In-Home Caregiver | Macropus Immigration & Visa Services

Hire a temporary worker as an in-home caregiver

• Overview
• Program requirements
• Wages, working conditions and occupations
• Recruitment and advertisement
• Apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment

Overview

Families can hire a foreign caregiver to provide care, in a private residence, to children, seniors or persons with certified medical needs, when Canadians and permanent residents are not available.

Under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), families can hire foreign caregivers. However, caregivers must:

• provide care on a full-time basis (minimum 30 hours per week)
• work in the private household where the care is being provided
• meet the requirements set Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)/Service Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)

These families or private household employers will be able to hire foreign workers, on a live-in or live-out basis, for 2 categories of in-home workers, which include:

1. Caregivers for children

• Children under 18 years of age

This category could include positions such as:

• Child care provider, live-in caregiver, nanny (NOC 4411)

2. Caregivers for people with high medical needs

• elderly persons, 65 years of age or over
• people with disabilities, a chronic or terminal illness.

This category could include positions such as:

• The registered nurse or registered psychiatric nurse (NOC 3012)
• The licensed practical nurse (NOC 3233)
• Attendant for persons with disabilities, home support worker, live-in caregiver, personal care attendant (NOC 4412)

Employers must meet the program requirements for the Streams for high-wage or Low-wage positions including paying the prevailing wage for the occupation in the location where the work will be performed and conducting the necessary recruitment and advertisement requirements for the stream.

2. Program requirements

Language restriction

A distinct language assessment factor has been introduced as subsection 203 (1.01) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR). As a result, English and French are the only languages that can be identified as a job requirement both in LMIA applications and in job advertisements by employers, unless they can demonstrate that another language is essential for the job.

Language proficiency

Employers must ensure that the caregiver being hired speaks, reads and understands at least one of Canada’s official languages (English or French). Caregivers must have a level of fluency that enables them to communicate effectively and independently in an unsupervised setting.

Education, training or experience

Employers are responsible for ensuring that the TFWs being hired to have all the training, qualifications and experience required to successfully and safely perform the job duties of the position for which they are hired. TFWs being hired for:

• lower-skilled occupations may require a certain amount of experience, short work demonstrations, on-the-job training, or no formal educational requirements; and
• higher-skilled occupations may require post-secondary education (for example, university degree, college diploma).

Regulated occupations

Employers hiring a TFW in regulated occupations in Canada must ensure that arrangements are made with the appropriate regulatory body for the certification, registration or licensing of the TFW. A “regulated” occupation is one where a professional or regulatory body has the authority to set entry requirements and standards of practice that lead to a certification, registration or licence (for example, doctors, nurses, with compulsory certification).

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will consider whether the TFW has the necessary qualifications to perform the work in Canada before issuing a work permit.

IRCC has established 2 pathways to permanent residency for caregivers, which are:

• Caring for children
• Caring for people with high medical needs

Each pathway has its own language and education requirements. For detailed information on these requirements, visit IRCC.

Multiple employers

Private household employers can partner with another employer (maximum of 2 official employers), to share the responsibilities of hiring an in-home caregiver. For example, 2 adult children may act as employers of a caregiver for an incapacitated parent. In situations that involve multiple employers, only 1 application is required; however, both employers must meet all of the program requirements and sign all documents (for example, Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) application, employment contract, bedroom description form (mandatory in the case of a live-in caregiver).

Canada Revenue Agency business number

Individuals hiring a foreign caregiver are considered employers and must obtain a business number (BN) from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to:

• meet the initial registration requirements for advertising on the national Job Bank website or its provincial/territorial counterpart
• apply for a TFW
• pay the worker’s wage (including vacation pay)
• make deductions from the worker’s wage as prescribed by the law and the TFWP
• issue pay stubs, statements, remuneration paid (T4) or Records of Employment (ROE)

Record of Employment

Under the provisions of the Employment Insurance Act, all employers are required to provide a Record of Employment(ROE) when an interruption of earnings occurs for an employee. This requirement applies whether the employee is a Canadian or a foreign worker. The ROE, which indicates the wages paid and the number of weeks the TFW worked, is required by the foreign worker as proof to qualify and apply for permanent residency. TFWs also need the ROE to apply for Employment Insurance benefits.

Proof of individual requiring care

Employers must provide proof that they or a dependant needs care. The documentation that must be submitted along with the application form includes proof of one of the following:

• age and parentage for each child under the age of 18 (provide one of the documents listed):
  • long form birth certificate
  • adoption order
  • official guardianship, or
  • medical doctor’s note confirming the pregnancy and the due date
• age for each senior, 65 years or older (provide one of the documents listed):
  • birth certificate
  • passport, or
  • Old Age Security identification card
• disability, chronic or terminal illness for each disabled, chronically or terminally ill person

Financial ability

To hire a foreign in-home caregiver, employers must demonstrate their financial ability to pay the caregiver’s wages. Service Canada will assess the financial ability of the employer by using the Low Income Cut-Offs(LICO) produced by Statistics Canada. To have their financial ability assessed, employers must complete the Financial ability section of the LMIA application form. If the total is positive, the employer may be considered as having met the financial ability requirement.

As part of this assessment, employers must submit a copy of their Notice of Assessment (NOA) from the CRA with their LMIA application. The NOA submitted must be from the past year if your application is submitted after July 1. Please note that NOA’s submitted from previous years will not be accepted.

