Advocates call on Ottawa to reform rules for thousands of migrant care workers

Advocates called on the federal government on In‐ ternational Women's Day to overhaul what they say are unfair rules for migrant care workers in Canada.

The Migrant Workers Al‐ liance for Change, an advo‐ cacy group, organized a panel of speakers on Friday to draw attention to two fiveyear caregiver pilot pro‐ grams, the Home Child Care Provider Pilot and Home Sup‐ port Worker Pilot, that are set to expire on June 17.

The alliance says the pro‐ grams, which are specifically for applicants with work ex‐ perience in care giving, are a pathway to permanent resi‐ dency in Canada.

"These programs are scheduled to terminate on June 17, 2024, but thousands of care workers are already unable to apply for perma‐ nent residency and are at risk of deportation due to unrea‐ sonably high language and education requirements," the group says.

Among the language re‐ quirements is a required En‐ glish test score of level 5, ex‐ ceeding even the require‐ ment for Canadian citizen‐ ship, the group says.

The federal government's website indicates applicants must demonstrate that they have attained that profi‐ ciency in either English or French in reading, writing, speaking and listening. They must prove that they have completed one year post-sec‐ ondary educational credenti‐ al or a foreign educational credential equivalent.

Jhoey Dulaca, an orga‐ nizer of the alliance, said mi‐ grant care workers are mostly racialized women, many from the Philippines and Indonesia, who come to Canada to look after children, the sick, and elderly people.

She said getting perma‐ nent residency is already a punishing task for thousands of migrant care workers. And the imminent closure of the two pilot programs, both of which started in 2019, will leave many more workers in limbo.

"Together we are here to call on Prime Minister Trudeau to give all migrant care workers in Canada per‐ manent resident status for all without education and En‐ glish requirements," Dulaca said.

Dulaca said the group de‐ mands that the government regularize all undocumented care workers, provide a path to permanent residency with‐ out strenuous language and education requirements and to remove caps on how many permanent residency appli‐ cations can be processed.

Workers 'don't know what's next,' advocate says

Arlene Aguillon, a care worker from the Philippines, said she works gruelling hours looking after three chil‐ dren, and has not been able to get her education accred‐ ited.

"My hair has started falling off and it caused me depression," she said.

Migrant workers won the right to study in 2023, but the alliance says many are un‐ able to pay high international tuition fees or study while working full-time.

Mary Gellatly, a commu‐ nity legal worker with Park‐ dale Community Legal Ser‐ vices, said many workers "don't know what's next" be‐ cause the government hasn't made it clear.

"Many people are living in limbo, worried about what's going to happen," Gellalty said.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada did not respond to requests by CBC Toronto for comment.