There are a lot of different models that can be used. At the outset, I think the timelines right now leading to permanent residency are quite lengthy, and some of these people are waiting for years to even submit an application. As you know, sometimes submitting an application can take.... Right now I think the wait time for caregivers to hear back from Immigration about their applications for permanent residency is 40 months. This is completely unreasonable for someone who's given their life and contributed to our society in the manner they have. So at the outset, we need to shorten the times in which people can apply for permanent residency and broaden the category of persons who are eligible for permanent residency.
For example, caregivers are able to apply for permanent residency, but there's a whole slew of temporary workers who are not eligible for permanent residency at all, and the majority are low-skilled workers. Even though my colleagues here have pointed out a lot of different kinds of labour needs in Canada, I think this should be open to all kinds of workers. The fact that we have invested in these people already, that they're already in Canada, already trained, already educated about our culture, already integrated into our societies, and are paying taxes should be enough for Canadians to consider the fact that they are already citizens within our midst and just need to be made official.
My first recommendation would be to shorten the timelines in which they become eligible and, second, that the processing times be expedited for these people.
Tied in with that, I think these people should be treated as permanent residents from the get-go, so they should be able to bring their families along with them. They should be able to travel within and outside Canada and come back. I think the program itself should be modified so they're treated as permanent residents and have a graduated system for obtaining that.