Opposing the Live in Caregiver Program

http://www.magkaisacentre.org/2013/04/03/combat-systemic-racism-by-exposing-and-opposing-canadas-neoliberal-agenda/

The history of recruiting immigrant workers to fill Canada’s caregiving needs has also coincided with a history of these workers uniting to demand basic rights, and fighting against the exploitative conditions of immigration policies like the Live in Caregiver Program. The focus of these movements have continuously been on caregivers rights to obtain permanent residency. This is seen from the movements in the 1980s that demanded the implementation of policies to guarantee foreign caregivers rights for permanent residency that led to the creation of the Foreign Domestics Movement and subsequently the LCP, to current activism efforts calling for permanent residency upon arrival, and scrapping the LCP altogether.

The call to end the LCP was ultimately acknowledged in 2014 when the federal government closed the program to new applicants. The LCP was replaced with two alternative pathways for foreign caregivers to obtain permanent residency. These included the Caring for Children, and Caring for People with High Medical Needs pathways. This has eliminated certain problematic aspects of the LCP like the live-in requirement. However, this is not enough to protect caregivers as their status in Canada is still dependent upon their employers, something that permanent residency upon arrival would address. In addition, the new structuring of the program places restrictions to caregivers entry into Canada. This includes capping the entry of caregivers in each pathway to much lower numbers than through the LCP. Further, the new pathways also include tougher requirements that presents additional barriers for caregivers.

“The Canadian government wants superwoman to take care of Canadian families but refuses to give them good wages and security of status in return”

Coco Diaz

This has led to the continuation of demonstrations, lobbying, and activism for the rights of these foreign caregivers in Canada, calling for permanent residency upon arrival and the end of neoliberal based policies that foster the unfair treatment of these workers.

As a result of the inadequacy of the 2014 changes the Liberal government has recently introduced two new pilot programs that allow caregivers the ability to obtain permanent residency through either the Home Child Care Provider pilot or the Home Support Worker pilot. These programs claim to give caregivers the freedom to change jobs quickly, provide them the opportunity to bring their families with them to Canada, and access permanent residency after twenty-four months. Although these changes may address some of the previous problems faced with the LCP, it still fails to recognize the systemic issues creating the exploitation of these workers, and the importance of granting them permanent residency upon arrival so they are not vulnerable to certain unfair or abusive work environments.

The fact remains that caregiving within our society has and still is undervalued, underpaid, and feminized. This lack of recognition of caregiving will likely remain invisible as long as women continue filling these roles. Further, the structural relationship of the LCP continues to be present within these new changes, which suggests that the exploitative nature of this work will continue.

Opportunity or Exploitation?

The Live in Caregiver Program (LCP) was implemented as a way to fill caregiving needs of Canadians while providing an opportunity for individuals come to Canada and achieve permanent residency through a 24 month period in exchange for their work. However, the reality of this program has failed to reflect this idealized version of the LCP and the expectations of a better life in Canada has often been met with unfair, and exploitive treatment of these workers.

“You just collapse from all those expectations that you have, hoping that you’ll have a good life in Canada, and then you’re treated as less than a human being.”

Kristina Torres

The hardships of the LCP begins before the workers are even admitted to the program as they are required to have extensive work experience and English proficiency. Further, the process of applying can be very costly as they have to pay money to companies to find an employer in Canada. Once they arrive in Canada the conditions of the LCP including temporary status, a live-in requirement, and an employer-specific work permit makes these workers vulnerable to various types of unfair and discriminatory treatment within their work environment. Further, because they face removal from Canada if they violate these regulations the workers put up with exploitive work conditions. This includes things like being overworked, underpaid, and experiencing various types of physical, sexual, or verbal abuses. In addition, these workers also experience the hardship from being away from their own families and lack of social support within Canada.

Once the workers complete their twenty-four months of caregiving work they are eligible to apply for permanent residency but still face long wait times to be able to sponsor their families. In addition, due to the societal devaluation of caregiving work many of these women who are qualified and experienced in other types of work have a hard time finding jobs due to the stigma of caregiving work.

The LCP has been a disheartening program for its lack of protection of foreign workers rights and the structures that have led to its creation need to be acknowledged. Although individuals in the LCP may have had positive experiences and are grateful for the opportunity to come to Canada, support their families, and obtain permanent residency. The problem with the program is the reality that the structural relationship of the LCP allows for these foreign workers-many of which are women, to be exploited without the adequate safeguarding measures of protection.

The LCP, neoliberalism, race and globalization

The implementation of the Live in Caregiver program (LCP) is indicative of the process of globalization and neoliberal ideologies in the context of a gendered and radicalized global hierarchy. The unequal proportion of migrant women of colour filling caregiving positions through the LCP can be explained by the presence of a global hierarchy that is constructed by the inventions of race and gender. This hierarchy has been achieved through a social classification of the population in terms of race and gender that creates power relations in biological terms, placing whites (colonizers) above brown (colonized) and men above women. Through the influence of capitalism these power relations has contributed to a division of labor that is racialized, gendered, and geographically differentiated. This is evident in the LCP, where many of the participants are women originating from income poor countries migrating to an income rich country (Canada) to fill caregiving jobs which are unvalued and underpaid within the society. Further, these ideologies contribute to the structural relationship of the LCP that enables the global exploitation of women’s labor who are place lower on the global hierarchy.