In exceptional cases where the employer is not required to pay income tax in Canada, copies of paystubs, bank statements, personal work contract or other official documents can be submitted as proof of income.

In cases of multiple employers where the income of one employer is not sufficient to meet the financial ability to pay the caregiver’s wages, the income of both employers can be combined to meet this requirement. However, the two employers must submit copies of their past year individual Notice of Assessment from CRA if your application is submitted after July 1. Please note that NOAs submitted from a previous year or a combination of years will not be accepted.

Transportation

Employers of low-wage in-home caregivers must always pay for the transportation costs (for example, plane, train, boat, car, bus) of the caregiver to the work location in Canada. These costs must be paid up-front to ensure that they are not part of any negotiations related to the employment contract. This process helps protect temporary foreign workers, who may be tempted to accept alternative travel arrangements in return for a job offer.

Employers may have a financial agreement with any member of their family to pay for the transportation costs.

Transportation costs may include:

• transportation from the caregiver’s country of current residence to the work location in Canada
• transportation from the caregiver’s current residence in Canada to the new work location
• gas expenses when the caregiver drives his/her personal car to the new work location
• return transportation from the caregiver’s current residence in Canada to his or her original country of residence

Employers should know that:

• The mode of transportation selected must reduce the travel time, expenses and inconvenience to the caregiver.
• Under no circumstances, can an employer recover the transportation costs from the TFW.

Transportation costs paid by the employer do not include:

• hotels, meals and miscellaneous expenses during the caregiver’s travel to the work location;
• transportation or other expenses for vacations or emergency trips

Employers must keep records (for example, invoices, receipts, copies of flight itineraries, tickets, boarding passes) of all transportation costs paid, for a minimum of 6 years. This information may be required as proof if employers re-apply for a subsequent LMIA or if they are selected for an inspection.

Housing

Employers cannot require a caregiver to live in their home. However, if an employer and foreign caregiver decide that a live-in arrangement is the most suitable, for the needs of the person requiring care or to assist the TFW, there are certain criteria that must be met. Specifically, employers must ensure the:

• accommodation is being provided in the home of the person receiving care
• accommodation is private and furnished bedroom
• bedroom door has a lock and safety bolt on the inside
• bedroom meets the municipal building requirements and the provincial/territorial health standards
• a foreign caregiver is not charged room and board for the accommodations, as per the policy, under the TFWP

Health insurance

Employers of low-wage in-home caregivers must always pay for the TFW’s private health insurance. Coverage must begin from the time the TFW arrives in Canada until the worker is covered by the appropriate provincial/territorial health insurance plan. The waiting period to be eligible for the provincial/territorial health insurance is available on the Ministry of Health websites for each province or territory. The private insurance coverage provided to the TFW must be similar to the provincial/territorial health insurance plan.

Employment contract

All employers of in-home caregivers must prepare and sign an employment contract. Although employers are not required to use the contract template provided, they must ensure that the contract used, contains all of the mandatory information and clauses. For positions in the province of Quebec, the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Diversité et de l’Inclustion (MIDI) has its own requirements concerning the employment contract between an employer and a worker providing in-home care.

3. Wages, working conditions and occupations

Employers applying for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) must pay the TFW at a minimum, the posted prevailing wage for the occupation and work location where the TFW will be employed.

Employers must refer to the median wage published on Job Bank to determine the prevailing wage.

The process to determine the prevailing wage of the position

Use the job title of the available position and conduct a search on Job Bank to determine the median wage for the occupation and work location where the TFW will be employed.

If the median wage is available on Job Bank, employers must pay the worker a wage that is equal or above that median wage for the economic region where the work will be located.

In Quebec, the prevailing wage rates are determined based on labour market information wage data published by Emploi-Québec (in French only).

If the median wage is listed as “n/a” for the local area (economic region) where the work is located, employers should consult the provincial/territorial level wage. If this wage is not available, employers should consult the national wage.

Prevailing wage

Under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, the prevailing wage rate is identified as the median hourly wage (or annual salary as published on Job Bank) or higher for the particular occupation and work location. Employers must also ensure that they include the wage being paid for the position, as part of their advertisement of the available position.

Employers must review and adjust (if necessary) the TFW’s wage after 12 months of employment to ensure the worker continues to receive the prevailing wage rate of the occupation and work location where the TFW is employed.

In addition, employers must ensure the wage offered to the TFW is not below any:

Applicable federal or provincial/territorial minimum wage rates. If a provincially regulated wage for a specific occupation is greater than the wage posted on Job Bank, then the regulated wage will apply. As a result, employers must ensure they use this wage in all advertisements and on their application, in order to receive a positive assessment; or

Wage schedules set by provincial/territorial legislation (for example Manitoba Construction Industry Wages Act).

Employers offering a wage that is below the prevailing wage rate will be considered as not meeting the labour market factor for the assessment of wages and therefore, will be issued a negative LMIA.

4. Recruitment and advertisement

Employers must meet the recruitment and advertisement requirement for the stream based on the position for which they are hiring a caregiver: Employers will need to follow the:

Stream for high-wage positions

Stream for low-wage positions

5. Apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment

Employers who want to hire a temporary foreign worker (TFW) must submit the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) application along with all the required supporting documentation to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)/Service Canada.

In essence, employers are applying for an opinion on the impact that hiring a TFW would have on Canada’s job market. As a result, it is important that employers follow all the necessary steps and submit all of the required documentation.

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