Hiring Foreign Live-In Caregivers

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Employing foreign live-in caregivers in Canada can be very important for a family in the care of children, or elderly or disabled relatives.

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act includes special guidelines for the hiring of live-in caregivers in Canada.

GUIDELINES :

Before you apply to hire a foreign live-in caregiver, please note the live-in caregiver must :

• Work for you in a private home;
• Live with you, the employer;
• Be provided with a private, furnished room within the home;
• Be employed on a full-time basis;
• Meet Citizenship and Immigration Canada's  requirements for language, education and work skills necessary to function in the Canadian labour market.

A live-in caregiver cannot : Work for more than one employer at a time; Work for a health agency or labour contractors, or in day care or foster care.

HIRING STEPS :

When hiring a foreign live-in caregiver, you must :

1. Submit the LCP application for a labour market opinion (LMO) to the Service Canada Centre responsible for your area.
   • Learn more about the HRSDC assessment criteria noting that employers must meet additional criteria in the province of British Columbia. In addition, note that a Quebec Acceptance Certificate (CAQ) issued by the province is also required for jobs in Quebec.
     
2. Once HRSDC has approved your job offer, send a copy of the HRSDC confirmation letter and a copy of your LCP employer-employee contract  to the foreign live-in caregiver.
   
3. Tell the foreign live-in caregiver candidate to apply for a work permit  from Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). They must include in the application the approved HRSDC labour market opinion and the LCP contract signed by both you and the foreign worker.

   Next, CIC decides whether the foreign live-in caregiver will get a work permit according to the requirements to work and reside temporarily in Canada .

PERMANENT RESIDENCY : Under the IRPA, there are special conditions allowing a foreign live-in caregiver to apply for a permanent resident visa after working for two years in Canada. Learn more about the Live-in Caregiver Program  from CIC.