Citizenship and Immigration Canada
www.cic.gc.ca
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Hiring a live-in caregiver – Who can apply
IMPORTANT:
For all Live-in Caregiver Program Labour Market Opinion (LMO) applications received by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada/Service Canada on or after April 1, 2010, and for all work permit applications received by Citizenship and Immigration Canada that are based on these LMOs, the signed written employment contract between live-in caregivers and their employers must include a description of:
- employer paid benefits (health care insurance, workplace safety insurance, travel costs and recruitment fees)
- job duties
- hours of work
- wages
- accommodation arrangements (including room and board)
- holiday and sick leave entitlements
- termination and resignation terms
A new contract template including all of the information and clauses that will be mandatory as of April 1, 2010 will be available in the coming weeks.
Additional information is available on the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada website.
As an employer, you must meet certain requirements before you can hire a foreign live-in caregiver.
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 in the Related Links section at the bottom of this page to find out how long it may take to complete the process.
Before you look abroad
You should familiarize yourself with the Live-in Caregiver Program before spending time or money hiring employees from abroad. Do you need your employee to live in? You may be able to fill your position with a Canadian or a permanent resident if there is no live-in requirement.
In addition to the Live-in Caregiver Program requirements, some countries may have additional requirements for their citizens that we do not have here 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. To find out if your live-in caregiver’s home country has additional requirements that may affect you, you should ask your caregiver. You can also contact the embassy for that country here in Canada or check their website.
Eligibility
To hire a live-in caregiver, you must:
- have sufficient income to pay a live-in caregiver
- provide acceptable accommodation in your home, and
- make a job offer that has primary caregiving duties for a child or an elderly or disabled person. (A job offer for a housecleaner, for example, is not acceptable under the Program.)
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:
- education
- training or experience
- the ability to understand English or French so that they can function on their own in an unsupervised setting
- passing medical, security and criminal clearances, and
- a formal signed contract with an employer.
CIC will determine if the employment contract is valid and if the caregiver receives a work permit.
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 in the Related Links section at the bottom of this page.
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