Showing posts with label Sponsorship Process. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sponsorship Process. Show all posts
A lot of people want to know what timeframe to expect when hiring/sponsoring a nanny from overseas. Here is the run down of our timelines:

 Job advertising, recruitment, and candidate selection:
8 WEEKS

August 1: Posted job ad to Facebook, Kijiji, and in local community
August 1-8: Review applications
August 10-13: 1st round interviews
August 14: 2nd round interviews
August 15: Obtain business number
August 15 - September 3: Wait on arrival of PD7A from CRA
September 3: Create job bank ad
September 17: Job bank account validation and job posted
September 22: Job bank ad re-posted due to job bank error
October 6: Job bank posting close
October 6: Final candidate selection

LMIA application:
3 WEEKS

October 6: LMIA application submission
October 7: Mail original copies of contract to nanny (takes 7-10 business days)
October 20: Verbal approval of positive LMO (usually ESDC will have a case manager contact you to ask you a few questions about your application and provide you with the verbal approval)
October 24: Official positive LMO letter received in the mail
October 25: Scan and email copy of positive LMO, and financial documents to nanny (takes 7-10 business days)

Document preparation (by nanny) and work permit application:
4 WEEKS

October 26: Compile documents already obtained (ones that she didn't need LMO to apply for, including Work Permit Application, Family Information Form, Cenomar, Highschool Diploma, Positive LMO, Proof of Employer's Financial Ability, Employment Contract, Birth Certificate, Reference Letters, Police Certificates)
October 27-31: Undergo medical assessment & apply for NBI certificate
November 1-16: Wait on arrival of medical assessment and NBI certificate
November 17: Submit work permit application (told by Canadian Embassy that current processing time is 4-5 months. The CIC currently has 6 months posted on their website, only time will tell...)

A pause for words from Dr. Seuss:

...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. 
Everyone is just waiting. 

Work Permit Application Approval:
17 WEEKS

November 17: Submit visa application
March 11: Nanny receives request to submit her passport to Canadian Visa Application Centre
March 16: Nanny submits her passport to Canadian Visa Application Centre
March 17: Nanny receives invitation to attend free pre-departure orientation seminar on living and working in Canada
March 20: Visa approved! (and nanny gives 1-month notice to her current employer)
March 24: Nanny goes to collect her passport and documents from the Canadian Visa Application Centre

Final Steps:
4 WEEKS

April 2: Flight booked (by me)
April 23: Nanny arrives!


 Total timeframe for overseas sponsorship from start to finish: 
8 months and 3 weeks






The 7th step in the sponsorship process is to send your future nanny the positive LMO and supporting documents so that they can proceed with their work permit application. If you followed my previous instructions ;-) then you should have sent two original copies of the employee contract (one for your future nanny, and one for their application) weeks ago, so that it would be there now, but if you didn't do this ahead of time, then you'll want to send it immediately. It takes between 4-7 business days for most overseas mail. I mailed the contract to Hongkong and it took 5 business days to arrive. I sent it via regular mail. I could have spent $70 for express post, but it would take the same amount of time, and the only difference was that it was guaranteed (vs. regular mail where I suppose they don't take responsibility should it take longer). I went with regular post and it paid off because for less than $5 it got there in the same amount of time as the advertised express post timelines.

The employee contract is the only document that is required in original copy, the other two documents that are required for the work permit application are 1) your financial statements. Your future nanny will need copies of your CRA Notice of Assessment, or other approved documents for the past two years (you can send these documents directly to the visa office if you're not comfortable with the nanny seeing them, but it seems more complicated to me because then you're trusting in the visa office to keep them on file until the rest of the application shows up or you're delaying the process if you wait until you get the request from the CIC to send them in...for us even a one day delay is undesirable, but if you have more time and are more comfortable, you can send them in directly), and 2) Positive LMO letter. You need to send the letter, as well as Annex A (this will become evident when the letter comes in the mail). PLEASE NOTE: The documents cited above are specific to the work permit application from Hongkong.

Don't have a scanner?...have you heard of the Tiny Scan app??...it's a fantastic free app for your phone that allows you to just take a photo, and then it converts it into a scanned document. I love it!


So to review, your future nanny needs original copies of the employee contract, and scanned copies of your financial statements and the positive LMO letter. Once your nanny has the documents, they can go to the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) for clearance, then they obtain their medical, and finally submit their documents.

A note on the nanny's work permit submission requirements

We screened in our interviews for candidates who were familiar with the work permit process. Our future nanny also has family in Canada who have previously gone through the process, so she can seek advice from them if need be. The documents required for the work permit application are quite substantial. As such, your nanny should have started compiling the documents when they were offered the job, but if they didn't do this, then you can expect that it may take some time for them to get everything in order. Our nanny had everything prepared and ready to go, and just needed the documents from us in order to proceed.

