The number of foreign caregivers becoming permanent residents has plummeted since Ottawa introduced what it calls “new pathways” for them to settle in Canada.

According to Immigration Department data, only 1,955 caregivers and their dependants were granted permanent residency in the country in the three years after the former Conservative government launched the new program with additional language and post-secondary education requirements in November 2014.

Under the old live-in caregiver program, an average of 10,740 caregivers and their dependants received permanent status every year between 2006 and 2014 after the caregivers fulfilled the two-year live-in employment commitment and got their medical and criminal clearances.

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In addition to the formal accreditation requirements for language and education, the former Conservative government made changes to cap the number of caregivers who can access permanent residency to 5,500 applicants a year and require employers to pay a $1,000 application fee to bring in caregivers.

The government also removed the requirement that caregivers must live with their employer, with the goal of reducing the potential for abuse and exploitation

Despite the great demand for caregivers in looking after Canada’s aging population and young children, critics say that overall the changes are part of a trend to create hurdles for “low-skilled” migrant workers to acquire permanent status, turning them into perpetual guest workers. They also say the majority of current caregivers still live with employers because they can’t afford transportation and rent to have their own place.

“Little has changed for the caregivers,” said University of Toronto social work professor Rupaleem Bhuyan, who leads The Migrant Mothers Project, a community-university research initiative to study the effect of immigration policies.

“The conditions of the new pathways are making it harder to fulfil and demonstrate eligibility for permanent residency based on the education and language requirements.”

Although the Liberal government has amended many of the immigration policies of its predecessor since it came into power in 2015, it has shown no desire to make any serious changes the caregiver programs, other than axing the $1,000 application fees for some employers to bring in caregivers.

Martha Ocampo, of the Caregiver Connections Education and Support Organization, said many caregivers who came to Canada under the new rules were not told by their recruitment agents about the more stringent language and education requirements.

“Many only find that out when they apply for permanent residency,” Ocampo said. “Some of them try to study for the language test and take courses to meet the one-year post-secondary education requirement, but it’s very hard for them to do that while working full time to support their families back home.

“It costs them a lot of money to have their (previous) education credentials assessed and for the language test. It is causing them so much stress, and there are no guaranteed pathways for permanent residency.”

Maritess Antonio paid an agent in Hong Kong $6,000 for a job in Yellowknife to care for three young children and arrived from the Philippines in January 2016, but found out about the new requirements only last year when she came across another migrant worker who was going through the process.

“It came as a shock to me,” said the 37-year-old mother of one, who worked as a nanny in Hong Kong for 14 years before coming to Canada.

Although she finished half of a two-year program at a teacher’s college back home, her education was determined to be equivalent to only a high school diploma in Canada in her credentials assessment.

“I wanted to get into a one-year college program here in Yellowknife, but because I’m here on a work permit, I must pay the tuition fee as a foreign student. I only make $12.50 an hour. How could I afford it?”

Solidad Quila arrived in Burnaby, B.C., for a caregiver job last January and took one of the Immigration Department’s designated language tests last fall.

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“You have to answer all the questions in limited time. It was stressful. I reached the benchmarks for listening, speaking and writing, but failed the reading part,” said the 35-year-old mother of two boys, who has a two-year college diploma in business management.

“It cost me $265 for the exam. I only failed one part but now I have to take all four parts again. A friend of mine has taken the exam seven times and she failed a different part each time. This is hard.”

Immigration officials said fewer caregivers are becoming permanent residents because there have been fewer caregivers admitted to Canada than in the past and the better-educated caregivers may choose to apply for permanent status under the skilled worker stream under the economic class.

Many of the applications under the new program are still being processed and haven’t been refused, said department spokesperson Faith St. John, adding that the approval rate for applications that have reached a final decision is at 95 per cent, at par with the old program.

She said the government is committed to providing pathways to permanent residence for caregivers and addressing the issue of family reunification for caregivers and their families, St. John said.

Under the live-in caregiver program, said St. John, more than 80 per cent of permanent residence applicants under the old caregiver program had a post-secondary diploma and more than 60 per cent had a bachelor of arts degree or higher.

“The criteria,” St. John said, “reflect standard requirements for all economic immigration programs, including using objective, third-party assessments for important criteria such as language proficiency and educational attainment.

“These criteria are key indicators of long-term success in the Canadian labour markets, and particularly important for caregiver applicants,” she added. “One of the goals of the 2014 changes was to enable caregivers to transition into established, well-paying careers and better integrate into the Canadian labour market.”

Marilyn Battad was released from her first caregiver job just six weeks after she arrived in the Northwest Territories in June 2016. It took the Filipino woman 10 months to find another job in Nobleton, northwest of Toronto, and secure a new work permit, which expires in April 2019.

“I have spent hundreds of dollars to get the transcripts and on couriers to have my education credentials assessed. The new pathways are so costly. We have little time to study and prepare for the language test,” said the 37-year-old, who graduated with a college diploma in midwifery back home.

“We are good enough to work in Canada and look after your old and young. Why are we not good enough to become permanent residents? Why is Canada putting up these extra hurdles for us to start a new life here?”

Correction — Feb. 9, 2018: This article has been edited from a previous version that misstated the total number of permanent residents admitted under the new pathways for caregivers introduced in November 2014.