Hire an In-Home Caregiver – Wages, Working Conditions and Occupations
Employers must:
- pay workers for all work (including overtime, where required by law)
- make sure that the workplace is safe
- allow for proper break time and days off
Employment in most occupations is covered under provincial/territorial legislation that deals with labour and employment standards such as: hours of work, working conditions and termination of employment. In fact, every province/territory has a Ministry of Labour that can provide information to assist employers and TFWs with questions or issues related to work.
Occupations
Employers cannot force any TFWs to perform duties for which they were not hired or trained (for example, if an employer submits an application to hire a TFW as a caregiver, the duties given to the worker must correspond to that occupation and not those associated with a cleaner).
4. Recruitment and advertisement
Employers must meet the recruitment and advertisement requirement for the stream based on the position for which they are hiring a caregiver: Employers will need to follow the:
- Stream for high-wage positions
- Stream for low-wage positions
Note: Employers cannot require a caregiver to live in their home. As a result, employers can only advertise the position with the option of the caregiver living in their home and it must be, at no cost to the worker.
5. Apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment
Employers who want to hire a temporary foreign worker (TFW) must submit the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) application along with all the required supporting documentation to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)/Service Canada.
In essence, employers are applying for an opinion on the impact that hiring a TFW would have on Canada’s job market. As a result, it is important that employers follow all the necessary steps and submit all of the required documentation.
Important: Changes to the LMIA fee collection
As of October 23, 2020, Service Canada is making changes to better protect employers’ financial information. LMIA application forms will now only request partial digits from a credit card. Upon application receipt, Service Canada will contact the employer to obtain the remaining digits in order to process payment.
How to apply
Employers must follow the step-by-step checklist to ensure that all the documents required are submitted.
Complete, sign (where applicable) and submit the following documents:
- LMIA Application form for in-home caregiver positions (EMP5628)
- Schedule I – In-home caregiver employment contract (EMP5604)
- proof of business legitimacy
- proof of advertisements
- proof of individual requiring care
For positions located anywhere in Canada (excluding Quebec), employers must send all documentation to the Service Canada Centre responsible for processing in-home caregivers applications.
A complete application means that employers have:
- used the latest version of the application version
- filled out all of the fields in all of the necessary forms
- included all of the required documentation
- signed the forms where required
- submitted the fee payment, if applicable
If an application is submitted and it is not complete, Service Canada staff will inform the employer that the application will not be processed. Incomplete applications and supporting documents submitted with the application will not be retained or returned to the employer. As a result, employers are advised to submit copies, not original documents.
For positions located in Quebec
For positions located in Quebec, employers must send all documents to the Service Canada Centre responsible for processing in-home caregiver applications as well as through the ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI). The LMIA applications for in-home caregiver positions can be submitted in either language English or French.
How to apply
To hire a TFW under the regular LMIA process, employers must follow these steps:
- complete, sign (where applicable) and submit the appropriate application to the Service Canada Processing Centre:
- submit to the MIFI a copy of the LMIA Application form that was sent to ESDC/Service Canada, and submit the following documents:
- Self-declaration by the employer – For temporary work
- Payment of LMIA processing fees (French only) levied by the government of Quebec (available in French only)
- completed and signed the MIFI form for Quebec Certificate of Acceptation (QCA) for Temporary work and all relevant documents
- Payment of QCA processing fees (French only) levied by the Government of Quebec
- submit application to MIFI
For more information, contact the MIFI.
Note:
On May 12, 2020, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced a Temporary Public Policy. The new policy allows some TFWs already in Canada to change jobs before a final decision is made on their work permit application.
Employers hiring these TFWs may receive priority processing of the LMIA applications. To do so, employers must notify Service Canada in writing that the TFW:
- is in Canada, and
- wishes to benefit from IRCC’s COVID-19 Temporary Public Policy
6. Next steps
Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)/Service Canada will assess the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) application submitted by the employer to determine what impact hiring a temporary foreign worker (TFW) would have on Canada’s job market. Based on the application and the documents received, the Department will issue a positive or negative LMIA.
