PETITION TO END CAREGIVER PERMANENT RESIDENCE BACKLOG IMMEDIATELY

Whereas:

• The government recently announced their plans to address the issue of the Caregiver Permanent Residence (PR) Backlog with a promise to process most of the pending applications by the end of 2018;
• Caregivers who have been waiting years to reunify with their family members, face significant hardship, emotional stress, and the potential for family breakdown;
• Approximately 23,000 Caregiver applications are currently pending approval, with many waiting for five years or longer;
• The Federal government plans to limit PR applications from the Live-in-Caregiver or Caregiver Programs to 18,000 in 2017 and 17,000 in 2018;
• These numbers do not add up with the promise to end the backlog in 2018;
• We want to know how exactly the government will address the Caregiver Backlog given this limitation;
• We call for the immediate end to the Caregiver Backlog now.

We, the undersigned, Migrant Caregivers, Caregiver Advocates, Citizens, and Residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:

• Process all pending Live-in-Caregiver applications for permanent residence IMMEDIATELY;
• Prioritize PR applications that were submitted before 2012;
• Address the underlying issues of forced family separation for people caregivers and other temporary foreign workers by extending Permanent Residence on arrival and allowing ALL temporary foreign workers to bring their families with them to Canada; and
• Ensure that all migrant workers have access to settlement, health, and social services.