Citizenship and Immigration committee  I couldn't speak to the appropriateness of it. My only assumption would be that because it's a program that offers a chance of immigration, the standards would be set differently. I wouldn't be able to comment on the appropriateness of that. I don't know all the ins and outs of the Nova Scotia and Newfoundland experience.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Certainly I think it would be beneficial to look at what those requirements are. There are some countries where you need the permission of your employer to go through with the process of going through a Canadian visa office, and certainly consideration should be taken for those standards that can be harmful where they are and can delay things significantly.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Again, it's an attractive idea. I think one thing that may be looked at, though, is where the caregivers are working. If a caregiver is coming to Canada to work in northern Ontario, say, and it's not a very welcoming community to them and this isn't what they expected and they want to go to Toronto and get a caregiver job there, then there may be some problems in terms of meeting the demand from the families that need care outside major urban centres.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No, I haven't seen it.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I don't necessarily think it should be arbitrary, that the body would say “You, you, and you get to be licensed and you don't”. I think it should be a very clear list of what standards an agent or an agency needs to meet in order to be on the white list. Anybody who can practise effectively, according to the government, can be on it and then have their names removed if and when they breach the program.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  If he's saying he supports his colleague, I wouldn't have any problem with that. If he's making conclusions about what any investigation might lead to, some sort of discovery, that would be inappropriate. But I think if they're simply supporting a colleague in the process, I would be temperate in criticizing them for that.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That would be up to the government to decide. I think that either some sort of government body or something at arm's length--maybe a body of stakeholders of some sort--but there needs to be some government oversight, for sure. But yes, I think a white list would be a fantastic idea.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  If a centralized processing centre could be created for that--and I believe there's one for other programs, but maybe not fully effective--and if there could be some body to which all those documents could be channelled, they could be reviewed under the same standards and the staff could be meeting the demand.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Was this from two days ago?

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No, I do not believe it is. I think in terms of the work done, there need to be certain flexibilities. If a caregiver is in a home looking after a child and the child is away for an hour or the child is napping, then there's a break time, but there are families where, certainly, you get caregivers who are working non-stop for that whole period.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  My knowledge of that program is fairly limited, beyond understanding that there needs to be a certain net worth of the individual, that they need to invest a certain amount and have a certain amount of background experience, which is somewhat similar to the live-in caregiver program.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That's right.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I would say there are similarities, but there are significant differences in terms of the net worth of the individual, in terms of how much money they're bringing with them or investing. None of that applies to a live-in caregiver. They just need to make sure they have the training background that can be certified.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes.