CAREGIVER NUMBERS DECLINING

The article below from the Toronto Star highlights the decline in the number of caregivers allowed to come to Canada. However, the reasons for the decline as multiple: more stringent regulation of employers to ensure that caregiver jobs are not fraudulent and that caregivers are protected; more compliance audits by Service Canada; more careful examination of the caregivers qualifications and experience at visa psots, and other reasons. The problem is that more caregivers are required by an aging population, but the quality of care they provide may be in question of their qualifications and experience cannot be verified. Also, in recent years, the explosion of "nanny agencies" has subsided after reports of sharp practices against caregivers, non-existent jobs, and more provincial regulation of recruiters.

Canada News: Live-in caregivers made to work longer to earn status - thestar.com

November 24, 2011

Nicholas Keung

For decades, the country’s caregiver program has brought in au pairs and nannies from abroad to care for tens of thousands of Canadian children and the elderly.
The program has also provided an opportunity for caregivers, mostly women, to permanently settle in Canada with their own families once they fulfill their nanny requirements.
But declining admissions for new nannies and longer waits for permanent resident status for those already here is fuelling speculation the program may be in jeopardy.
The number of caregivers accepted into Canada declined last year to 8,400, after peaking at 13,800 in 2007.
And the acceptance rate last year fell to 57 per cent compared to 73 per cent five years ago, according to the Association of Caregiver and Nanny Agencies Canada.
It now takes 18 months to bring a caregiver to Canada — up from 12 months in 2008, said association president Manuela Gruber Hersch.
“The government is slowly killing the program, making it unreasonably financially risky for families to use the program,” she said. “There are families who can’t find child care. Our aging population needs caregivers,” said Hersch, whose group represents 35 caregiver agencies. “There is a need for this program.”
As families wait longer for new nannies to arrive, caregivers already working here complain they are made to work longer to fill in the gap.
Caregivers are obliged to work as a live-in nanny for a minimum of two years in Canada before they can apply to become a permanent resident. While waiting for their new status, they receive an open permit entitling them to work in other fields.
However, caregivers complain they now wait 18 months — compared to 6 to 8 months a year ago — to get an open work permit while their immigration application is in process.
The longer it takes, the longer they are banned from working in other occupations.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney also announced a plan this month to reduce the number of caregivers granted permanent status to 9,000 in 2012, down from 16,000 this year. Caregivers say a lengthy queue now means it will take longer to bring over their spouses and children.
Filipina nurse Ruby Primero, who came to Canada in 2008 as a caregiver, is eager to have her three sons and husband join her.
But the 40-year-old is also anxious to get her immigrant status after passing her Ontario nursing exam. She must be a permanent resident in order to become licensed as a registered practical nurse.
“I have two jobs waiting for me as soon as I get my licence. But right now, all I can do is continue to work as a nanny,” said Primero, who filed her residency application more than a year ago and is still waiting for an open permit.
Immigration officials acknowledge the processing time for caregivers’ permanent resident applications has increased in the past year from 20 to 25 months.
“CIC received a higher number of applications for permanent residence under the LCP (live-in caregiver program) than we have experienced in the past. That increase had a significant impact on processing times,” immigration spokesperson Nancy Caron said in an email.
She also said Ottawa reduced its 2012 quota for caregivers allotted permanent status due to a decline in the number of nannies let into the country.

CANADA IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION TO STOP CRIMINALS FROM SPONSORING RELATIVES, PROTECT WOMEN

It took them three years to act, but finally did it. Governments move at a glacial pace. Do the regulations go far enough? Probably not. People think that sponsoring relatives is a "right" but in fact it is a privilege that can be regulated to protect the public. So why should any person convicted of a serious offence be allowed to sponsor unless they have received a pardon and a reasonable period of time has elapsed since that conviction? Political correctness is the answer.

Canada tightens immigration regulations - UPI.com

Canada tightens immigration regulations

Published: Nov. 24, 2011 at 7:40 AM


OTTAWA, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Canada's immigration regulations have been tightened to prevent anyone convicted of a violent crime from sponsoring a relative into the country.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said in a release the changes were sparked by an incident he doesn't want to see repeated.

