The Association of Caregiver and Nanny Agencies  (ACNA) on their Press Release on July 5, 2010 has raised some questions on the newly-approved Live-in Caregiver Laws. They claim that the revisions of the LCP have a “negative effect on family life and further eroded Canadian productivity.”"

ACNA claim that based from their survey, there was a 70-90% drop in placement following the changes made by the Government of Canada under the Ministry of Immigration, Citizenship and Multiculturalism.

Good or Bad?

Under the new LCP laws, the employers are required to pay for 1.) travel cost for live-in caregivers to come to Canada; 2.) medical insurance until the live-in caregiver become eligible for provincial health coverage, and 3.) Workplace safety insurance and any recruiting fees owed to third parties. These revisions, the ACNA, explains has placed a burden on families wanting to hire a live-in caregiver to care for their young, disabled and the aged.  ACNA points out that although the families who hire a live-in caregiver shoulders all the expenses, the caregiver is under no obligation to stay with them. This, ACNA maintains, makes Canadian families vulnerable to individuals who abuse the program by coming to Canada under the LCP at no personal cost, without intention of staying long-term and seeking new employment.

Further, in a position statement by a group “Protection for Canadian Families,” they alleged that Minister Jason Kenney has only sought to protect the overseas caregiver’s rights and not the tax-paying Canadian families.

Moreover, some individuals within the Filipino community has also raised the above concerns, stating that the changes is killing the LCP and that the main reason for these changes are to eliminate the program.

Employment Standards

However, Marna Martin, chair of the Canadian Coalition for In-Home Care responds to the above-mentioned concerns, stating that the new revisions will reduce the number of caregivers arriving in Canada without legitimate employers or “Released Upon Arrival.” These RUAs usually take months to find new employers who are willing to process their papers. As a result, most ended up working “under the table”or accepting payments that are below the minimum wage. With the new law, Martin asserts that the newly-hired caregivers are assured that the Employment Standards and government regulations are followed and they won’t be buried in debt incurred by placement fees.

Although Martin acknowledges that there will be fewer overseas VISA’s issued, the abuses under the program will greatly be reduced. She also stated that the closures of caregiver and nanny agencies has not reduced the number of families hiring caregivers but rather, they are opting to post their ads on-line and not through the agencies.

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Group raise questions on the new LCP laws

Here is the list of the proposed changes:

1.  Eliminate the requirement for a second medical examination when applying for permanent residency.

Also known as the Juana Tajeda law,  this law has came about when live in caregiver Juana Tajeda was applying for  permanent residency and was denied because of her cancer.  Her illness has developed while already  working in Canada.  Her application was first denied but later on approved only due to humanitarian and compassionate grounds.  This change will ensure that no one will undergo that painful experience again.

2.  Live In Caregivers who work overtime can now apply for residency sooner.

Current Situation: Live In Caregivers must work for two whole years of their three years stay before they can apply for residency.  This means that unplanned events such as pregnancies or lost of employment can affect this requirement since they won’t be able to work for two straight years.

Proposed Change: Live In Caregivers can now apply for residency after completing 3,900 work hours or working from Mondays-Fridays for eight hours.  So if they render overtime work then these hours will be counted.  Also, these changes would also increase the time that live-in caregivers are allowed to complete the work requirement from three to four years.

3.  Additional benefits will be given as stipulated in the contract.

The proposal also specifies the following to be paid by the employer:

- fare that the live in caregiver will need to come to Canada

- medical insurance until the live in caregiver is entitled for provincial health coverage

- workplace safety insurance

- any recruiting fees owed to third parties

These all have to be stipulated in the contract.  Also, the contract must include clauses about the work scope and duties, hours of work, overtime and holidays, leaves and termination and resignation terms.

4. CIC will set up a hotline for live in caregivers.  Also, study permits are no longer need by live in caregivers if the course they will be taking is shorter than six months.

These proposed changes have already been published at the Canada Gazette for a 30-day comment period open for all Canadians.

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Good News to All Live-In Caregivers in Canada!

STEP 1: Get Yourself a Training Certificate

The only way for your application for a caregiver job to get noticed is to have a Caregiver Training Certificate from a registered Training Provider.  This will usually last from 6 months (lecture) to 7 mos (with OJT).  Check first with The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority or TESDA, the government agency that regulates skills development in the Philippines, if the training center you are eyeing is registered with them.  If not, steer clear because the training certificate they will be issuing you won’t be accepted in the Canadian Embassy.

STEP 2: Have Yourself Assessed

Literally millions of people are applying for a Caregiver job in Canada right this minute and a training certificate is just the first step for you to get noticed.  To make you more qualified, you should get yourself assessed.  An Assessment is a written and practical exam wherein your knowledge and skills in Caregiver techniques will be gauged.  A National Certificate will be issued to you after you passed both exams.  This will serve as your license.   Again, TESDA is the government agency in charge of this testing and certification.

