Is live-in caregiver program going to be cancelled soon?

[zhaotianwu]

Recently I've talked with an immigration consultant and he told me that live-in caregiver program has numerous drawbacks and "pitfalls", and he implied that maybe in the near future it will be eliminated from the current immigration regime altogether. Is this reasonable or just his opinion? Can we reason the pros and cons of this avenue?

[xtalj]

I don't know what exactly he told you, but there is no such information from CIC or from public media.So my guess is this is only his opinion.

However I did hear about the processing back in China is getting quite slow. It takes up to 7 months to make an appointment with CIC office in Beijing, and the applicants are encouraged to take IELTS test in order to get faster process.

Look at the processing time in Canada for live-in to apply for PR, it's getting much slower since last couple of months, about 26 months in total to get PR.

I'd say it's a tough way to get your PR, unlike what it's said in those newspaper, a easy way to get all your family to Canada. I think everybody who wants to go under this program needs to think twice about being apart from ur family for a long period of time, working in somebody's private home...It's hard.

[zhaotianwu]

I don't know what exactly he told you, but there is no such information from CIC or from public media.So my guess is this is only his opinion.

However I did hear about the processing back in China is getting quite slow. It takes up to 7 months to make an appointment with CIC office in Beijing, and the applicants are encouraged to take IELTS test in order to get faster process.

Look at the processing time in Canada for live-in to apply for PR, it's getting much slower since last couple of months, about 26 months in total to get PR.

I'd say it's a tough way to get your PR, unlike what it's said in those newspaper, a easy way to get all your family to Canada. I think everybody who wants to go under this program needs to think twice about being apart from ur family for a long period of time, working in somebody's private home...It's hard.

Thank you very much for your advice, which is very insightful. Can somebody holding a visitor's visa and being within Canada already physically apply to the live-in caregiver program without leaving Canada? Is it required to apply from your home country's consulate, i.e. Beijing? I'm already in Canada, it doesn't make much sense to go back and come again just go through some formality, isn't it?

[xtalj]

I am not sure about that, but you can call CIC call center to get the answer: 1-888-2422-100, be patient when u call, the waiting time to get an agent might up to 10~20 min.

If you have all the document proving you are qualified for the job, such as relevant training(6 months) or experience(1 year up), and you get a employer to get you a positive LMO, u might be able to work here without leaving.

By the way, the process from find a employer to get a work permit might take up to 3 months, make sure your status is not expired during the time.

Good luck!

[zhaotianwu]

I am not sure about that, but you can call CIC call center to get the answer: 1-888-2422-100, be patient when u call, the waiting time to get an agent might up to 10~20 min.

If you have all the document proving you are qualified for the job, such as relevant training(6 months) or experience(1 year up), and you get a employer to get you a positive LMO, u might be able to work here without leaving.

By the way, the process from find a employer to get a work permit might take up to 3 months, make sure your status is not expired during the time.

Good luck!

Just one more follow-up here. Do you think gender (I'm a male) will negatively affect LMO, and the overall process? Is LMO a pure chance event or there are some factors that I can facilitate it?

[Pippin]

I know nothing about the caregiver programme but I have a question.  Is it just for looking after children or for people of all ages.  If the programme covers all ages, I would think there would definitely be call for men to work, but that is just my thought.  What do others already in the programme think? 
In Canada, there have been newspaper articles and TV shows discussing the caregiver programme and the difficulties some caregivers have had with their work situations.  It would be good if the government made changes to protect the workers and this may be what others have heard that prompted the topic on this thread.