Nannies on the Hill - Specializing in Experienced Live-In Caregivers

Updates to the Live-in Caregiver Program

Hiring a live-in caregiver – Who can apply

The process of hiring someone from a foreign country takes time. You may want to consider another solution for your caregiving needs during that time. See application processing times to find out how long it might take to complete the process.

Effective April 1, 2010, live-in caregivers working in Canada under the Live-in Caregiver Program:

have two options for calculating their work experience to be eligible to apply for permanent residence:
- 24 months of authorized full-time employment, or
- a total of 3,900 hours of authorized full-time employment;
have four years from their date of arrival to complete the employment requirement to be eligible for permanent residence under the Program; and
no longer need to undergo the standard mandatory requirement for a second medical exam when applying for permanent residence.

Before you look abroad

You should familiarize yourself with the Live-in Caregiver Program requirements, in particular your responsibilities as an employer under the Program, before spending time or money hiring employees from abroad. You should verify:

Is there a Canadian or a permanent resident available to do this work?
Do you need your employee to live in the home of the person receiving care?
If not, a live-in caregiver may not be the best option for you.

Some countries may have additional requirements for their citizens that do not exist in Canada. For example, some countries have exit requirements whereby their citizens must apply and meet certain requirements to get approval to leave their country. You should ask your prospective caregiver about their country’s requirements to determine if there are additional requirements that may affect you. You can also contact the embassy for that country in Canada.

Eligibility

As an employer, you must meet certain requirements before you can hire a foreign live-in caregiver.

To hire a live-in caregiver, you must:

have made a sufficient effort to first fill your position with a Canadian, a permanent resident or a foreign worker already in Canada;
have sufficient income to pay a live-in caregiver;
provide acceptable accommodation in your home;
make a job offer that has primary caregiving duties for a child or an elderly or disabled person (a job offer with the primary duties of a housecleaner, for example, is not acceptable under the Live-in Caregiver Program, but could be appropriate under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program); and
submit an application for a Labour Market Opinion ( LMO ) with the employment contract to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada/Service Canada ( HRSDC / SC ).

It is important that you visit HRSDC ’s website to obtain complete information concerning the hiring of a live-in caregiver.

Caregivers will be carefully screened by a Citizenship and Immigration Canada ( CIC ) visa officer before they enter Canada. They must meet the eligibility requirements of the Live-in Caregiver Program. These include:

successful completion of the equivalent of a Canadian secondary school
at least six months of full-time classroom training or at least one year of work experience as a caregiver or in a related field or occupation within the last three years, including at least six months of continuous employment with one employer
the ability to speak, read and understand English or French so that they can function on their own in an unsupervised setting
passing medical, security and criminal clearances
a signed written employment contract with an employer in Canada

The written employment contract will ensure there is a fair working arrangement between you and your employee. The employment contract must demonstrate that the Live-in Caregiver Program requirements are met by including a description of:

mandatory employer-paid benefits, including:
- transportation to Canada from the live-in caregiver’s country of permanent residence or the country of habitual residence to the location of work in Canada
- medical insurance coverage provided from the date of the live-in caregiver’s arrival until he or she is eligible for provincial health insurance
- workplace safety insurance coverage for the duration of the employment
- all recruitment fees, including any amount payable to a third-party recruiter or agents hired by the employer that would otherwise have been charged to the live-in caregiver
job duties
hours of work
wages
accommodation arrangements (including room and board)
holiday and sick leave entitlements
termination and resignation terms

A contract template is provided below. Your contract does not have to look exactly like this, but it must contain all the information and clauses indicated as mandatory.

Live-in Caregiver Program: Contract Template

The contract template is different for the province of Quebec and is available on the ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles (Quebec Immigration) website.

You may be asked to show that you can provide the wages, benefits and working conditions required by provincial or territorial labour laws.

For more information on eligibility requirements for caregivers, see The Live-in Caregiver Program: Who can apply.

Find out more about how to apply to hire a live-in caregiver.

For all Labour Market Opinion applications received by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada/Service Canada on or after April 1, 2010 Live-in Caregiver Program ( LCP ) employers are required to pay for all recruitment fees, including any amount payable to a third-party recruiter or agents hired by the employer that would otherwise have been charged to the live-in caregiver. Employers are restricted from recouping any recruitment fees from foreign live-in caregivers.