STEP 3:  Have Your Papers Authenticated

Because a lot of fly by night schools are emerging in the country today, the Canadian Embassy has required all documents to be autheticated by the government agency in charge of giving the certificates.  So to have this done, go the the nearest TESDA.  Submit your training certificate, transcript of records and copy of the special order number they issued your school to have your papers verified and authenticated.  TESDA will then pass the authentication certificate to DFA to have your papers blue ribboned, another requirement by the Canadian Embassy.

Sometimes to really check if TESDA really issued the Authentication, the Canadian Embassy will write to them verify if the papers are really from them.  That is how strict the Canadian Embassy is.  So don’t think you can take the short way and just buy a training certificate which is being sold in some areas in Manila.  Getting caught will instantly ban you from entering Canada for a long time.

STEP 4: Network

Now that you have everything in order, it’s time to network!  Put yourself out there so you can find the nest caregiver job suited for you.  Tell everybody who can help you that you are looking for a caregiver job and you have everything in order and in time someone will point you in the right direction.  You will land your caregiver job in no time!

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How to Get a Job as Caregiver in Canada

Fly By Night Schools

Since the Canadian and US Embassy have mandated that caregivers entering their territories have a diploma to show that they are professionals,  Caregiver Schools have prolifirated everywhere around the globe.  Unfortunately, most of them are fly by night schools just taking advantage of people.  A fly by night school is a school that has no proper permit to operate and once they are policed by the proper government agency governing them they will simply just pack up their bags and transfer to another location so that they can avoid registering their programs.

Why are fly by night schools dangerous?

1.  The diploma you will get from these schools will not be honored by the US and Canadian Embassy.  So that is not just wasted money but also time and effort.

2.  They don’t teach the proper skills thus if ever you get to Canada or US under a different visa and managed to find work there, you may be putting your charges at risk since you don’t really know the proper procedure of care and operations of household equipment

So how can you avoid getting duped by this fly by night caregiver schools?  Always ask for their Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA -for Philippines) Registration Permit before enrolling.  But since permits can also be faked,  you may also call the TESDA office that has jurisdiction over the school you are eyeing and ask for the program registration number of the school.

Illegal Caregiver and Nanny Recruiters

A lot of people are now claiming that they have relatives in Canada or in the US and that they can sneek a caregiver aspirant into the country by pretending that their relatives will hire them so that they say be issued a work visa.  But once in Canada, the person must look for a real employer.  In order to avail of this privilege,  one must pay the relative of this “employer” in Canada a hefty amount ranging from P40,000-P100,000.  Since a direct caregiver employer is hard to find, a lot of people are biting into this scam.  But that’s what it is just is, a scam.  So never get duped by this modus.  Think of it this way:  if they can really do that, why are they not starting with their own relatives, right?  But if you take this risk anyway, you should at least see an LMO from the prospective employer before handing your money.

Illegal  Recruiters or Agencies

These are agencies that have no permit from the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA).  Before an agency can send people abroad, they must first get accreditation from POEA.  Upon registration, that’s the time that they can use the work order they have from their partners abroad.  To avoid being duped by agencies who have no legal papers, check POEA’s listings.

And before you pay any fees, you MUST see the LMO  from the prospective employer.

If they have accreditation they should be on the list.  Also, be weary of agencies that ask for fees since the policy nowadays is that your placement fee will be paid through salary deduction.  It is now illegal in Canada  for any recruiters or placement agencies to collect recruitment fees.

Additional info:

http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/philippines/visas/working-travailler.aspx?lang=eng

http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/article/713441

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Scams Caregiver Aspirants Should be Aware Of

1.  Live-In Caregiver

Being a Live-In Caregiver means that you will be living with your employer or in Nursing Homes and may be expected to do also some household chores like doing the laundry, ironing clothes, cooking and dish washing so be sure to know how to operate hi-tech gadgets that will be used to perform these duties.  Also, you may be assigned to take care either of a child, an elderly or a person with disability.  Be sure to ask what kind of person you will take care of to further prepare for the job.

2.  Non-medical Caregiver  / Hospice Caring

This is the term being used for Caregivers based in the hospitals  or homes.  They are like nurses who take care of different people.  Unlike Live-In Caregivers,  they have limited interaction with their patients since they take care of a lot of different people.

These caregivers comprehensive assistant to patients and or elderly, ill or terminally ill patience  who wish to live independently.   You provide nursing assistant, companionship and may run errands.

3.  Housekeeper

In this line of work, you are specifically tasked to do just housework.  Again, because of the increasing popularity of this Caregiver job description, there is now a curriculum being honed specifically for that.  But for the meantime, there is a portion in the curriculum of Caregiving that tackles housekeeping.  This teaches prospective Caregivers how to use the gadgets specifically found abroad and how to perform the task well.  It also teaches Caregiver students how to sanitize their surrounding to really keep the place of work clean and germ free.

