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MICHAEL
AND CHRISTETA’S Email us at: michael.wfg@hotmail.com QUICK LINKS INTERVIEWING TIPS & GUIDELINES FEES Local Caregiver Placement: $1000 plus GST Overseas Caregiver Placement $1500 plus GST Note: Due to changing legislation, the above fees had to be implemented in order to maintain the level of service and maintain adherence to guidelines, which require more time and effort to complete the required steps.
MISSION STATEMENT: To seek out good families who are in need of a responsible, caring and loyal person to be a live-in caregiver. Dedicated to introducing exceptional caregivers to such families. Why sponsor someone from overseas? A family that is considering inviting someone into their home to look after their children while they work wants to ensure that the person entrusted is reliable, honest and loving. We are committed to assessing the unique needs and requirements of your family and matching them to a caregiver whom meets and exceeds expectations. Filipino nannies already with host families here in Ontario have fostered a great reputation of excellence. These young women come here to provide you with a valuable service and earn the privilege of obtaining landed immigrant status in Canada. Typically this process takes close to 3 years, and our candidates are screened for loyalty to their contracts with their host families. Our Roster of candidates is not extensive, but it is roster of excellence and quality. To view our current roster, click on ROSTER. What does it take to sponsor one of our candidates? We will present you with a current roster of our candidates. This portfolio will contain an abstract of information about the young lady. This will include her resume and an interview conducted by one of us. We will endeavor to match the most appropriate caregiver to your family’s needs. After you have agreed upon a particular young lady, you would need to fill out some simple forms for Human Resources Skills Development of Canada (HRSDC) which administers the Foreign Worker Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP). Before you can submit these forms to HRSDC for assessment and approval, you are required to advertise the position locally for 3 weeks. Once you are approved by HRSDC to hire abroad, you will send an offer of employment and an employment contract to the prospective candidate. Your costs will be limited to the cost of the courier for the documents and any phone calls made by you to the candidate. The fee we charge is to the candidate, and not the family. We will look after making sure she arrives on time to meet your needs. Fwior more information on the Live-in Caregiver Program and it rules, please visit the HRSDC website at: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pub/caregiver/caregiver-1.html, if you would like to download a sample contract, as excerpted from the HRSDC website, click here to download it in MS Word format - samplecontract.doc. More valuable information for you, the prospective employer,is in another NEW section: INFORMATION . We have put online information available from the Ministry of Labour which oversees and regulates all aspects of employing someone in your home. How much does it cost to employ a live-in caregiver? Also, the number one question that we get when a family is considering to sponsor a live-in caregiver from overseas is the COST. THe general rule of thumb that we advise families is to anticipate an out of pocket monthly expense between $1500 to 1700 a month, depending upon the number of children, duties and hours, and the amount of experience a candidate has, whether already in Canada or coming from overseas directly. How long does it take to sponsor someone from oveseas? The second most asked question we get is the waiting time in sponsoring a live-in caregiver from overseas. The time actually varies according to the country. What we would like to do for you, as a potential sponsor, is explain how the process goes and provide a sample time-line for you. 1st step - sit down with us for a no-fee, no obligation consultation. Unlike many other agencies, we are willing to come to your home to introduce ourselves and our business to you. We are available evenings and weekends in order to accomodate your needs. We would discuss all the requirements and assess your needs. We would also present to you very highly qualified candidates. We would leave you with their dossiers, including application, photo, resume, letter of introduction and other documentation. Count this as DAY 1 in the process. 2nd step - after deciding you would like to proceed in sponsoring a caregiver from overseas, you will need to advertise the position locally first before offerring the position to a candidate overseas. This is done through the HRSDC Job Bank. However, we would undertake the time consuming process of interviewing and categorizing all local candidates on your behalf. HRSDC has tightened up the rules and oversight on this part of the process. We work hard to ensure that your application to sponsor does not get refused for insufficient efforts to recruit locally first. Count the end of this period as being DAY 15. 3rd step - is actually selecting the candidate to sponsor. It is advisable, however, to have already started the selection process during the advertisement period. For candidates located in Hong Kong, the use of a phone card (available at any Wal-Mart or convenient store) can reduce the cost of phone calls to just 5 cents a minute or less. Do not ask candidates to phone you collect. The cost to you can be well above $1.00 per minute!!! 4th step - After selecting your candidate, a sponsorship application would need to be filled out and submitted to HRSDC as quickly as possible. A employer-employee contract is also completed during this time too. HRSDC is currently processing applications rather quickly and you will likely have the employment validation letter (stating you as the sponsor for the live-in caregiver you have selected) in your hands by DAY 45 . 5th step - The employment validation letter/ LMO is sent by email to the candidate overseas. Typically, it takes 3 days to 1 week from the date you receive a copy of that letter for it to be in the hands of the candidate, because they often only get Sundays off overseas.. This will occur by DAY 52. 6th step - The good news is that once the candidate has both the employment validation letter, employer-employee contract, then she/he can submit these documents, along with a completed work permit application to the consulate in the country that she is living/working. This is where the processing times can vary. EXAMPLE 1 - HONG KONG - once the caregiver submits their paperwork, they typically get a response from the Canadian embassy within 3 to 4 weeks. That response will include a request for a police clearance and medical. From there, it takes an additional 3 weeks to process the medical and get the results. If the results are accepted by the Canadian embassy (never had anyone fail their medical in 9 years of doing this), then the Canadian embassy will issue a request letter for you, the employer in Canada to prepare your Notice of Assessments for last two years (both husband and wife) along with some form of proof of address to be EMAILED or FAXED directly to the embassy. They do this to weed out those families who cannot afford the cost of a live-in caregiver. The calculations will vary, but a general rule of thumb is that if your family makes a combined $70,000 GROSS income per year, then very unlikely the embassy will deny your caregiver receiving her work permit. This last part takes approximately 2 weeks, and the visa is ready for pickup. So the total processing time in Hong Kong can vary from 2 to 3 months (and if any paperwork issues arise for the caregiver, then there can be additional time added to that figure). EXAMPLE 2 - PHILLIPINES - due to a growing number of application every year being received from candidates located in the Philippines itself, the processing time has become quite prohibitive. The consulate's website even indicates this by stating that one should expect a processing time in their office between 18 and 24 months. Even though we have some incredible candidates in the Philippines, it would NOT be fair to tell you it can be faster when it is not. Why choose Quality Caregivers? Our mission statement is not a slogan, it’s result of our desire to help deserving Filipino woman become landed immigrants by finding them families in need of a dedicated caregiver. We know first hand the advantages and pitfalls of the live-in-caregiver program. It is precisely because of the difficulties we have encountered in finding agencies that will assist relatives and friends in securing employers that we opened our business in 2002. It is also easy to understand that a young woman, who has never traveled outside of her home country, would be a bit overwhelmed by her new surroundings. We recognize that this does lead to some difficulties in assimilating into Canadian society. Therefore, we have pledged to go beyond just bringing these ladies here. We are committed to ensuring that the fit between you, the host family, and the caregiver, remains a happy and mutually beneficial arrangement. We welcome and encourage inquiries and concerns from the host family and the caregiver at anytime. Furthermore, we ensure that you and your caregiver have frequent and open conversations even before the caregiver arrives here in Canada. IMPORTANT NEWS FOR BOTH EMPLOYERS & CAREGIVERS Recently, several articles have been written exposing the scams out there. STAR INVESTIGATION: Part 2 Therefore: Special Advice to candidates registering with other agencies: If an agency does NOT give you the telephone number of the family that has hired you here in Canada, DEMAND TO GET IT. It is your right to have the number to communicate with your new employer. Any agency that tries to tell you an excuse on why you are not getting the number is more than likely NOT getting you a REAL employer (i.e. you will likely be released upon arrival). Also, ask around, try to find people who have come to Canada through that agency, and find out if "release upon arrival" happens alot or not. And for employers, do not support agencies that have a history of release upon arrival. They are hurting these ladies immensely. So even if they do legitimate work 50% of the time, there is one agency listed that brings in 200 per year, and if she has 50% legitimate clients, then 100 ladies are being taken advantage of. That is part of the reason why they brought back the advertising requirement and including the jobbank.gc.ca as part of it.
IMPORTANT UPDATE TO ALL EMPLOYERS FROM IMMIGRATION DECEMBER 2009 There is currently a new law that is pending final government approval (i.e. signed by Prime Minister and Governor General) that will see some significant changes occur to the Live-in Caregiver Progam (LCP). Click on the following links for the updates and information http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2009/2009-12-12.asp http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/laws-policy/rias_lcp.asp |
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