TIEDI STUDY: Caregivers most educated among immigrant groups

TIEDI STUDY: Caregivers most educated among immigrant groups

TORONTO – “The educational level of LCP (live-in caregivers) principal applicants has increased steadily over the years, and is now very high,” said a recent study.

In 2009, 63 per cent of caregivers who achieved permanent resident status held a bachelors degree or higher (a much higher proportion than for other immigration categories), the same study said.

This was one of the key findings of the study, “Profile of Live-in Caregiver Immigrants to Canada, 1993-2009,” authored by Philip Kelly, Stella Park, Conely de Leon, Jeff Priest

The study was published in March 2011 by the Toronto Immigrant Employment Data Initiative (TIEDI), a York University-based research initiative that seeks to assist organizations whose mandate includes the better integration of immigrants into Toronto’s labour force.

Among the study’s other key findings are:

“* There have been significant increases in arrivals through the Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP) in the late 2000s, and an increasing number of child dependents arriving to join their parent.

* Data on entry into the LCP suggests that high levels of immigration in the LCP category will continue in the coming years.

* Although a majority of principal applicants are aged between 20-40, an increasing minority are aged over 40.

In recent years, LCP principal applicants are also more likely to be married than in the past.

* The overwhelming majority of LCP principal applicants are women, and are from the Philippines, although a small proportion of men, and Indian-born immigrants, have arrived in recent years.

* Ontario is heavily over-represented as a destination province for LCP immigrants, while Quebec is underrepresented.”

The data was derived from an administrative dataset made available to researchers by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The data refer to immigrant landings under the live-in caregiver program.The first caregivers under the LCP arrived in 1993. The data do not give information about those who arrived under earlier schemes for domestic workers.

The Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) was officially started in 1992 under the Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Part of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, the LCP is structured to meet demands for private, live-in care for children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. The program offers principal applicants the possibility of permanent residency under the condition that they complete 24 months of live-in care work within a 36-month period.

“As of April 1st, 2010, following consultations with advocacy groups and a May 2009 report by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, live-in caregivers now have up to 48 months to fulfil the mandatory 24-month live-in requirement. Other regulatory and administrative changes around health insurance, medical examinations, workplace safety, recruitment and third party fees, transportation costs, and employment contracts were also implemented,” the report said.