Delays in migrant caregiver residency program could leave some in limbo
One worker says she may have to either leave Canada or stay as an undocumented person
Teresa Andrade says a delay in Canada's new residency program for migrant caregivers might force her to leave the country, or stay here as an undocumented worker.
Andrade moved to Toronto six years ago on a temporary work permit to work as an in-home caregiver. Separated from her husband, she hopes to provide a better life for her five children in the Philippines.
"It's uncertain," Andrade told The Current's host Matt Galloway "Like, am I going somewhere [other] than Canada, or can I stay in Canada?"
"You don't know where you're going. It's a big deal for caregivers like us."
Since 2019, the Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker pilot programs have offered foreign caregivers and support workers a route to permanent residency.
In June, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced the end of those programs and shared plans to launch two new pilot programs. But the pilots have not started yet.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) told the Globe and Mail in December that the department needed time to process existing permanent residence applications from older pilot programs before introducing new ones. It said application details and eligibility criteria would be provided in the "coming months."
CBC asked Miller for a comment on this story but did not receive a response in time for publication.
The federal government says Canada is set to admit more than 15,000 caregivers as permanent residents under the 2024–2026 Immigration Levels Plan.
But some who study the pathway to permanent residence for caregivers say that the backlog of applications from past and present programs, and the cap placed on immigration numbers could prevent them from reaching that goal.
Jenny Shaw, an assistant processor of sociology and politics at Thompson Rivers University says stories like Andrade's are "incredibly common."
"They end up on work permit after work permit with precarity and uncertainty," she said, adding that in many cases their children "wait almost often an entire childhood to reunite with their moms here in Canada."
Dangling the 'carrot of permanent residency'
Shaw says Canada has often relied on dangling the "carrot of permanent residency" to migrant care workers, as a way to fill the labour gap left by citizens who don't want to do low-paying and precarious work.
For decades, a range of immigration programs have brought migrant care workers to Canada. It includes the Live-in Caregiver program (1992-2014), the Caregiver Program (2014-2019) and the Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker pilot programs (2019-2024).
However, Shaw says that migrant care workers face major hurdles to permanent residency, including application backlogs and long waiting times.
She cited records from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) showing that, as of March 2023, over 30,000 permanent residence applications from care workers in Canada and their dependents overseas were still waiting to be processed. These applications come from the latest pilot programs and do not include applications from earlier programs.
Although the expected processing time is six to 12 months, applications from as far back as 2014 have taken an average of 24 to 37 months to process, Shaw wrote in an article for The Conversation.
Applications still in the system from the older Live-in Caregiver program are facing an average processing time of 70 months — or nearly six years.
"If we're going to try and draw people here in order to do care work and fill that part of our labour market, then what kind of long-term promise are we making?" Shaw said.
Canada's 'two-step immigration' system
Mikal Skuterud, an economics professor at the University of Waterloo, says Canada also imposes a cap on the number of new residents, and "they always reach that cap."
"There's a certain number of slots there that need to be filled every year," he said.
Skuterud says Canada has moved towards a "two-step immigration" system since the early 2000s to fill those spots.
Under this method, people initially arrive on a temporary status, such as a work permit or study visa, and then transition to permanent residency.
However, the number of temporary permits that were issued, Skuteru says, has far outpaced the number of permanent residencies granted.
In October, the federal government announced it will reduce the number of temporary foreign workers in Canada.
And with a limited number of people eligible for permanent residency, Skuteru says the government must also consider the type of work done by the people who get it.
"Filling the slot with one type of worker necessarily means it's not going to be filled with a different type," he said.
Andrade's temporary work permit expired in October. Unable to work, she's been depending on her friends and family for support while she waits for a path to permanent residency.
She's urging policymakers to recognize the contributions caregivers have made in supporting other people's families.
"Hear us, include us, don't forget us. The one who's [been] taking care of your children, who [has been] struggling so much here in Canada, while you were earning your money," she said.
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Audio produced by Amanda Grant, Dawna Dingwall and Aajah Sauter