I'll just go through some of our concerns and mainly deal with participants in the live-in caregiver program. We've been doing public legal education seminars with participants in this program and want to bring to light some concerns that have been raised.
First, caregivers have unenforceable employment rights and are particularly vulnerable to abuse in the workplace. For example, many of them are forced to work overtime without pay or are forced to work without pay at all. Since enforcing their rights could potentially mean getting fired and being unable to complete the two-year employment requirement for permanent residence, caregivers are almost always willing to tolerate abuse from the employer. In light of their vulnerable position, we would recommend that the live-in requirement for caregivers be abolished.
Second, some employers are unwilling to provide documentation to prove that the caregiver has worked for them for two years.
Third, many caregivers are unable to complete the two-year requirement due to circumstances beyond their control--for example, severe illness or injuries--and some caregivers are also forced to accompany their employers outside the country. None of these periods will count toward their two-year requirement. Also, many caregivers are simply unable to complete the two-year requirement, due to prolonged periods of unemployment.
Many caregivers often learn that their family members are inadmissible to Canada for reasons that were not known at the time of accepting their employment contracts. This may be due to criminality or illness of a family member; for example, a caregiver may have a dependent child who has become ill during her absence and is now considered medically inadmissible to Canada for excessive-demand reasons.
Also, many caregivers find themselves inadmissible due to misrepresentation. Women are often told that they are more likely to be accepted into the program if they are single, so they state that they are single even though they have a family, but this then prevents them from including their spouses and dependent children in their landing application.
Last, many caregivers are placed with their employers through agencies that charge exorbitant fees, so in order to prevent exploitation of caregivers, we would recommend that there should be greater regulation of these fees.