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Different Kinds of Caregivers In Canada

1.  Get a Hobby

A caregiver job is a job that will not give you a lot of free time so when you do have your break make sure that you do something that you will really enjoy.    Finding something that you enjoy and may eventually become passionate about can help pass time and eventually ease your boredom and home sickness.  Treat this also as a learning experience, a platform that will teach you something new.

2.  Get Around

Visiting places and seeing something new every once in a while will help in easing your home sickness.  New experiences and places will help you enjoy your stay more in a foreign land and make you forget your loneliness.  Remember, not everybody gets  a chance to visit  and in your case live in a a foreign land.  It is time for you to take advantage of that blessing.

3.  Get Acquainted

Try to meet different people of different culture and you will find yourself appreciating your situation more.  Being exposed to different nationalities can be lots of fun.  It’ll be like a daily adventure.  The United States  and Canada is a melting pot of different nationalities and personalities.  If you don’t have a family back home, you may even find the love of your life here.  So don’t hide in your routine and inside your employer’s home.

4.  Connect with the Community

As they say, Filipinos can be found everywhere in the world especially in the United States and Canada.  So be sure to join the Filipino Community nearest you.  Connecting with fellow Filipinos will help make you feel that you are back home especially when you do Filipino traditions together like goiing to Sunday Mass or having a Filipino style picnic which feature Filipino dishes.  Being around your kababayans will definetely be the cure for home sickness you are looking for!

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Caregiver Health and Blues

After six months of grueling training and taking that assessment to be certified, you are now ready to search for that Caregiver job.  But where to start?  Here are some starting points.

1.  Ask a relative

A lot of Filipinos have relatives in the US and Canada and the 1st step one job hunter can do is to ask his or her relatives for leads.  It is not uncommon for relatives in this area to know of Caregiver job vacancies  since a lot of Filipinos have established their own nursing homes there.  It is also not uncommon to have your relatives in the US and Canada employ you themselves.  This is actually the easiest route on becoming a Caregiver in these countries.

2.  Search the Internet

The second way is for you to make use of the big directory known as the World Wide Web.  Just google Caregiver jobs and millions of results will be available.  Of course it is your responsibility to verify if these vacancies are valid.  It is very important to do a background check before sending all your credentials and other pertinent information.

3.  Go to POEA

POEA stands for the Philippine Overseas and Employment Agency. This is the government agency in chage of registering international employment agencies in the country.  Supplying manpower is a very lucrative business and a lot of fly by night companies have mushroomed.  It is therefore very important to check if the agency you will be transacting with have the necessary documents and permits to operate such delacate business.

Going to POEA would also save you time in looking for other potential agencies since they can supply you with a list of agencies looking for Caregivers.  It is just a matter of choosing now what agency you want to go to first.  Another thing, be wary also of agencies asking for a large sum of money in order for your documents to be processed.

Check with POEA if the amount they are asking is really necessary for the transaction since most agencies nowadays can deploy you even without a money down.  What they do is to just deduct your expenses and other fees from your salary once you start working as a Caregiver.

Check our forum for more info.

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Where to Look for that Caregiver Job

1.  Training Certificate

The first thing an applicant must have is a training certificate from a registered Caregiver School.  To obtain this,  one must enrol and study the basics and fundamentals of caregiving.  Be sure to check with the Technical education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) office nearest you to be sure of the authenticity of their registration certificate.  This registration certificate is proof that they are authorize to train people to become Caregivers and that the training they are giving is of standard.

2.  National Certification

After the Caregiver training, trainees are required to take the Caregiver assessment, also being given by TESDA, to so that they may be Certified Caregivers.  This National Certificate will serve as a license for perspective Caregivers.

After obtaining these papers,  applicants must have their papers authenticated by TESDA.  This Certification, Authentication and Verification (CAV) is the document needed by the Department of Foreign Affairs to give prospective Caregiver workers the Red Ribbon Document.  To apply for CAV, just go to the TESDA governing your school (If you studied in NCR then go to TESDA NCR; if you studied in Pampanga then go to TESDA Pampanga.) and present the following supporting documents:

• transcript of records (original and certified true copy by the school)
• diploma (original and certified true copy by the school)
• student order number (certified true copy by the school)
• 2 2×2 photos (formal)

After getting these documents, then you are now ready to submit your Caregiver application to your Manpower Agency.

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Canadian application requirement for live in caregiver jobs

Go Free!

I just learned today that Celia Mansibang lost her battle with cancer on June 29th.  Her viewing is scheduled on July 11 from 2-8 pm at Demarco Funeral Home.

I met her during the wake of Juana Tejada back in early March, 2009.   She looked fragile then but still strong to help advocate for caregivers rights.

While you are not with us in body, I know you are with us in spirit.  Rest in peace with our creator…

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Goodbye Celia

You can read more here

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Good News for Juana