Canada’s Live-in Caregiver Program

Like many developed nations, Canada has a shortage of care workers available to live in the homes of the client for whom they are providing care, and this is expected to become more acute with the aging of the population. As one way to solve such a shortage, the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP), a federal work visa program, was created. The LCP, established in 1992, enables workers to gain entry into Canada without having to meet the qualifications of the immigration points system, family sponsorship or refugee status. Though this program has typically been a means to bring in-home child care workers to Canada, in the context of in-home care needs among older adults there has been increasing discussion about these care workers as attending to older clients (see Box 28.1). Even though previous research has identified many issues that arise with regard to experiences of live-in caregivers (Grandea and Kerr, 1998; Pratt and PWC, 2003; PINAY, 2008), many of these studies did not differentiate among different types of caregiving (elders, children or disabled people). Those that do make a distinction tend to suggest that live-in caregivers of older adults experience more favourable working and living conditions than those who take care of children. For instance, in her research on experiences of Filipino migrant domestic workers, Parrenas (2001) finds that in both Italy and the USA, elderly live-in caregivers tended to receive better wages and treatment than children live-in caregivers.