What is a Live-In Caregiver?
A live-in caregiver is a person who has the qualifications and ability to work without any supervision within a private home. They provide care for candidates such as: elderly, children and the disabled.
What has happened to the Live-In Caregiver Program Recently?
There have been significant changes that have taken place within the Live-In Caregiver Program as of November 30, 2014. Some of the changes are as follows:
- If you haven’t worked in Canada already under the Live-In Caregiver Program and your employers Labour Market Impact Assessment was not received before November 30, 2014 you must now apply for a regular work permit
- If you have not worked in Canada under the Live-In Caregiver program and the Labour Market Impact Assessment was received on or before November 30, 2014 you may apply for a Live-In Caregiver work permit
- If you already have a Live-In Caregiver Program work permit and you wish to change jobs and work for somebody else who agrees to the live-in arrangement or you wish to extend the length of time you will be working for, you may apply for the Live-In Caregiver Program work permit
- If you have chosen to live outside of the employer’s house you will now be considered as leaving the Live-In Caregiver Program. This means, you will need to apply for a regular work permit.- you will be required to have a new Labour Market Impact Assessment completed before you apply for the work permit
** The work that has been completed on a live-out basis may still count towards the work requirements that you will need when applying through Caring for Children or Caring for People with High Medical Needs.**
What do these new improvements mean for you?
These new improvements mean:
- The processing times will become faster
- There will be family reunifications that are able happen faster
- That caregivers will be given better career opportunities, and;
- There is better protection in place against potential workplace vulnerability and abuse
What does it mean now that they are ending the Live-In requirements??
These changes will be able to reduce the amount of workplace vulnerability as well as create a greater opportunity for caregivers with higher wages involved.
If you and the employer still have a live-in agreement this can still happen and you can continue to move forward this way.
The caregivers that are currently in the Live-In Caregiver Program may now choose to live out and apply for Permanent Residence under a new pathway at a later date. This means however, you will have to apply for a regular work permit to replace your Live-In Caregiver Program permit.
The Improved Pathways to Permanent Residence
As of November 30, 2014 there will be 2 new pathways that will be available for caregivers. These pathways are set up to:
- Accept up to 5, 500 of the applicants a year on top of family members- which works out to be 2, 750 from each pathway
- Have the Permanent Residence applications processed within a 6 month time frame as a standard, and;
- Accept an application from those who are already in the Live-In Caregiver Program but wish to take one of the new and improved pathways instead
There are a lot of positive outcomes for caregivers that come from the recent changes, but we understand that it is a lot of information to take in. If you are in need of any clarification of where you stand because of the changes please do not hesitate to contact us.