If you're wondering what documents are needed for their application, they are listed below, or you can find them on the CIC website or click HERE for the list below. PLEASE NOTE: The documents listed below are specific to candidates who are applying from Hongkong. There are slight variations to the documents required based on the country where they are residing during their application.



Once your future nanny submits her work permit application, you are just waiting on the approval and then you can book their flight. The CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) office has a website where you can check current work permit processing times in various countries.
*Please Note: My experience with filing for the LMIA was based on the previous rules prior to Nov. 30, 2014, however I have updated the link to the current LMIA application forms and this post is still relevant under current rules.

Well here we are, after months of doing everything from considering the option of a live-in nanny, to interviewing, and completing the paperwork, it's all come together. It suddenly feels much more "real" when you get to this point. I just submitted the LMIA (Labor Market Impact Assessment) and I'm on the edge of my seat (and probably will be for 8-12 weeks) waiting to hear on our (hopefully) positive assessment.

I did plenty of research prior to completing the LMIA (Labor Market Impact Assessment) and the two tips I heard most were:

  1. Fill in everything!...If there's something that doesn't apply (like a fax number) write "n/a" but don't leave it blank. 
  2. Ensure that you provide all of the documentation. You don't want the whole process to be held up because you accidentally forgot to submit your son or daughter's long form birth certificate (or for submitting the short form instead), so pay attention to detail and submit everything that they ask for. 
All told, I was surprised at how straightforward the application was. I was expecting something very intimidating, and perhaps (at times) over my head, but it was very clear. I went above and beyond to provide every document that could be potentially useful. For example, the CRA still has my maiden name on file (even after changing it with Service Canada...a conundrum in itself) so I submitted a copy of my marriage license since the application cites my married name. The application asks for a rundown of where you advertised (to ensure that you've adequately searched for a Canadian worker) so I provided a document that listed all of the applications we received and categorized them as follows: Canadian citizens, permanent residents, individuals applying from out-of-country, then I further categorized them by incomplete (applications where only a resume, and no cover letter was submitted) and complete applications, and then once further by adequate (with childcare experience) and inadequate (no prior experience) applicants. I felt that this demonstrated the time that I took to thoroughly review all of the applications in search of a qualified Canadian worker. Now this may have been totally unnecessary, but when we have $1,000 and our son's childcare future on the line, I figure the extra organization and information seems like a good idea. 

Originally I had planned on sending the application by priority post, but once I determined that the address involves a P.O Box, I realized that perhaps this was unnecessary. My guess: they probably check the box once a week or so, thus priority post could be quite pointless. 

I am very much hoping that our application is processed quickly as time flies through this whole process. If there's one thing I've learned it's that it's never too early to start when you're thinking about hiring a live-in nanny. I thought I was so ahead of the game leaving myself 7 months, and here we are 2 months later and I've just submitted the LMIA because the truth is that each step (like filing with the Job Bank, but needing to wait two weeks for the CRA to send a PD7A in order to validate the account) takes so much longer than one might anticipate. I just hope everything gets done on time.

You can find the LMIA application HERE.

For more tips on filling out the LMIA, see my post on our positive LMO, click HERE. 




Developing a sound employer/employee contract is important for any type of job, but particularly when hiring a nanny because it's required as part of your LMIA application. Did you know that developing your own contract can mean longer processing times for your LMIA application?! When you write your own contract the Federal Government needs to enlist a lawyer to compare the document to their standard contract and ensure that it measures up, so use the free template (click HERE) provided by the government to ensure a speedy processing time.

Drawing up the contract is pretty straight forward and in fact, the government even provides a guide on how to fill in the template contract document. While it's not necessary to have the original document signed by both parties upon submitting it for the LMIA (but it will be required when your future nanny applies for their visa), I had our future nanny sign it and scan/email it to me so that I could include the scanned signature to put my mind at ease.

The contract that's necessary for the LMIA application really only covers the basics, but I would recommend putting together a document that covers all of the household specific items; rules (for example: will the nanny be allowed to have guests over to your home etc), expectations, specific tasks etc. This document should be included in the binder/booklet (template coming soon!) that you create and provide for your nanny upon his/her arrival or beforehand if you so choose.

Other questions about writing the contract?...just ask.
Preparing for interviews can take a lot of time and effort in researching the right questions to ask which is why I've developed a whole Resources section of my blog that will provide you with everything you need. There, now you can take the time that you would have spent researching, and go do something you enjoy.