"I was very concerned after a court decision in 2008 found that a Canadian citizen, who was convicted in India of killing his sister-in-law after setting her on fire, could sponsor his new wife," Kenney said. "The regulatory changes now in force aim to prevent a similar situation from happening again."

The minister said the new regulations were essentially designed to protect women.

"There was no ground in our law to deny that spousal sponsorship," Kenney said. "This is to protect vulnerable immigrant women in particular from abusive husbands."

The changes are to regulations and not to law, so didn't require debate in Parliament, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said.

WIKILEAKS: CANADA USED BY FOREIGNERS AS FRONT FOR ARMS AND NUCLEAR PARTS ACQUISITION

This is somewhat obvious, but something that is hardly ever discussed in our politically correct society for fear of "offending" certain groups. The reality is that Canadians are overly naive in thinking that some people would not attempt to take advantage of Canada's lax enforcement and lack of concerted effort to investigate those who use our soil for nefarious purposes and need to lose their innocence in that regard.

Foreigners set up fronts to procure Canadian weapons: cable CTV News

FALLOUT FROM AUDITOR GENERAL REPORT ON IMMIGRATION

Interesting editorial in the Globe and Mail.

Visa officers don't have the tools to do their job - The Globe and Mail

REFUGEE BOARD CANDIDATES CAN'T PASS NEW REQUIREMTNS

See report from the CBC below. Some candidates can't even pass a multiple choice exam, others are probably scared to take a written test, some may not even have good language skills... Is it a surprise that incompetence is pervasive at the Immigration and Refugee Board, after so many years of political appointees, favours being dispensed to "community workers" who have no legal training, and a system that is not strictly based on merit? Over the last 21 years, I personally appeared at over 1,000 hearings representing clients of multiple nationalities, and I can confidently say that many Board members are incompetent and are unqualified to hear claims, and that those who make a concerted effort to act conscientiously and apply the law are often frustrated by the general atmosphere of mediocrity and lassitude. And that must change immediately or we will continue to be the laughing stock of the world.

Immigration judges failing new requirements - Montreal - CBC News

AUDITOR GENERAL GIVES IMMIGRATION AGENCIES CIC, CBSA FAILING GRADE

Hardly surprising: agencies responsible for immigration and visa issuance are not doing their job well enough to protect the public. The problem stems from a combination of various competing interests, lack of resources, and political expediency by the successive Federal governments to cater to interest groups, poor training, reliance on locally engaged personnel that can be easily corrupted in some countries, and just the sheer volume of applications and pressure to grant visas. In summary: too much volume, too few resources, and a misunderstanding of priorities.

Auditor general finds ‘disturbing’ cracks in Canada's visa approval system News National Post

Auditor general finds ‘disturbing’ cracks in Canada’s visa approval system

Postmedia News Nov 22, 2011 – 10:52 AM ET Last Updated: Nov 22, 2011 5:41 PM ET

By Robert Hiltz

OTTAWA — An auditor general’s report has found ‘disturbing weaknesses’ in the way Canada’s border and immigration agencies hand out visas.

In his report released Tuesday, Interim Auditor General John Wiersema says the Canada Border Services Agency and Citizenship and Immigration Canada lack the guidance, training and information to properly determine who should and shouldn’t be let into the country.

“We’ve been reporting some of these problems with visas for 20 years, and I find it disturbing that fundamental weaknesses still exist,” Wiersema said.

The report states the two departments focus most of their energies on defending cases where they have denied an individual entry into Canada — a small percentage of applicants — rather than on reviewing the cases of people allowed entry into the country.

MORE IMMIGRANTS GOING WEST

It does not take a genius to figure out that immigrants will follow jobs. More jobs in the West means more immigrants going West. this also highlights why all the Provincial Nominee Programs in the Eastern provinces of Canada are a failure: there will be no retention if there are no economic opportunities there, no jobs, higher taxes and smaller cities.

Immigration shifts west from Ontario - Windsor - CBC News