Immigration minister calls on provinces to step up and protect foreign nannies
Blacklisting unscrupulous nanny recruitment agencies is one measure Ottawa is considering to protect foreign workers, who come to Canada under the federal Live-in Caregiver program, from being exploited.
An investigation by the Toronto Star found unregulated agencies in Ontario are charging foreign nannies up to $10,000 for a job in Canada, which in many cases turned out not to exist. These workers were then forced to do menial, and sometimes illegal, work to pay the agencies the recruiting fee.
To prevent this abuse, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is looking at blocking any recruiter with a record of abuse or violating the law from being issued labour market opinions (LMO), which are used to bring foreign workers into the country.
Once an agency is on the LMO blacklist, It would effectively be out of the recruitment business, said Kenney.
However, Kenney said he would like to see the provinces taking more responsibility for protecting these vulnerable workers. For example, the Manitoba government has implemented new legislation, which will take effect on April 1, banning agencies from charging placement fees to foreign nannies, beefing up enforcement and requiring every agency to be licensed by the province.
As well, nanny recruiters must be members in good standing of a Canadian law society, the Chambre des notaires du Québec or the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants.
