Six thousand caregiver applications will be prioritized by the end of 2021; 1,500 by June 30, 2021

A new processing plan drafted by the IRCC for 2021 which caters to caregivers from abroad has now been made official. In brief, listed below are the new features of this plan:

• Approve Permanent Residence to 6000 eligible caregivers (including their immediate family members) who have completed their in-Canada work experience by December 31, 2021.
• For Home Child Care Provider and for Home Support worker pilot applications, at least 1500 first-stage decisions shall be made by June 30, 2021.
• Guarantee that applicants receive acknowledgment of receipt letters by May 31, 2021.

Caregiver Eligibility Criteria :

 Applicants must meet the following criteria to be approved:

• education
• official language proficiency

In addition, applicants must provide proof of either of the following:

• at least 24 months of qualifying Canadian work experience
• a job offer and the ability to perform the work

Education:

The applicant should have ANY of the following:

• Canadian one-year post-secondary (or higher) educational credential
• foreign educational credential and an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report issued by an organization designated by IRCC.

Foreign Credentials:

For applicants with a foreign educational credential, the ECA report must

• indicate that the credential is equivalent to a completed Canadian one-year post-secondary (or higher) educational credential
• be less than 5 years old on the date of application receipt

have been issued on or after the date the ECA organization was designated by IRCC

Applicants With 24 Months of Experience

The applicant should submit proof of qualifying full-time work experience (at least 30 hours per week) of at least 24 months in Canada in the last 3 years before applying. The work done must meet the following requirements:

Home Child-Care Provider Pilot applicants must have qualifying work experience as Home Child-Care Providers (NOC 4411). In this job, they must have looked after children under the age of

Note: Foster parents cannot apply under this pilot program.

Home Support Worker Pilot applicants must have qualifying work experience as Home Support Workers and related occupations (NOC 4412).

Note: Among the sub-occupations under NOC 4412, housekeepers and related occupations are not eligible to apply under the home support worker class. It is the applicant’s job to convince the IRCC officer that they mainly performed the personal care and support services as outlined in the NOC description (other duties such as housekeeping duties including laundry, washing dishes etc., may be included only as additional responsibilities).

Breaks in work experience: At the time they apply for permanent residence through the Home Child-Care Provider Pilot or Home Support Worker Pilot, applicants do not have to be employed.Canadian work experience does not need to be continuous to qualify, but the period of 24 months of required employment does not include

• any extended absence from Canada (including any time worked for an employer outside Canada)
• periods of unemployment
• prolonged sickness
• parental leave

A reasonable period of vacation time will be counted towards meeting the work experience requirement. For example, a 2-week period of paid vacation leave within a given 52-week period in which the applicant was engaged in qualifying work would qualify, whether that period of vacation was taken in Canada or outside Canada. Any periods of self-employment or periods of employment during which the applicant was engaged in the full-time study will not be included when calculating the period of qualifying work experience. All applicants must have had temporary resident status during the period of work experience acquired in Canada. Only authorized work will be counted towards the work experience requirement..

Applicants Without 24 Months of Qualifying Canadian Work Experience

Applicants who do not have at least 24 months of qualifying Canadian work experience must also provide proof of both of the following:

• a job offer
• the ability to perform the work

Job Offer

• from a single Canadian employer
  • The employer cannot be an embassy, high commission or consulate in Canada.
  • The employer can comprise more than one individual (for example, Mr. and Mrs. Smith), but must constitute one simple employer (that is, one single CRA business number).
• for a position outside the province of Quebec
• for full-time employment (full time means at least 30 hours of paid work per week)
• non-seasonal
• in a home child-care provider or home support worker occupation
• genuine and likely to be valid when the applicant is issued the initial occupation-specific open work permit

The job offer must also describe the work and duties to be performed by the applicant. These duties must align with the actions described in the lead statement for the eligible occupation, as set out in the occupational descriptions of the NOC.Note: The main duties of a job offer cannot be for foster parent or housekeeper occupations.

Ability To Perform The Work

Note: If the applicant has provided proof of at least 24 months of eligible Canadian work experience in their initial application, they do not need to be assessed for their ability to perform the work.Applicants who have not obtained at least 24 months of qualifying Canadian work experience must demonstrate that they are able to perform the work described in the lead statement of the occupational description of the NOC.

• NOC 4411 if applying for the Home Child-Care Provider Pilot
• NOC 4412 if applying the Home Support Worker Pilot

Failure to do so may result in a refusal.Note: Foster parents are excluded from NOC 4411 and housekeepers are excluded from NOC 4412.

Supporting Documentation

When assessing an applicant’s ability to perform the work, officers can refer to supporting documentation provided in the application. This may include, but is not limited to

• proof of relevant previous work experience (either paid or unpaid), for example:
  • employer reference letters
  • employment records
  • work contracts
  • pay stubs
• copies of relevant education credentials or training, which can include diplomas or certificates
• a copy of the applicant’s most recent work permit in Canada (if they’ve been working in Canada)

The new public policy will take effect on May 3, 2021. Applicants to the Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker pilots in 2020 will not need to reapply.

