By Mata Press Service

Immigration Canada has vowed to finalize permanent residence applications for up to 6,000 caregivers and their immediate family members by the end of the year.

It will also make at least 1,500 first-stage decisions on applications for the Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker pilots by June 30, 2021.

“Immigrant caregivers, who take care of our families and elders, are often separated from their own families, and the pandemic has significantly slowed down permanent residence application processing, keeping them apart from their families longer than we would have hoped,” said Marco Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

“With today's announcement, we're getting caregiver immigration back on track which will help reunite front-line heroes with their loved ones," he said.

The new public policy will take effect on May 3, 2021.

As of March 3, 2021, there were applications for about 12,000 caregivers and their accompanying family members in the processing inventory. This includes applications to both the Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker pilots but also cases that we continue to finalize from caregiver programs of the past.

As of April 8, 2021, an estimated 2,367 applications have been received for the Home Child Care Provider Pilot, representing about 86% of the number of applications that can be accepted for 2021. For the Home Support Worker Pilot, an estimated 516 applications have been received, representing about 19% of the number of applications that can be accepted in 2021.

Nearly 2,900 caregivers and their family members became permanent residents in 2020.

Canada has relied heavily on foreign caregivers and its Live-in Caregiver Program provides for an automatic pathway to permanent residence.

The current Live-In Caregivers Immigration program has gone through several changes over the years.

Immigration Canada has also announced that it announced an ‘innovative pathway’ to permanent residence for over 90,000 essential workers and international graduates who are actively contributing to Canada's economy.

These special public policies will grant permanent status to temporary workers and international graduates who are already in Canada and who possess the skills and experience we need to fight the pandemic and accelerate our economic recovery.

The focus of this new pathway will be on temporary workers employed in hospitals and long-term care homes and on the frontlines of other essential sectors, as well as international graduates who are driving the economy of tomorrow.

To be eligible, workers must have at least 1 year of Canadian work experience in a healthcare profession or another pre-approved essential occupation. International graduates must have completed an eligible Canadian post-secondary program within the last 4 years and no earlier than January 2017.

Effective May 6, 2021, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will begin accepting applications under the following 3 streams:

20,000 applications for temporary workers in health care

30,000 applications for temporary workers in other selected essential occupations

40,000 applications for international students who graduated from a Canadian institution

The streams will remain open until November 5, 2021, or until they have reached their limit. Up to 90,000 new permanent residents will be admitted under these 3 streams.

These public policies apply to workers in 40 healthcare occupations, as well as 95 other essential jobs across a range of fields, like caregiving and food production and distribution.

Canada faces serious demographic challenges. In 1971, there were 6.6 people of working age for each senior. Today, there are 3—and by 2035 there will be only 2.

Dr. Monika Slovinec D’Angelo, director of health at the Conference Board of Canada, said in a recently published op-ed that the problems facing those caring for people with dementia are acute.

Currently, more than half a million Canadians live with dementia. This number is expected to nearly double by 2033. According to the government of Canada, by 2031, the total annual healthcare cost of Canadians with dementia will have doubled to $16.6 billion a year from the current $8.3 billion.

Even before the coronavirus, the Canadian Institute for Health Information found that one in three caregivers experiences distress.

Contributing factors can include: providing nursing and medical care at home with limited instruction; navigating a complex and fragmented health-care system; and being a substitute decision-maker for someone who no longer has the mental capacity to make decisions for him- or herself.

“In many cases, these people have had to rely more heavily on a network of informal According to Statistics Canada, 35 percent of the Canadian workforce provides informal care to someone with a long-term health condition such as dementia, with women aged 35 to 44 making up a large proportion of caregivers.

COVID-19 increased informal-care demands, thus affecting entire families. Many people have been forced to balance caregiving with the demands of a full-time job while raising children who are learning at home, said Dr. D’Angelo

As a result, since the start of the pandemic, nearly 100,000 women have left the Canadian labour market entirely, compared to fewer than 10,000 men, according to an RBC Economics report. The pandemic has exposed the systemic weaknesses in the care of people with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

“As Canada’s population ages, more investment in infrastructure that optimizes home and community care services is essential,” said D’Angelo.

“Yet, sadly, Canada’s health-care system doesn’t adequately recognize the impacts of dementia care on family, friends, and other loved ones. Timely diagnosis and treatment of dementia can improve the prognosis of patients, and enhance the health and well-being of caregivers in the process,” she said.