Foreign National Live-In Caregivers - April 2010

On March 22, 2010, the Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act (Live-in Caregivers and Others), 2009 (EPFNA) came into force. Under this legislation, fees or costs cannot be charged to foreign national live-in caregivers by employers or the recruiters who help them find employment.

You, the employer, must:

• Pay for the caregiver’s health insurance at no cost to the caregiver until he/she becomes eligible for provincial health insurance.
• Enroll the live-in caregiver in provincial workplace safety insurance (also known as workers’ compensation) or equivalent insurance if the former is not available.
• Pay for the services, fees and costs of a recruitment or third party agency if you are using one for recruiting the caregiver. Employers are not permitted to recoup recruitment fees from live-in caregivers.
• Pay for transportation costs for the caregiver to travel from the caregiver’s country of permanent residence to the location of work in Canada (where caregiving will take place). Or if the caregiver is already in Canada, the employer must pay the transportation costs for the caregiver to travel to the new place of work in Canada.
• Submit to HRSDC/Service Canada an employment contract with the Labour Market Opinion application to hire a foreign live-in caregiver. The employment contract must include the duration of the contract, duties of the position, wages, hours of work (including overtime, holidays, and sick leave), accommodation arrangements, as per provincial and municipal standards; transportation costs; health insurance; terms of resignation and termination; and registration for provincial workplace safety insurance.

You the employer must also:

• Keep records of the number of regular and overtime hours the live-in caregiver has worked for you on a weekly/monthly basis. The caregiver will need this information for their application for permanent residence.
• Review and adjust the foreign caregiver's wages to ensure they meet or exceed HRSDC's requirements (as per HRSDC's Wages table).
• Ensure that you are not employing a foreign national other than in a capacity they are authorized to work (you should ask to see, but not keep, their work permit to ensure that you are identified as the authorized employer and to confirm the duration of that authorization). Remember, you are not permitted to take away the work permit from the caregiver or keep it.
• Ensure that you are not employing a live-in caregiver without a valid work permit identifying you specifically as the employer.

Resources

• Frequently Asked Questions
• EPFNA Claim Form
• Information Sheets:
• Your Rights Under the Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals (Live-in Caregivers and Others), 2009
• Your Employment Standards Rights: Foreign National Live-in Caregivers
• Brochure: What Employers and Recruiters of Live-in Cargivers Need to Know
• Law: Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals (Live-in Caregivers and Others), 2009
• Poster: What You Should Know About The Ontario Employment Standards Act

Other Languages

Information Sheets

• Your Rights Under the Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals (Live-in Caregivers and Others), 2009
• Filipino [ 288 KB ]
• Spanish [ 41 KB ]
• Hindi [ 291 KB ]
• Your Employment Standards Rights: Foreign National Live-in Caregivers
• Filipino [ 293 KB ]
• Spanish [ 221 KB ]
• Hindi [ 84 KB ]