A “recruiter” is a person, company, or agency who attempts to find and attract live-in caregivers. These activities are usually initiated at the request of an employer seeking to hire workers in order to fill vacant jobs, but may be in anticipation of a request from an employer or representative of an employer. Recruiters may also subcontract recruitment services to other third parties.

Recruiters charge fees which, under the LCP , must be paid by the employer who has requested the recruitment services. Recruitment services can include, among others, advertising, application filing and collection, processing, pre-screening interviews, testing or analysis of skills or knowledge, arrangement of formal interviews with workers, confirming the worker meets program criteria and negotiating a wage or salary on the employer’s behalf that is in line with the employer's and LCP requirements.

Temporary Foreign Worker Program

Changes to advertising requirements under the Live-in Caregiver Program.

As per the January 1, 2009, all employers wishing to recruit live-in caregivers are required to advertise on the national Job Bank (or the equivalent in Saskatchewan or the Northwest Territories) and on a secondary advertising source for a minimum of 14 calendar days, a maximum of three months prior applying for a Labour Market Opinion (LMO).

Advertisement criteria vary slightly in the province of Quebec. For further information, consult Hiring Temporary Foreign Workers in Quebec.

Effective May 4, 2009

Under the new changes to the processing of live-in caregiver applications, employers are still required to advertise on the national Job Bank for 14 calendar days. A secondary source of advertisement is encouraged but no longer required.

Advertisement

Third-party representatives are permitted to conduct advertising on behalf of employers of live-in caregivers on the national Job Bank (or the equivalent in Saskatchewan, Quebec or the Northwest Territories) and on any secondary advertising source. As per the Terms of Use of the national Job Bank for the purposes of advertisement, Third-party representatives must provide the national Job Bank with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Business Number of the employer making the application;
The "Contact Information" on the national Job Bank and any secondary advertising source can be that of the Third-party representative;
In the case where an employer of a live-in caregiver wishes to undertake the advertisement himself/herself, the "Contact Information" on the national Job Bank advertisement can be a telephone number, a cell phone number, a fax number, an e-mail or a P.O. Box address;
Third-party representatives conducting recruitment on behalf of employers or employers who may require more than one live-in caregiver position are required to indicate so on the LMO application and on their Recruitment Report;
Third-party representatives can only post one advertisement per live-in caregiver position (one single ad for multiple live-in caregiver positions both on the national Job Bank or any secondary advertising source is not permitted);
All live-in caregiver applications must be accompanied with a Recruitment Report providing proof of advertisement (on the national Job Bank and any other additional source) and detailing the number of respondents to the advertisement and the reasons why such respondents were not considered. The Recruitment Report must be signed by the employer.

Employer Authentication

As of May 4, 2009, employers will be required to:

Acquire and provide Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC)/Service Canada (SC) with their CRA Business Number on their application for a LMO to hire a live-in caregiver;
Submit, along with their application, an attestation signed by a guarantor testifying to the identity of the employer;
In the instance where an employer chooses to use a Third-party representative, the Labour Market Opinion decision will only be sent to the employer. The agent/Third-party will receive a letter notifying them that a LMO decision was issued to the employer.
Employers are required to submit a new application to HRSDC/SC which clearly indicates that they are requesting a new caregiver to replace a caregiver for which a positive Labour Market Opinion was previously issued (in replacement of the original caregiver who could not start work in Canada). Failure to comply with this program requirement will result in a LMO application being denied.

You must be prepared to demonstrate that you meet the advertising requirements by providing proof of advertisements and the results of your efforts to recruit Canadian’s or permanent residents at the time of application. Recruitment Report;

Please refer to the following websites for further information:
Temporary Foreign Worker Program information
http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/workplaceskills/foreign_workers/index.shtml

Live-In Caregiver minimum recruitment requirements:
http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/workplaceskills/foreign_workers/lcpdir/lcpadvert.shtml

If you have any questions, please contact Service Canada at 1-877-227-4577 or Andrew at Nannies on the Hill at 416-272-1691 or e-mail nanniesonthehill@rogers.com.