A month after celebrating new government changes to the foreign caregivers programs, advocates are now learning there’s a catch to the caregivers’ new-found rights and freedoms.

The two new pilot programs — Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker — announced by Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen in June — allow caregivers to leave behind an abusive workplace and change employers as their work permits will no longer be tied to the family that brings them here. The changes will also allow their loved ones to work and study in Canada.

However, advocates said they were dismayed to find out through a recent government policy briefing that applicants must also show they have enough money in the bank to support themselves and their family in Canada. Under previous programs, caregivers were not required to prove they had enough cash when applying for work permits or permanent residence.

The new financial requirement, advocates say, not only puts caregivers’ immigration dreams out of reach because of their general meagre incomes, but it also may leave them desperate and vulnerable to be exploited by loan sharks.

“This continues to set up barriers for care workers. With a financial criteria, this poses a huge barrier and might put care workers in debt before they even arrive here,” said Kara Manso, a former foreign caregiver and organizer with the Toronto-based Caregivers Action Centre.

“The government should not be making it any more difficult for care workers to come here and take care of Canadian families.”

Read more:

Number of migrant caregivers becoming permanent residents plummets after federal changes

Canada’s immigration program for migrant caregivers under review

Foreign caregivers face lengthy wait for permanent status

According to the immigration department’s website, a family of four needs $23,542 to be eligible to apply under the new programs. However, the Philippine Statistics Authority said the average annual Filipino family income is only about $6,810, with annual savings of $1,326.

“On the face of it, the new pilots appear to be better than what it was before, but when you get down at the details, the requirement is so onerous that it makes it impossible for caregivers and their families to come here,” said NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan. “It’s shocking, offensive and insulting what the government is doing.”

Immigration department spokesperson Beatrice Fenelon said the pilots simply feature criteria that is standard for economic immigration programs, such as minimum education and official language criteria, along with a requirement for the caregiver to gain Canadian work experience.

“These criteria have been shown to be critical factors for the successful settlement and establishment in Canada for all new permanent residents, including caregivers,” Fenelon explained in an email.

Under the new programs, applicants are required to submit both their work permit and permanent residence applications together. They will receive a three-year occupation-specific work permit if they meet all the “select” permanent residence criteria. As in the old programs, a caregiver must acquire two years of Canadian work experience to be granted permanent residence.

“This will avoid situations in the past where applicants would reach the end of their two years and then find out that they don’t meet other permanent residence requirements (such as official language proficiency and education),” said Fenelon.

“The new screening upfront, before coming to Canada, will give applicants greater assurance that when they start working in Canada, they will be on the path to become permanent residents.”

Fenelon would not comment on concerns raised by caregivers and their advocates over settlement funds, but said all processing fees for other economic immigration programs apply to applicants to the new caregiver programs.

Aileen Vezgal, who came to Canada from the Philippines as a caregiver in December 2016, said the community had high hopes from the government when they initially heard of the changes, but are now disappointed.

“We all first thought it was good news but the problem is the settlement fund requirement,” said the 41-year-old Toronto woman, who spent nine years working as a nanny in Hong Kong before coming to Canada. It’s been four years since she last saw her husband and their daughter, 19, and son, 16, back home.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“Honestly, we make so little money and we send so much money home to support our family, we don’t have much savings. People will have to borrow money to meet the requirement. Everyone will be in debt.”

Caregivers Action Centre’s Manso said the community is calling on Ottawa to remove the financial requirement, as well as the language and post-secondary education conditions, which also pose barriers for those who have the necessary skills but lack the formal qualifications and documentation.

Kwan said there are still many unanswered questions about the new pilots such as whether caregivers’ children need to pay international tuition fees and if employers are still required to cover travel and insurance costs for their caregivers.

“Aside from renewing my call for your government to grant permanent residence to caregivers on arrival, I implore you to scrap the financial requirements that you are placing on the caregivers with this new program,” Kwan wrote in a letter to the immigration minister this week. “Anything less would be a complete betrayal of the hope that caregivers have placed on your government to end this injustice.”