As things look bleak amid the pandemic, Canada has introduced 3 new measures to ensure individuals are provided with ample opportunities to obtain study and work permits.

 The following are the new measures made public by the IRCC on PGWP (Postgraduate Open Work permit) eligibility for international students who did their courses online during the COVID-19 outbreak.

• If students would be completing 50% of their studies in Canada, they can continue to study online while being overseas up until April 30, 2021, without any deduction from the length of their PGWP.
• If a student had enrolled in an 8-12 months program that has a start date from May to September 2020, they may complete the entirety of their studies abroad and still be eligible for PGWP! (no need to be in Canada)
• International students who have done more than one eligible program, with one program that has start date between May and September 2020 (and study online up to April 30, 2021) can combine the lengths of their programs while applying for a PGWP given that at least 50% of studies is done in Canada.

For international students to qualify for the above measures, they need to have submitted a study permit application prior to starting a program  with a designated learning institution in the Spring/ Summer/ Fall 2020 semester or Jan 2021 semester. They need to be approved eventually for a study permit to be eligible.

The IRCC is closely monitoring the spread of COVID-19 and keeping a close watch on the changing international situations and one can expect additional announcements/ changes in the upcoming weeks or months.

With many provinces slowly opening up to corporates and the seamlessly vast variety of jobs
available, it makes Canada look like an authentic land of opportunities. But unsurprisingly, along with
this ocean of job postings lurks employment scams that are specifically tailored to take advantage of
a person’s desires and ambitions.

Make no mistake; a Canadian job offer is a precious document earnestly sought after by international
skilled workers. It is when a person decides to just turn a blind eye and throw wind to the caution
would he/she be sucked into the deceiving hole of fraudulent job offers. Fortunately, listed below are
some practical tips to identify the unethical tactics along with their warning signs of some of such

1) TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE COMPENSATION PACKAGE

When what you get for you are supposed to give doesn’t sound proportional to you or sounds
fantastical, more often than not, your gut instincts are true. Always check the average Canadian
salary for the corresponding occupation which can be cross-checked on the Government of
Canada’s Job Bank Site.
Another sign to watch out for is if besides salary, a myriad of highly attractive job-related benefits are
mentioned that often sound too lofty and can support the big dreams a foreigner can have when
looking for a job in Canada. Some of them include paid airfare from the country of origin, free
accommodation and more than ideal holiday periods.

2) ALL YOU NEED TO DO TO GET A WORK AUTHORIZATION IS TO PAY

This is probably one of the biggest giveaways. It’s the king of all suspicious signs due to some
reasons.
Primarily, it is extremely rare for a company to take the initiative and burden of going through the
application process and red tape surrounding Canadian Immigration bureaucracy to hire a person
without even first conducting a face-to-face interview with the potential employee.
Second of all, it is near impossible for a foreign national to be accorded a work permit without his/her
participation in the process. In most cases, the “company’ would try to convince you that no
involvement is needed on your part and all you got to do is pay.
Finally, the cost mentioned. You see, the Government work permit application fee is $155. If the
job offer for whatever reason mentions a higher amount, in all likelihood you are about to be duped.

3) VAGUE OR INCOMPLETE/INCORRECT EMPLOYER CONTACT DETAILS

This is a no-brainer. The first sign to look for here is the area code mentioned where the business
firm is supposed to be located. The same goes for the contact number provided which in most cases
do not exist, has been disconnected or nobody answers.
The one sign you may not be that aware about is the email address used to relay this offer to you.
To discern this you may use the following template: if a legitimate company’s website is
www.ABC.com and the name of the person sending you this alleged offer is XYZ, then his/her
official company email is supposed to be XYZ@ABC.com. If the email address looks very similar to
the company’s website , it’s not an issue; but if it doesn’t exactly match we have a fraudster at the
other end. Also, it is high time we realize that legitimate companies do not communicate through
gmail. They have their own domains and corresponding emails.

4) INCONSISTENCIES IN LANGUAGE

It is common sense that if you are in a position that requires you to send out emails regarding
employment in Canada, you should already have a good command of the English Language.
Subpar word choices, verb conjugations, lack of punctuations and frequent spelling errors are the
recipe for fake offer letter as the real deal from a legit Canadian company would be devoid of them.

5) UNCONVENTIONAL FORMAT OF THE OFFER LETTER

In certain cases, the formatting of the letter itself, especially the graphics or images used might put
you off. This is more so in the case of font choice and size used, especially in the section where the
salary and benefits seem to look highlighted.

Although fraudsters are also evolving and changing their gimmicks every now and then, the
aforementioned strategies can be used to effectively discern in less than a minute if you have been
made the victim of fraud or not.