By Manuela Gruber Hersch
May 30, 2011
Similar to marriage fraud, a number of overseas caregivers are using Canadian families to gain entry into the country with no real intention of working for the family long term. And Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is giving them the green light to do so.
One would assume that the Canadian government expects caregivers to work for the family long term, given that changes to the live-in caregiver program require the family to pay all recruitment fees, airfare, medical and workers’ compensation.
The caregiver has no legal obligation to work for the family, however. Most agencies are well aware of caregivers who, once they clear customs, don’t even make it to the employer’s home. Citizenship and Immigration Canada or the Canada Border Services Agency usually respond to concerns by saying that “there is not much we can do.”
Kenney has made it clear that he takes marriage fraud seriously, as Citizenship and Immigration Canada states: “There are some people who think marriage to a Canadian citizen will be their ticket to Canada. It is a crime for foreign nationals to marry Canadian citizens or permanent residents only to gain entry into Canada.” Yet there is no issue with caregivers using Canadian families to gain entry to Canada, with no intention of working for them.
What is the difference?
Correspondence from Kenney’s office states that “this is a risk the Canadian family is expected to accept when hiring a caregiver.”
Should Ottawa place such risk on a family? Since when does a government gamble with the money of their citizens? And that’s exactly that this is. Many employers are blue-collar families, with two working parents who are simply in need of child care.
Usually when you purchase something, you are protected under the Canadian consumer protection laws. But Kenney essentially says to those who need caregivers: “Sorry, our government has no child-care options, though you can use the Live-in Caregiver Program. But if you do, you are expected to risk paying thousands of dollars for a caregiver who has no legal obligation to work for you. If the caregiver fails to follow through, you can take legal action against her!”
How would a family go about doing this? Once the caregiver leaves, the family has no means of finding her unless they hire a private detective.
By implementing these extremely unfair and unbalanced changes, Kenney is giving overseas caregivers the green light to use a family to enter Canada with no interest in working for them.
Also, with these changes there has been a noticeable decrease in caregivers arriving, which means the local market has significantly dried up. There is a huge Canada-wide shortage of caregivers, and many families are not able to gamble thousands of dollars on a caregiver who may not want to work for them, or who simply may not work out.
Unfortunately, Kenney, when considering changes to the live-in caregiver program, neglected to get a balanced view of the issues. Rather then doing the fair thing as the minister in charge of the LCP and listening to all parties, he choose to only listen to the caregiver groups and their stories.
Kenney did not meet with one Canadian family to get their view, or speak to those families who have been exploited by caregivers. He did have countless meetings and conference calls with caregiver groups.
So much for balance!
Exploitation goes both ways, but Kenney refuses to acknowledge this.
What about the hard-working family who decides to hire a caregiver, waits for months and months, pays all the fees, spends money to renovate the nanny’s room, and then is left without any child care because the caregiver wants to work closer to friends?
Many families are asking why Ottawa is not at all interested in protecting their citizens, or looking out for their best interests.
That is really the million-dollar question that Jason Kenney and Prime Minister Stephen Harper have yet to answer.
Manuela Gruber Hersch is with the Association of Caregiver and Nanny Agencies Canada.
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