2014. § Additional information for employers about applying for a Labour Market Impact Assessment for caregivers after November 30th will be made available on ESDC’s website prior to the implementation of the changes.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 20:02:45 +0000
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