Neoliberal ideologies and the promotion of a free market also has influenced caregiving solutions within Canada as seen in the implementation of the LCP. These solutions to the care deficit have focused on the privatization of caregiving, allowing certain middle to upper class women the freedom to pursue their own careers at the cost of other less privileged women. In addition, the effects of a globalized free market and capitalism outside of the global north has created changes within work environments and cutting of social funding to things like health care and child care. This has made it hard for individuals to provide for their families, and explains why individuals may decide to enter into programs like the LCP. Further, the LCP is marketed in these countries as an idealized and over simplified way that claims participants will only have to work for two years then they will be eligible for permanent residency and be able to sponsor their families. The reality of this is not as ideal as it seems, as many caregivers face various inequalities and unfair treatment within their employment, and may have trouble achieving permanent residency, and reuniting with their families.

Gendered Work: Childcare is a Women’s Issue

“Caring for children – just one of many types of crucial care – is not a marginal or women’s issue. On the contrary, it has enormous significance for poverty (men’s, women’s and children’s), gender justice, national economic development and global inequality”

Fiona Robinson

Within our society there is an unequal proportion of women working within the care sector, and immigrant women fulfilling caregiving roles through the Live in Caregiver Program (LCP). This can be attributed to patriarchal ideologies that equate caregiving as a natural responsibility that is essential to being a woman. These ideologies are rooted within the culturally dominant concept of a gender binary, that defines women in direct opposition to men due to their inherent differences that are rooted within nature. Women are commonly attributed as being motherly, docile, and caring and men are represented as tough, unemotional, strong, and providers for the family. This essentialist view contributes to the construction of a gender hierarchy based on essential characteristics that are associated with femininity and masculinity that that place men above women within our society. The idea of these inherent gendered characteristics contributes to a gendered division of labor where women are naturally suited for domestic work and results in the feminization of caregiving work.

This gendered division of labor can be viewed through a Marxist feminist analysis that divides labor into productive and reproductive work. Productive work is associated with men and includes dangerous industrial jobs that are paid and valued within the society. In contrast, reproductive work is done by women and involves domestic duties, like cleaning, and caregiving, that are often unpaid and not valued. Within this model society fails to recognize the importance of reproductive work in enabling productive work to happen, and is indicative of the devaluation and invisibility of caregiving work within our society currently.

These patriarchal ideologies have been challenged through movements like the second wave feminist movement that addressed many issues including the importance of recognizing domestic work, and the importance of a national child care program in response to a care deficit that was created when women began entering the work force. This influenced the development of a national child care program (The Foundations Program) in 2005, that was almost implemented before a shift to a conservative government. This shift in the government resulted in the end of The Foundations Program and a neoliberal shift in how childcare was viewed, making childcare an individual issue rather than a societal problem. This left the burdens of caregiving once again on women, and through the continuation of the LCP, women of colour.

Canada’s Caregiving Problem and The Live in Caregiver Program

“Caring is not something that we must will ourselves to do it is something that we always, already do.”

Fiona Robinson

Although caring for others is an essential part of the human experience, the importance of caregiving in Canada has been greatly undervalued and unacknowledged. This has manifested in a variety of inadequate solutions to Canada’s need for caregiving from the Canadian government. Some of these solutions have included, the implementation of immigration policies that bring foreign caregivers (many of whom are women) to Canada. These solutions are influenced by neoliberal ideologies that deals with care in a privatized way, often placing the responsibility of care on women who are positioned lower on the global hierarchy, as seen in the Live in Caregiver Program (LCP).

Canada’s history of attempting to fill the need of caregivers with the migration of domestic workers from abroad has been complicated and often exploitative. Many of these workers are women from poorer countries and are motivated to work as a caregiver in Canada in the hopes of providing for their families and obtaining permanent residency. However, before the Live in Caregiver Program was implemented the right to permanent residency was often unfulfilled, with limited numbers of permanent residency status approved and preferential acceptance towards European caregivers. Further, due to the devaluation of caregiving work in the society these caregivers were often considered to be unskilled, invaluable, and disposable workers leading to unfair and discriminatory treatment.

As a result of the unfair and often exploitive treatment of these workers, they began to unite and through various demonstrations, lobbying, and activism demanded a right to permanent residency and regulations to protect them from unfair treatment. This contributed to the creation of policies that granted these foreign workers the automatic right to permanent residency through the Foreign Domestics Movement in 1981, which was later revised as the Live in Caregiver Program in 1992.

The implementation of the LCP allowed participants to enter Canada as a temporary worker for up to 3 years and granted the participant the eligibility to apply for permanent residency after 24 months of caregiving work (caring for children, elderly, or disabled persons). On the surface this program appeared to be a mutually beneficial situation that would meet the needs for caregiving in Canada and provide an opportunity for individuals from poorer countries to come to Canada and obtain their permanent residency. However, the conditions of the LCP including workers having a temporary status, a live-in requirement, and an employer-specific work permit has made these workers vulnerable to unfair treatment, and exploitative work environments.