Check out the Resources section for: 
  • Free interview guide templates (1st and 2nd round),
  • Skype interviewing tips and tricks, 
  • Information on prepping and basic how-to
You can also check out our own interviewing journey in the Life & Reflection section.

Good luck! And remember, "success is where preparation and opportunity meet" (Bobby Unser).
If you're heading up the process of finding a nanny yourself (ie. sans agency), then here's a quick tip: make sure you keep on top of every step of the process to keep things moving efficiently. My PD7A came in the mail quite some time ago and I sent it in immediately to the Canada Job Bank to validate my account and get my job ad processed. Well today I noticed that the job still wasn't posted, so I decided to call the good folks at the Canada Job Bank. Turns out they had made an error and only ran the job posting for one day almost a week ago. Now I'm not criticizing the job bank because everyone makes mistakes (and they were so friendly and apologetic), but it just goes to show that you need to do your due diligence and call the appropriate people every step of the way. It's a good thing I called because they were able to get the job posting duplicated and posted within a few hours, but to think we wasted a whole week just assuming that everything was moving along as it should and if I hadn't called then the error wouldn't have been picked up at all, so pick up that phone and make it happen!...and always remember that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. ;-)

Related Posts:

 Process Overview
Step 2: Writing a Job Posting
Step 3: Filing with the Job Bank


*Updated LICP guidelines requires you to post on the Government of Canada's Job Bank, use 2 or more additional methods of recruitment (job boards, websites, print ads etc) and target underrepresented groups. For more information, visit the government website at: http://www.esdc.gc.ca/eng/jobs/foreign_workers/high_low_wage/low_wage/index.shtml 

In order to sponsor a foreign worker, you need to first demonstrate that you’ve conducted a domestic search for a caregiver. This domestic search should be exhaustive and should include posting your ad to the Canada Job Bank (required) and posting to a minimum of two other sites/media sources like Care.com or Kijiji, or in print media. We posted on the Job Bank, on Kijiji, on local community boards at libraries and recreation centres, via a print posting handed out by a friend's local nanny to her networks, and on care.com. My experience in posting for a domestic worker has been that (as I had been told ahead of time), they don’t really exist. In all of the posting that I’ve done, I’ve received maybe 6 applications (compared to 110 applications in 24 hours that I received posting for sponsorship applicants) who have just not been qualified enough (no childcare experience) for me to consider them. It's pretty understandable why it's difficult to locate a domestic worker since the job pays minimum wage and requires cooking and cleaning in addition to childcare. From what I've read (and been told), most domestic childcare professionals aim for live-out positions that pay 2-4 times the salary and require child minding exclusively. 

When you go to post your job bank ad, you’ll need your business number to get started, and then once you’ve completed the posting, you’ll need to validate your account by sending in your PD7A which is a Statement of Accounts for your business payroll account. This might sound daunting, but guess what??...the good folks at the job bank are just as helpful as the CRA! (lucky us… #GoCanada!) After I completed my online posting, I received a personal phone call from the job bank the next day notifying me that they had received my submission and explaining the account validation to me. They even provided me with the option to either fax in the PD7A or email it in…I picked email because I live in 2014. ;-) …but I think it’s awesome that they provide the fax option for those less internet savvy.


The PD7A is automatically mailed to you by the CRA when you file for your business number. It should take about 10-14 days (from what I read) to get to you. I received a Statement of Accounts for my personal income tax account and submitted that (yes this blog does prove that you can have some hiccups on the learning curve and still do this on your own) so what did the job bank do?...they immediately called me to walk me through it. I figured maybe they just wanted to make sure that my husband and I (having both of our names under the business number filing) didn’t have any outstanding debts with the CRA, but this was an incorrect assumption. In fact, I had submitted the wrong form, but the rep from the job bank was again very helpful, albeit having a little chuckle at my expense (hey I can laugh at myself too), so I called the CRA and they apologetically offered to mail another copy of the PD7A. Once this arrives, it will be easy to validate the account and be off to the races. Quick tip: when I send in the account validation, I'll also change the closing date of the posting (since it needs to be up for 14 days). It’s easiest to specify the closing date once you’ve received the PD7A because you can’t really decipher how long the whole process will take upfront.

Look what finally showed up in the mail!...it's the PD7A :-)
PLEASE NOTE: If you are interested in hiring/sponsoring a caregiver who is already in Canada, then the advertisement requirements of the process are waived. Once you select your candidate, you can move right along to filing the LMIA.

