Response to “No More Nannies” Article

After reading the article in the Financial Post this weekend, I felt compelled to respond. The article states that the government is denying almost all applications for caregivers. The truth is that the government is denying all applications that are not prepared accurately.

The article led readers to believe that caregivers from overseas are no longer an option for employers but this is simply not true.

First let’s examine why the government made changes to the Caregiver program.

1. There was tremendous abuse of the program by both employers and caregivers.
Many job offers were not legitimate. Hundreds, maybe thousands of caregivers came to Canada with no intention of working for the employer on their work permit.
Employers submitted and obtained approval for applications for caregivers with no intention of hiring the individual once they arrived.

2. Caregivers have lobbied tirelessly to have the live in requirement removed from the program in order to minimize the risk of abuse and they won.

What are the results of the changes to the program which personally, I believe are good changes?

1. Job offers for caregivers must be authentic, not family sponsorships, or phoney offers to help their nanny’s relatives come to Canada.
2. Employers must give Canadians a chance to apply for the jobs prior to offering a position to a foreign worker. (although, I must say in our experience of advertising hundreds of positions, there is a shortage Canadians interested in working as in home caregivers especially in rural areas.)
3. The application process is difficult and usually requires an experienced ICCRC immigration consultant to successfully obtain a positive LMIA, the application necessary to hire a foreign worker.
There have been many complaints by employers that their applications have been destroyed or refused. It’s a matter of knowing how to complete this complicated application process. We at Diamond have had 100% success in obtaining many positive LMIA’s for our clients.

While it is true that the number of applications approved has significantly decreased, It makes sense because the government has been successful in eliminating most of the fraudulent and/or incomplete applications by making the process so expensive and difficult.

Yes it’s expensive, yes it’s difficult but there is a program in place that allows genuine employers to hire qualified caregivers from abroad.

The lesson here is that the program was broken, the fixes may not be perfect but there is still a program for genuine employers who are willing to invest in the best care for their families and treat their caregivers with respect.

We should be more concerned about processing times, than criticizing a program that cracks down on immigration fraud.

The financial post article mentioned that Nanny Agencies across Canada are closing. For the record, Diamond Personnel has no intention of closing, we are too busy obtaining approvals for our clients, and we are doing this with 100% success!

Shauna Guth

Director of Placements and Operations, Diamond Personnel