Immigration program for care workers set to expire, leaving thousands without path to Canadian residency

Two programs set to expire in June could leave thousands of migrant care workers without a path to permanent residency in Canada.

Arlene Aguillon, a live-in caregiver, said she lives under constant fear for her future in Canada.

She said trying to find proper work with a good employer while navigating the requirements to apply for permanent residency is never-ending source of stress.

One of the biggest hurdles, passing an English proficiency test that she said is not only costly, but unreasonably difficult.

“Now, I scheduled my test this coming April. It cost me almost $400 … a lot of caregivers, members in the organization take this exam, but still fails not only five times, some of them ten times,” said Aguillon.

The advocacy group, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, say stories like Aguillon’s are not unique.

Thousands of migrant caregivers, mostly racialized women, who provide much-needed services caring for children, the sick, and elderly are faced with these excessive requirements despite having lived and worked in the country for years.

“They require Level 5 English which is higher than citizenship which is Level 4, so why do that?,” said Jhoey Dulaca, an organizer with the group.

“We’re calling for Trudeau and Miller to give permanent resident status to all migrant care workers to all workers inside Canada without exclusionary requirements like English assessment and education accreditation.”

That call is even more urgent now as two permanent residency pilot programs are set to expire on June 17. The Home Child Care Providers and Home Support Worker Pilot Programs were created in 2019 by Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

The group says those who have not yet been granted PR status could face deportation or become undocumented.

“We don’t know if the government is going to extend or replace the program so right now the care workers are feeling the crisis,” said Dulaca. “They don’t know what’s going to happen to them … most of the care workers are losing status because it’s also hard to maintain work permits.”

This is one of several issues being raised by the larger Migrant Rights Network. They’ll be holding a rally March 16 at 12 p.m. at Christie Pits Park.