Live-in Caregiver Program
The Live-in Caregiver Program provides professional caregivers for employment in Canada. Caregivers are individuals who are qualified to care independently for children, the elderly or people who have disabilities. There are three main requirements you will have to meet to qualify under the Live-in Caregiver Program:
- Successful completion of the equivalent of a Canadian high school education. This requirement will help to ensure that participants who apply for permanent residence after two years will be able to succeed in the general labour market. Studies indicate that the majority of new jobs in Canada require at least a high school education.
- Six months of full-time training or 12 months of experience in paid employment in a field or occupation related to the job you are seeking as a live-in caregiver. You may have gained your training or experience in early childhood education, geriatric care, pediatric nursing or first aid, to name just a few areas. You may have completed your training as part of your formal education. In order to meet the criteria for experience, you must have completed one year of full-time paid employment, including at least six months of continuous employment with one employer, in that field or occupation. This experience must have been obtained within the three years immediately prior to the day on which you submit an application for an employment authorization to a visa officer.
- Ability to speak, read and understand either English or French. You must be able to function independently in a home setting. For example, you must be able to contact emergency services if required and to understand labels on medication. You will be unsupervised for most of the day and may be put in a position of having to communicate with someone outside the home. A good knowledge of English or French will also enable you to read and understand for yourself what your rights and obligations are.
Live-in Criteria
An important requirement of the Program is that employees must live in the employer's home. The Live-in Caregiver Program exists only because there is a shortage of Canadians to fill the need for live-in care work. There is no shortage of Canadian workers available for caregiving positions where there is no live-in requirement.
Fees
You must pay a fee for the processing of your application when you submit it. You can contact the Canadian consulate, embassy or high commission nearest you to find out the amount of the fee. The amount is revised from time to time to reflect the cost involved in processing applications. Since the fee only covers the cost of processing the application, you will not get your money back if the visa office refuses your application. Therefore, we suggest that you review the program requirements carefully before making an application.
There will also be costs for a medical examination, passport and travel. You are responsible for these costs as well as the processing fee mentioned above unless your employer offers to pay them for you.
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