RHYME & REASON

Filipiniana News –  February 2015 RHYME & REASON Pope Francis is widely admired, even by non-Catholics and non-believers, due to his courageous stance on contentious social issues, humility and sincere concern for the poor and other marginalized members of society.  Although he has not fundamentally altered basic Catholic church doctrine, he has dramatically changed the tone and the manner by which the Church's teachings are proclaimed.  By practicing what he preaches, and in reaching out to the most vulnerable, Pope Francis has been propagating the Christian faith  much more effectively than previous church leaders in modern times.   For those of us who are part of the Philippine diaspora (now estimated at around 10 million Filipinos in various parts of the world), particularly those who are forced to endure prolonged separation from their families,  it is hugely comforting to know that the highly admired Pope Francis had on many occasions...

Filipiniana News – January 2015 RHYME & REASON Earlier this month, an article came out in the Toronto Star reporting the existence of a "high error rate" in the processing of immigration applications.  The article by Toronto Star reporter Nicholas Keung on 5 January 2015 states in part: The human errors — staff failing to use correct form letters, address missing documents and provide accurate timelines, among other shortcomings — could not only cost individual applicants a chance to live and work in Canada but affect the "efficiency of the system" and create unnecessary backlogs. "An important area of concerns resides with the letters. The number of request letters not sent, sent incomplete or unclear at initial stage and later on create a negative impact on both clients and the Case Processing Centre (in Vegreville, Alta.)," said an evaluation of operations at Vegreville. It was one of three internal reports obtained under an access to...

Filipiniana News – December 2014 RHYME & REASON Since the new Caregiver Program was announced on 31 October 2014  and the Ministerial Instructions  released shortly before the implementation date of 30 November 2014, many questions, varying interpretations and even misinformation have been going around and creating fear and confusion within the caregiver community.   Although based on the scant information and guildelines available on the CIC website and the Ministerial Instructions published in the Canada Gazette, I hope that the following will help clarify some of the issues.  LCP participants will be processed under the old LCP rules One of the most frequently-asked questions after the new Caregiver Program was announced is whether those who are already in Canada and working under live-in caregiver work permits but who have not yet completed the two-year requirement can still apply for permanent residence under the old Live-in Caregiver Pro...

Filipiniana News – November 2014 RHYME & REASON "Reformed Caregiver Program"  On 31 October 2014, Citizenship and Immigraion Minister Chris Alexander officially announced the changes to the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) that will be launched on 30 November 2014.  A few days later, he guested at a Filipino radio program in Toronto called Pinoy Dreams to answer related questions and clarify the changes. From these media releases, it appears that the changes to the LCP consist of the following: 1.  The live-in requirement will become optional.  Employers of live-in caregivers will need to pay higher wages and cannot anymore deduct the cost of room and board from the caregivers' wages.  2.  There will be two possible pathways for permanent residence for caregivers: the Caring for Children Pathway and the Caring for People with High Medical Needs Pathway (elderly and disabled).  3.  There are new language (at least CLB 5) an...

Filipiniana News – October 2014 RHYME & REASON Express Entry System and Caregivers     There are barely two months left before the end of 2014 and the expected implementation date of the much-touted Express Entry system by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).   However, CIC  has yet to release the implementing details of this system that is scheduled to begin on 1 January 2015.  Earlier this year, CIC Minister Chris Alexander announced that the previously termed "Expression of Interest" (EOI) system will be officially known as "Express Entry".  As had been previously introduced in the EOI system, the Express Entry is supposedly a proactive approach meant to better address Canada's labour market needs. It has been clarified that this is not a separate immigration program but simply a framework and an entry door to the existing immigration programs (Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades, Canadian Experience and Provi...

Filipiniana News – September 2014 RHYME & REASON Respect, Dignity and Fairness for Caregivers Since a vast majority of participants in Canada's Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) are from the Philippines, it is inevitable that LCP reform is an issue that touches the members of the Filipino community very deeply.   Thus, it behooves us to try to educate ourselves on this very important  topic that affects the lives of many Filipinos who have made, or are planning to make Canada their home.  As of this writing, the government has yet to announce the details of its proposed reforms to the LCP.  All we know is that it had invited some members of the community in closed-door consultations where the Minister lays down the proposed reforms and solicits comments.   Due to the informal nature of these consultations and the lack of official documentation of the proceedings, various rumours and speculations have arisen which tend to sow fear and d...

Filipiniana News – August 2014 RHYME & REASON Caregivers Must Be Granted Permanent Residence Upon Arrival In last month's column, I wrote about the recent major changes to the temporary foreign worker program that were announced by the government in June 2014, as well as the likelihood that the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) will be next on the chopping block. This "likelihood" threatens to become a reality anytime soon.   In July 2014, the office of  Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) Minister Chris Alexander invited a handful of people from the Filipino community in Toronto to a consultation meeting where he laid out the government's proposed changes to the LCP.   The proposed changes include making the live-in requirement optional and removing the government's obligation to grant permanent residency to live-in caregivers.   Instead, the government proposes to incorporate caregivers into the Canadian Experience Class.  ...