Live-in nanny and caregiver program in Canada

Before hiring a foreign nanny or caregiver for Canada

The first thing you must do when you decide to hire your foreign caregiver is to apply for a business number. This number will identify you as an employer to the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency. You will use this number to remit all deductions from their salary. We can obtain the number on your behalf - it's a part of our services to the employer if you decide to use them.

As an employer, you have certain responsibilities to the caregiver. Your relationship with the caregiver is governed by the Employment standards of the province where you live. One you decide to use T&CS Canada to help you with the whole process, we will send you the relevant information for your province, in simple understandable terms.

In some provinces, Workers' compensation benefits registration and payments are mandatory. Find out what applies for your province. You want to be sure that you do everything right - accidents happen. The easiest way is to simply call the number listed for your province.

In most provinces, foreign workers are covered by provincial health care plans. Some provinces have a waiting period - your caregiver must be aware of this (it is a part of our services to the caregiver to inform her/him about this and other important facts.) It would be a great gesture of goodwill if you were willing to take over the cost of the health insurance for the time it takes the caregiver to qualifiy for the provincial coverage. The amount is not big - but for the caregiver it would enormous, as most of them come from countries where the standard of living is so much lower than in Canada.

You must deduct from the wages earned, provincial and federal income tax and amounts for Employment Insurance and Canada Pension Plan - The amounts are set in the CCRA income tax deductions tables. You will also have to pay your contributions for the EI and CPP. If you feel intimidated by the task of dealing with Revenue Canada, we can help. For a nominal fee, we will keep your records and give you monthly instructions on how much to pay to your caregiver and how much to remit to Revenue Canada. We will help you prepare the T4 slip and T4 summary and in case you have to let your caregiver go, for any reason, we will help you prepare the Record of Employment.

By law, you are required to pay your caregiver *at least* minimum wage. The minimum wage set by the provincial authorities in the Employment Standards Act is not necessarily the least that you can pay your caregiver. When you apply to the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada for approval of your employment offer and you offer less than they believe is proper and adequate, your application will likely be refused. If your application is approved, then you are bound by the terms and conditions of the HRSDC approval. If you promised to pay $ 9 per hour, (Even if the minimum wage in your Province is $ 8 per hour) you must pay $ 9 per hour.

Each province has different rules when it comes to overtime. It is your responsibility to check your provincial Employment Standards Act so that you can always adhere to the rules. If your caregiver must work overtime, you must pay her for the hours, usually time and half the hourly rate. If you ask your caregiver to stay at home, she is working. Therefore you must pay for the time, even if she is not doing anything but waiting for you to give her/him work.

You should always think about how you would feel if your employer asked you to work overtime without pay. (of course, if your job is on a salaried senior management level, you may not necessarily get paid overtime) Remember those times when you worked for a small company and counted every hour, since you would get paid for all of them - that's how it is for your caregiver right now. Please take the time to read our "Well-meant tips".

For caregivers abroad

For nannies in Canada

For Canadian families

Before hiring a foreign nanny or caregiver for Canada

New nannies