New Federal Pilot Projects for Foreign Caregivers
Canada Must Move Urgently to Approve an Adequate Regularization Program
Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced at a news conference on June 3 that caregivers coming to Canada to look after children, seniors or the disabled will be offered permanent residency [PR] on arrival under two new pilot programs, to be launched either this fall or early in 2025. The programs replace two others set to expire on June 17: the Home Child Care Provider Pilot and the Home Support Worker Pilot.
The Migrant Rights Network welcomes the improvements which are significant but points out they are not enough. A press release dated June 3 entitled "Migrant Care Workers Welcome Permanent Resident Status On Arrival" notes that the caregiver program announced "meets key demands from migrant care workers" which include that "[m]igrant caregivers will get permanent resident (PR) status on arrival," that "[e]ducation requirements will be lowered to high school equivalency," and workers will have to "attain a level 4 based on the Canadian Language Benchmarks, down from Level 5 in the current pilots."
The reduced requirements for education and language, they note, are also to be applied to care workers currently in Canada. "This is critical as thousands of care workers have been left in limbo due to these barriers under the old program," they point out.
As of April 30, nearly 5,700 caregivers and their family members have become permanent residents under the present pilots that launched in 2019, but thousands have become undocumented due to delays in processing their applications or because of the exploitative process whereby they are forced to work in oppressive conditions and then get sent home without any recognition for their sacrifice.
Protest in Toronto in 2017 against backlog in processing caregivers' permanent residence applications
Migrant Rights Network points out that the announcement leaves out undocumented migrant care workers in Canada and says that "All migrant caregivers in Canada who are undocumented due to failures of the programs must be regularized."
When he made the announcement of the two new pilot projects, in response to a question about how quickly applications for the new programs will be processed, Miller answered that "given the backlog, we'll want to be able to look at those numbers and process them over the next few years, including the first cohort of people that will be entitled to PR."
This causes great anxiety amongst those whose permits in Canada
expire now. As part of the 2024-2026 Immigration Levels Plan, the
federal government is planning on admitting over 15,000 caregivers as
permanent residents. The demand of those who advocate for the rights of
caregivers is status for
all, NOW!
The immigration minister likened the two upcoming programs to "a one-step immigration process." "Before, caregivers first needed to get work permits and then obtain work experience before applying for permanent residency. Under the new rules, we're simplifying the process and providing them with a clear, straightforward pathway to stay and care for our loved ones," he said.
Other than meeting the language requirements, foreign caregivers will need to have an offer of a full-time home care job, hold the equivalent of a Canadian high-school diploma and have recent and relevant work experience.
Miller also stated that it is "out of fairness" that the language requirement will be lowered from Canadian Language Benchmark 5 to 4 [the level required to obtain citizenship]. "Our aim is to strike a balance between breaking down the barriers caregivers face to get PR and selecting newcomers who will be resilient to changes in the labour market," he said.
The federal government will also be expanding the pilot programs from private household employers now to also include organizations which directly employ home care workers "to allow for not-for-profit organizations to provide job offers and help address home care needs where labour shortages exist." The Minister said that this would not include placement agencies.
According to the Ministry, caregivers working for organizations that provide temporary or part-time care for people who are semi-independent or recovering from an injury or illness will also qualify under the new programs. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said these programs will later become permanent.
Migrant Rights Network insists on drawing attention to the plight of migrant workers who are excluded. "Questions remain about the new program such as criteria for job offers and the expansion of home care work to organizations," they point out. "Care workers must be part of planning how the new pilot program will be finalized and launched," they say. They point out:
"Today's changes are a long-time coming. In 2019, the federal government created a five year pilot, keeping most of the policy failures of the program created by the previous Conservative government in 2014, including increased education and language requirements. As a result, thousands of caregivers have been unable to gain permanent residency, either moving from one employer to another on tied work permits facing abuse, or becoming undocumented."
As
with the entire health care system, home care is in crisis. The
Minister suggests that by excluding placement agencies (worker
traffickers), everything left is not-for-profit. This is not the case
at all. There is a very high level of privatization in home care
agencies, with an enormous amount of public funding going into the
hands of private interests. The workers are the lowest paid, in many
cases working on a “piecework system” with few or no
guaranteed hours. Their day can stretch over 12 hours or more without
even getting eight hours pay.
The totally inadequate hours of
care provided to people who are receiving home care has forced many
families to make their own arrangements to fill the huge gaps in care.
As the reality of the long term care facilities became evident to all
during the pandemic, many families are doing everything they can to
keep their loved ones out of long term care institutions, creating
further need for home care workers. But the conditions of the workers
are not to be addressed in any way, showing there is nothing
humanitarian about what the government is doing. The fight of migrant
workers for their rights and dignity is one with the fight of all
Canadian workers, not only for status for all, but for all the rights
which belong to them as workers and as human persons.
Migrant Rights Network reports that at a roundtable immediately preceding the Minister's announcement, a migrant caregiver who was denied permanent residency because of unfair education requirements, told Minister Miller that even though he had improved the program, "it's too late for me. Soon I will be undocumented. You promised regularization this Spring. It's June, and time is running out. I worked here in Canada for almost six years to take care of children. I left behind my own five kids just to let them have a better future. ... There are hundreds of thousands of us in the same situation. And you have the power to fix this. We are demanding a regularization that will make a way to be reunited with my family, to have a better job, and have the same rights as everybody else. Thousands across the country are watching to see what you will do. Will you deliver on your promise? Will you fight for and defend regularization?"
Migrants Rights Network also quotes Jhoey Dulaca of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, who said that "Many thousands of caregivers have faced abuse and exploitation, and have been in limbo or have become undocumented over the last five years – Canada must now move urgently to implement a regularization program for undocumented caregivers to ensure no one is left behind."
Cenen Bagon, from the Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers & Caregivers Rights points out: "Resilient foreign domestic workers, caregivers, and their long-time advocates have fought hard for recognition in Canada: if they are good enough to work, they are good enough to stay with permanent resident status upon arrival. Although the work is not over, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and IRCC Minister Marc Miller have come one step closer to hearing these decades-long calls for justice through these new pilots. We need regularization right now to ensure everyone is protected."
To read the entire press release, click here
This article was published in
Volume 54 Number 5 - June 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/M540057.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca