Filipiniana News
– August 2018
By
Maria Deanna P. Santos
More than half
a year had passed after the Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen assured that
there will continue to be a "pathway for permanent residence" for
temporary foreign caregivers in Canada.
Meanwhile, the clock continues to tick for many caregivers who are left
in limbo and wondering whether they would still have a chance to obtain
permanent residence for themselves and their families after the expiry of the
Ministerial Instructions (which created the present caregiver pathways) in
November 2019.
With the many
unfulfilled promises in the past, caregivers and advocates cannot be blamed for
worrying about the fate of caregivers in Canada who continue to be victimized
in one way or another due to their vulnerable status in this country.
When will the
caregivers' woes end?
Under the
previous live-in caregiver program (LCP), their vulnerability arose mainly from
the mandatory live-in requirement and employment-specific work permits. When the LCP was replaced by the two
caregiver pathways (Caring for Children and Caring for People with High Medical
Needs), the government simply removed the live-in requirement but failed to
address the aspects that led to the precarious immigration status of
caregivers. Among others, the caregiver
work permits remain employer-specific and the special rules which tried to
alleviate their difficulties (such as the LMIA exemption when renewing work
permits for the same employer) have been eliminated.
In various IRCC
press releases, the immigration department claimed that they expect to finalize
processing of the LCP PR application inventory/backlog within the next two
years. While it appears that there are
indeed applications which are being processed much faster than in the past,
these do not always lead to the desired result, i.e. permanent residency.
A significant
number of caregiver permanent residence applications are also being refused
based on technicalities, e.g. non-compliance with request for further
information or inadmissibility issues concerning family members. In the past, many similar cases were dealt
with in a facilitative manner by being granted exemptions on humanitarian and
compassionate grounds, instead of being refused in haste, as a result of
efforts to eliminate backlogs as expeditiously as possible.
Meanwhile,
there exists a continuing demand for foreign caregivers, to care for children, the elderly and persons
with disabilities, whether on a live-in or live-out basis. Hence, work permits are still being applied
for and issued to prospective full time caregivers for Canadian families but
which appear to be based on stricter and often inconsistent interpretation of
LMIA and work permit requirements.
Once the LCP
backlog is fully eliminated and the Ministerial Instructions expire, it remains to be seen what option will be
made available for the caregiver work permit holders who will not qualify for
permanent residence in any other immigration category. With the way things are going, people cannot
help but wonder whether the permanent
residence pathways for caregivers (other than the nurses who may qualify under
Express Entry) would really continue to exist or will in fact be a thing of the
past.
If the
permanent residence options for caregivers, whether under the LCP, the Caring
for Children and Caring for People with High Medical Needs pathways, or some
other modified program, will not anymore exist, is it fair or even humane, to
continue issuing temporary work permits to prospective caregivers?
Has there
really been a paradigm shift as far as temporary foreign caregivers are
concerned?
Is there truly
an intention to continue providing a path for permanent residence for this
class of temporary foreign workers? Or
are they destined to suffer the same fate as all other so-called "low
skill" foreign workers (NOC C and D) who are disqualified from the
immigration programs covered under the government's immigration flagship, the
Express Entry system?
There is a
prevailing view that removing PR pathways will not lead to the disappearance of
foreign caregivers since there continues to be a high demand for their
services, due to the increasingly aging population and lack of a universal
childcare system in Canada. Often cited
as examples are the experience of countries like Hong Kong, Singapore and the
Middle East where there are no guaranteed paths to permanent residence for
caregivers but which continue to receive a significant influx of foreign caregivers or domestic
workers.
But isn’t this
line of reasoning also a perpetuation of modern-day slavery?
If the
government is following the examples of these other countries which treat
foreign caregivers as temporary, "disposable" workers who do not
deserve full membership in their host countries, then Canada is not being true
to its reputation as a world leader in promoting equality, fairness and human
rights.
It is worth
noting that after the four-year cumulative duration limit for temporary foreign
workers had been repealed, many of these workers, especially those not deemed
to be "high-skilled" hence not qualified under the Express Entry
system, are still left in immigration limbo.
They end up working precariously because their status is tied to a
specific employer (i.e. cannot work for another employer nor granted a work
permit extension without a sponsoring employer) or are unable to qualify for
permanent residency.
Similarly, if
the permanent residence option is
totally eliminated for caregivers, then we are effectively recreating an
underclass of workers who will become even more vulnerable to various forms
of abuse and exploitation.
I refuse to
believe that this is the Canadian way and continue to trust that the present
government will eventually do the right thing, which is to grant foreign
caregivers permanent residency at the outset.
Considering their extremely valuable contributions to Canadian families in
particular and to society in general, caregivers deserve nothing less.
The author is a Filipino-Canadian
immigration lawyer and may be reached at deanna@santoslaw.ca
or tel. no. 416-901-8497.
Comments
Post a Comment