On June 15, 2019, the government announced an immediate end to In-Home Caregiver Program pathways (Caring for Children and Caring for Elders) in favour of a new set of pathways called Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker. The expiring programs were closed for new applications as of June 18, 2019.
Execu-Nannies will once again adapt our services to the new program to provide a streamlined and guided approach for our clients. Ensuring that qualified referrals from both local and overseas markets are properly screened and efficiently processed will remain our highest priority.
One of the main benefits to employers is that a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is no longer required to validate a job offer to an overseas foreign worker. However, employers who already have an approved LMIA or submitted an LMIA application prior to June 18, 2019 will be able to use them to file a work permit application for an overseas caregiver under the expiring programs.
For caregivers overseas looking to come to Canada, a pre-assessment for permanent residency (PR) in Canada will be required in order to receive a work permit. This means that they will be approved in principle for PR and it will be finalized once they finish their 2 year work term in Canada. The initial processing for a work permit/PR pre-assessment will be up to 12 months. Once completing 2 years in Canada, a processing time of 6 months will be required. In short, this means a it will take up to 12 months for a caregiver to arrive in Canada after you finalize a job offer to them.
Caregivers coming to Canada will now also have the option to bring a spouse and their children upon arriving to Canada. Their spouse can qualify for an open permit and children can qualify for a study permit.
As opposed to the previous program, employers will not be responsible for paying airfare to Canada for the caregiver but they will still have to provide health care insurance until the caregiver is eligible for provincial health care coverage.
One major point to note is that the work permit under the new pathways will not be issued to a specific employer. A caregiver will have the ability to switch employers without having to get a new LMIA. Though the exact processing details have not been outlined completely, a caregiver would simply need a new job offer from another employer and they would quickly be able to switch jobs. This measure was put in place to combat potential abusive employment situations where the caregivers stay in jobs in fear of having to waste months or longer while waiting for a new LMIA which sometimes is never even applied for if the job is not found through a reputable agency who prioritizes this.
Employers who were in the process of preparing a LMIA application for an overseas worker should not proceed. For those preparing an application for a local worker under the expired program, you should continue as planned as local applicants who are in need of sponsorship renewal will still need the LMIA.
If you have any questions about the new process or would like to discuss how Execu-Nannies can facilitate a placement for you under one of the new pathways, please call 416-221-6000.