PLEASE NOTE: The above post was written as per application to the program prior to Nov. 30, 2014. Under the new LICP rules, you must post your job ad for 4 weeks (rather than 2). 
Aside from the job bank which requires a fairly straightforward and lacklustre ad written specific to their guidelines (see their website), my approach has been to write a posting that I hope will provide candidates with a feel for me and my family. Here’s a sample of our ad:


 Seeking Live-In Nanny

We are a friendly, loving and playful family with a 5 month-old son, Logan, and a golden retriever, Orly, seeking a live-in caregiver for our son. Our household is vegetarian and meals are cooked vegan.

We are seeking a patient, fun, caring, and hardworking individual who is comfortable with dogs. This individual will take our son on walks, outings and to attend several local programs at the library and learning centres, so someone who enjoys being active in the community is a must. This individual should be playful, and enjoy music, physical activity, and games. We both work from home and require flexible hours. The selected candidate will work 30 hours/week spread across weekdays and weekends, daytimes and evenings. This individual will be responsible for light housework and cooking some of the time as well. Proficiency in the English language and minimum 1-year experience as a full-time caregiver for children are a must.

We live in Toronto’s East End (Beaches) in a wonderful neighbourhood with access to TTC and a pedestrian lifestyle with shops, restaurants, and cafes nearby. Nanny will be treated as one of the family and will be provided with lovely living quarters with private bedroom, side entrance, as well as a TTC Token allowance monthly. We are offering $11/hour (minus room and board). We are happy to take on a sponsorship and are considering nannies that are currently in Canada, as well as those who aren’t. Starting February 2015.

Excellent references must be provided.  Non-smoker please.  Current First Aid and Infant CPR.


Interested applicants should email cover letter and resume to Jenn at (insert email here).
Obtaining a business number is the first step in the process to hiring a nanny.

When it came time to obtain a business number, I thought “hey, no big deal right?”…wrong! I was so confused looking at the form. There are entire sections that you don’t need to fill out since you’re not an incorporated business which I found quite confusing (Dear CRA: should you ever read my blog, I’d like to ask, have you ever considered making a special business number acquisition form for those seeking a caregiver? We would be ever so grateful). So as I went through this lengthy form trying to decipher what to do, I decided to call the CRA for some support and guess what?...they are super duper helpful! Every time I call them I consider what a great job they’ve done hiring fantastic people for their positions (maybe their hiring department wants to help me out in my nanny search ;-) Actually as luck would have it, my mom has many years experience in HR so when you get to the section of template interview guides that I’ve created, you can secretly thank her). So the representative on the phone walked me through the form and told me which sections I needed to fill out, which ones to leave blank, and which ones to simply write “nanny” on.  It ended up being really easy with his help (wish I had written his badge number down so I could give him a shout out).


You can file for a business number online in about 5 minutes or you can mail in a form…OR if you’re like me, you can first print off the form, fill it in, mail it in, and THEN discover that you can do it in 5 minutes online, go that route instead and call it a day.

Link to online business number registration, click HERE.
There is/will be a post written about each step of the process to hiring a live-in nanny and these posts are written as I proceed through each step, but I thought a quick overview of the order of events might be helpful and then you can see more detail in each post.
  1. Obtain a business number 
  2. Write a job posting
  3. File posting with the Job Bank of Canada and other sources
  4. Interview Prep & Candidate Selection - domestic & foreign (available on Resources section of blog)
  5. Develop an employee contract 
  6. File for the LMIA (Labor Market Impact Assessment)
  7. Send selected candidate positive LMO (Labor Market Opinion) and necessary documents for him/her to process work permit
  8. Book flight/transportation upon work permit approval
  9. Obtain medical insurance for nanny
  10. Welcome your nanny!
Nanny&Me will walk you through each Live-in Caregiver Program requirement, but you can also find the information on the ESDC website HERE. 


Related Posts:

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I am SO excited to have my son, Logan, provided with the one-on-one care of a nanny in our home. The process of recruiting and keeping a nanny seems intimidating at times and there are so many things to think about and consider. The goal of my blog is to support, encourage and empower parents who are considering and pursuing the path of a nanny.

Nanny&Me provides free resources and information that will support you in finding, selecting, and keeping a great nanny. Nanny&Me will also share our family's journey on the road to building a strong and positive relationship with our nanny.

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Hi! (not sure the exclamation mark was necessary, but I'm just excited to say hello). My name's Jenn. I am a passionate mom, non-profit executive, real estate hobbiest, and athlete. I'm an enthusiastic person with a growth mindset. I love learning and growing every day!

Hi Readers!

Hi Readers!
I'm Jenn. I'm a mom, animal lover (vegan), and non-profit leader who is all about sharing resources and having FUN. I lead an active lifestyle that includes a plant-based diet and lots of running, cycling, swimming, outdoor recreation, kayaking, and all things active and outdoors.

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DAREarts empowers children and youth from underserved communities across Canada through arts-based leadership programs.

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