Canada has shortened the procedures needed for foreign caregivers to obtain permanent resident status and has enacted several measures to protect the caregivers from abusive employers.
Canadian Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney said this was the Canadian government’s response to reports of abuse to foreign caregivers by their employers.
He said it is “frustrating” that many live-in caregivers have to stay in their employer’s home even though they have already completed their work obligations because they are waiting for their application for permanent residence to be reviewed. He said in several cases, this set-up had resulted to maltreatment of workers.
“This is understandably frustrating,” Kenney said. “That's why we have started issuing open work permits to live-in caregivers as soon as they have completed their obligations and submitted an application for permanent residence.”
Under the new procedure, a foreign caregiver can obtain permanent resident status in 18 months or less. They can apply for permanent residence after 3,900 work hours, rather than two years of work, to ensure overtime is appropriately recognized.
The need for second medical examination when the caregiver applies for permanent residence has likewise been eliminated in the new guidelines. Also, a standardized employment contract has been adopted so that both the employer and the caregiver agree to the salary, hours of work, vacation time, overtime, holidays, sick leave, and the terms of termination and resignation.
The new policy also defines the costs the employer is obliged to pay, including the caregiver's travel expenses in coming to Canada, medical insurance, workplace safety insurance, and third-party representative fees. It also provides for emergency processing of work permits and employer authorizations to hire live-in caregivers who have been abused and need to leave their employment immediately while a dedicated phone service for live-in caregivers has been set up.
To assess the legitimacy of a job offer, Canadian authorities would verify if caregivers would be residing in a private residence and providing child care, senior home support care or care of a disabled person in that household without supervision, as well as whether the employer has sufficient financial resources to pay the wages of the caregiver and whether the accommodations being provided are adequate.
For employers who have failed to live up to the terms of past job contracts, they will be banned from hiring foreign workers, including live-in caregivers, for two years.
Philippine Ambassador to Canada Leslie Gatan said the revised labor policies for caregivers demonstrates “the continued trust and confidence of the Canadian society on the skills and dedication to work of Filipinos in general.”
Government estimates Filipino caregivers in Canada to be more than 100,000, some of them have complained of labor abuse from their employers ranging from non-payment of salaries to physical maltreatment.
Kenney said the Canadian government has taken action to protect live-in caregivers from exploitation with regulatory improvements implemented under its Live-in Caregiver Program in 2010 and the Temporary Foreign Worker Program in 2011. — KBK, GMA News
New super visa is 'super disappointing'
By: Carol Sanders
For many Canadians waiting to bring parents overseas for a visit, a government promise to speed up the process with a new "super visa" is a "super disappointment," critics say.
"There are so many, so many requirements, you're prevented from coming in. And you have to have a lot of money," said Fred DeVilla, who works in the insurance industry and is a prominent member of the Filipino community.
Moratorium on family reunification
THE federal government has slapped a two-year moratorium on immigration applications from parents and grandparents. To make up for that restriction, it created a 10-year "super visa" allowing parents and grandparents of permanent residents to enter Canada multiple times as visitors and stay for up to two years at a time -- if they and their families can get the health insurance and meet income requirements.
The federal government requires that one year of $100,000 in health coverage for those 55 and older has to be purchased up front, he said. It costs at least $1,200 a year and there's no monthly payment plan. If your parent stays for just a few months, there are no refunds, DeVilla said.
The 10-year super visa was announced last month. At the same time, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney froze for two years sponsorships for parents wanting to immigrate to Canada. The super visa was supposed to take just eight weeks to process and give the feds time to deal with a lengthy backlog of sponsorship applications.
"There was a huge amount of excitement and no one, including myself, thought we'd get blindsided," said Winnipeg North MP Kevin Lamoureux. The Liberal immigration critic later learned about the cost involved -- an average $1,500 per parent, per year.
It was a "sucker punch" by the federal government that hailed super visas as a fast-track plan to bring parents and grandparents for a visit, he said. It softened the blow of Kenney's unprecedented freeze on sponsoring parents to immigrate and isn't going to help bring families together as promised, Lamoureux said. "There will be hundreds, ultimately thousands, who will not be able to get it" across Canada, he said.
"Not only for Winnipeg North but for anyone who had any hope of getting a parent or both to come under the super visa, he's taken away their hope," Lamoureux said.
The MP said he is starting a petition demanding changes to the super visa. In the past, visiting parents have been OK with $25,000 in medical coverage that costs a few hundred dollars, he said. The super visa demands too much, he said.
DeVilla said you don't get much with $100,000 coverage. "The medical insurance covers nothing but emergencies," said DeVilla. "It's only good for when you have an emergency like a stroke and you get into the hospital then," said DeVilla, who hosts a monthly breakfast meeting for the Filipino community. At a recent meeting they wanted to know why the federal government is demanding so much.
On Tuesday, the director of Citizenship and Immigration in Winnipeg couldn't comment on the politics but explained the policy. The department looked at what other countries require for medical coverage and the average cost of general health-care services and came up with the $100,000 requirement, John Nychek said.
"It was determined $100,000 would be fair for the applicant and the Canadian taxpayer."
On top of paying for the insurance, the host family has to meet super visa income requirements. A family of four has to make $45,000 a year, whether they live in high-priced Vancouver or low-cost Winnipeg.
"It's based on a national average," Nychek said. The same test is applied for sponsoring people. Having different income requirements for different regions would be difficult, he said.
Lamoureux said that inflexibility is hurting homesick new Canadians. "They miss their mom, they miss their dad.... It can be lonely." They're scraping by in low-paying jobs and saving for their parents to come for a visit.
"We're pricing it out of their reach," Lamoureux said.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 21, 2011 A4
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