So, you’ve got that piece of card in your hand that states that you are already a Permanent Resident of Canada. You have been waiting for this day – worked for it, obsessed about and now that it’s here, you suddenly realized that there’s a lot to work on. What to do? Where do I go from here?

You wished everyday to “apply” your degree again but find you don’t know where to start. Further, you don’t possess the “Canadian Experience” that employers are asking for.

In this article, we will try to give you a step by step procedures based on the experiences of former LCPs who were are able to start climbing and/or have climbed the corporate/professional ladder here in Canada.

Aubrey, an Internationally-Educated Nurse

Aubrey entered Canada through the Live-in Caregiver Program but is a Registered Nurse in the Philippines. After obtaining her PR card, she decided to continue a career in Nursing in Canada.

Her steps:

1. Evaluation of credentials. Aubrey submitted all her credentials – a copy of transcript of records, diploma (from university graduated from), etc. to the College of Nurses of Ontario for assessment of eligibility. To see full list of requirements, visit www.cno.org
2. If the College find you eligible, they would advise you to take the Canadian Practical Nurses Regulation Exam (CPRNE) after paying a fee and choosing an exam schedule.
3. When you pass the exam, you are a Registered Practical Nurse in Ontario!

Although Aubrey passed the CPRNE, she feels that she need to refresh her Nursing skills and knowledge so she decided to take some college courses. Since Aubrey was under the Live-in Caregiver when she took the exam, taking the courses would be more expensive since she is considered an international student. She decided she would wait for her Permanent Residency before she goes back to school.

Bridging Programs

There are organizations that aim to make it easier for internationally-educated nurse to enter the Nursing Profession in Canada. Aubrey has chosen to tap CARE Centre for Internationally Educated Nurses, an organization of nurses that aims to help internationally-educated nurses enter the nursing workforce in Canada. They assess an applicant’s knowledge in general areas of nursing and then recommend the courses that will help them. They also provide trainings, workshops and guidelines to prepare and equip them to the nursing situations in Canada.

Aubrey aims to become a Registered Nurse (RN). Her assessment revealed that she needs 11 bridging programs before she can enrol for RN courses.

Registered Nurse vs. Registered Practical Nurse

Even if Aubrey passed the CPRNE, she still needs the Canadian experience to enter the workforce.

Aubrey hopes to be an RN but since she it is more expensive to do so, she decided to pursue an RPN first.

An RPN is a two-year course under the College of Applied Arts and Technology while an RN is a four-year Bachelors degree in Nursing in university.

An RPN’s education is less comprehensive and more focused; is more appropriately utilized to care for patients with less complex needs with stable and predictable conditions while an RN’s education is more comprehensive and they have deeper knowledge to draw on in areas such as clinical practice, critical thinking, and research utilization. RN’s can work in any type of patient. An RN can care for clients with more complex needs in unpredictable situations whether in surgical units, home care settings, ICU and ER.

Where to Aubrey?

Aubrey decided to go to George Brown this Fall to take additional courses and is looking for avenues to get some Clinical Practice.

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After The LCP, What’s Next?

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

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

TESDA Training

The sudden increase in the popularity of Caregiver jobs abroad has prompted the Philippine Government to regulate the Caregiver program so that each Caregiver that will be going abroad will be armed with all the skills he or she needs to perform the job properly.

With this aim in mind, all Caregiver Schools in the country were required to register their Caregiver Program to the Philippine Government Agency tasks to regulate Technical Skills – The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority or TESDA.

Each applying school must comply with the standards set by TESDA.  These standards must apply in their curriculum, number of training hours hours and trainers.  They must also comply with the set measurements of classrooms and training rooms plus the applying training institutions must also possess the required equipment and tools.  Here are the competencies caregiver students are expected to acquire at the end of the program:

BASIC COMPETENCIES: Participate in workplace communication,  Work in a team environment,  Practice career professionalism,  Practice occupational safety and procedures

COMMON COMPETENCIES: Implement and monitor infection control policies and procedures,   Respond effectively to difficult/challenging behavior,  Apply basic first aid, Maintain high standard of patient services

CORE COMPETENCIES: Provide care and support to infants/toddlers,  Provide care and support to children,  Foster social, intellectual, creative and emotional development of children,  Foster the physical development of children,  Provide care and support to elderly, Provide care and support to people with special needs,  Maintain healthy and safe environment,  Respond to emergency,  Clean living room, dining room, bedrooms, toilet and bathroom,  Wash and iron clothes, linen and fabric,  Prepare hot and cold meals

*source: TESDA website

After six months of rigorous training, the Caregiver trainees are required to take the National Competency Exam, also being given by TESDA, to be certified Caregivers.  This National Certificate is proof that the candidate has learned all the competencies set by the government.  This is also one of the papers being asked by the agencies, as well as the Canadian Embassy, when people are applying for a Caregiver post in Canada.  This and also the certification from TESDA that the Caregiver school they’ve attended is registered in TESDA’s system.  So before applying yourself to any Caregiver school, check first with the nearest TESDA if the school is registered or not so as to avoid inconveniece.

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Caregivers Training and Certification in the Philippines