Recruiting a domestic worker from abroad

On this page

• About the program
• Employer eligibility to hire a domestic worker
• Detailed requirements
• How to apply
• Information for domestic employees
• Accreditation, in-person meetings and notification of the end of employment
• Disclaimer

For the purposes of these guidelines, the following apply: 

• Domestic worker (or employee) means a person who is in the domestic service of a member of the mission and who is not an employee of the sending State
• FMIOA means the Foreign Missions and International Organizations Act 
• Mission means a high commission or an embassy; it also means an international organization or other office enjoying privileges and immunities under the FMIOA
• IRCC means Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
• TRV means a Temporary Resident Visa
• VCDR means the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
• VCCR means the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations

The Immigration Liaison Unit of the Office of Protocol administers the Domestic Worker Accreditation Program and this webpage.

About the program

Accredited foreign representatives of a given rank may seek the Office of Protocol’s permission to privately hire a domestic worker from abroad and seek their accreditation pursuant to article 1(h) of the VCDR, article 1(1)(i) of the VCCR, or under the applicable headquarters agreement in the case of an international organization.

The Domestic Worker Accreditation Program is meant exclusively for employees who will be living with the employer during the accredited employer’s posting in Canada. Dependents of a domestic worker are not eligible for accreditation.

The mission, on behalf of the hiring foreign representative, must submit a request for permission to hire a foreign domestic worker. All Government of Canada requirements outlined on this page must be met in order for the Office of Protocol to render a favourable decision. This includes the requirement to credibly demonstrate that recruitment efforts to secure an employee within Canada have been thoroughly pursued and depleted.

Domestic workers who have previously been privately employed by an eligible foreign representative in the sending State or on another posting may not necessarily qualify under Canada’s program requirements. Nor do currently accredited domestic workers employed by an outgoing foreign representative automatically qualify for a transfer to another employer.

After the Office of Protocol has provided a “notification to proceed”, the perspective employee must apply for an official TRV. No visa application can be submitted to IRCC for the proposed candidate until the Office of Protocol has communicated in writing a favourable decision in response to the request for permission to hire a domestic worker and provided related instructions.

Matters related to the Domestic Workers Accreditation Program should be discussed directly between the head of mission (or hiring official) and the Office of Protocol’s Immigration Liaison Unit.

Accredited domestic workers are distinct from “members of the service staff” and from “local staff”. To learn about these other categories, missions should consult the following:

• Appointing members of the service staff
• Recruitment of local staff

Accredited domestic workers have labour and human rights

Accredited domestic workers are entitled to labour rights, human rights and social protections while they are in Canada. The Government of Canada condemns and does not condone any acts of exploitation, including labour exploitation and human trafficking.

It is the joint responsibility of the accredited head of mission and individual hiring foreign representative to ensure compliance with the provisions of Canada’s program. The Office of Protocol will systematically report all compliance lapses and alleged incidents directly to the sending State’s foreign ministry or, in the case of an international organization, to its most senior executive head. Missions that are non-compliant with Canadian requirements and labour standards will be excluded from this program.

As part of the approvals process described on this page, the Office of Protocol requests that all sending States demonstrate that they have developed and implemented an outreach and education program or code of conduct for foreign representatives posted to Canada regarding the labour protections afforded to domestic workers, and explain in detail the efforts undertaken to mitigate against risks of their social and financial vulnerabilities.

Employer eligibility to hire a domestic worker

The following accredited foreign representatives may seek the Office of Protocol’s permission to employ one foreign domestic worker. All other accredited foreign representatives are ineligible.

Full list of eligible employers

• High commissioner or ambassador
• Head of an international organization under the FMIOA
• Permanent representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)*
• Career consul general
• Deputy head of a diplomatic mission
• Deputy head of an international organization under the FMIOA
• Deputy head of a permanent mission to ICAO (or the most senior alternate representative).

The list above does not include chargé d’affaires ad interim unless they are an accredited deputy head of mission.

An employer may seek permission to hire a new foreign domestic worker during the course of a posting if the previous domestic worker has transferred to a new employer or completed his/her contract or effectively/verifiably left Canada.

Detailed requirements

Mandatory in-Canada recruitment

Prospective employers are required to demonstrate that they have made reasonable efforts to fill the position with a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident or Open Work Permit holder already in Canada. Reasonable efforts include at least three different recruitment activities for a duration of a minimum of four weeks in the three months before engaging a foreign-recruited domestic worker. Evidence of interviews conducted will be required, accompanied by a statement about why no suitable candidate could be engaged.

Recruitment activities must include advertising on the Government of Canada’s Job Bank. When advertising a position on Job Bank, prospective employers must use the Job Match service for recruitment purposes. When creating the job posting, prospective employers must select the "default" or “basic” option and enable the Job Bank's Direct Apply function.

Note that recruitment efforts in Canada should not be limited to live-in candidates unless there is a demonstrated need (for example, special needs child).

Financial and other contractual requirements

Prospective employers must:

• pay* a minimum wage equivalent to the federal minimum wage** (currently at $18.15 per hour) and offer a work week with a minimum of 35 hours and a maximum of 48 hours (no deduction for meals and accommodation is permitted)
• pay a minimum overtime wage per hour beyond a work week of 40 hours (currently at $27.23 per hour of overtime)
• pay the employee by cheque or bank transfer to the employee’s Canadian bank account (cash payments are strictly prohibited)
• produce complete, accurate and timely payroll, and provide a copy of this to the Office of Protocol on a quarterly basis (if payroll is prepared by a third party, example, the diplomatic mission, the Office of Protocol must be informed accordingly)
• pay for any costs associated with the visa application of the potential employee, including language-testing, travel to the immigration interview, and the immigration medical examination
• pay up-front the transportation costs from the employee’s country of current residence to Canada
• pay the transportation costs from Canada at the end of the posting or upon termination of the employment, whichever comes first
• pay the transportation costs when the domestic worker is required to attend any meetings, trainings or information sessions provided by Global Affairs Canada (the hiring official is not allowed to deduct the employee’s wages for attendance)
• ensure at all times that no other employment contract is signed in parallel to the contract approved by the Office of Protocol (for example, a domestic worker cannot simultaneously have a contract with the accredited foreign representative and one with the local mission or with the foreign ministry).

Provincial employment standards and workplace protections

Hiring officials must meet employment standards and occupational health and safety standards for the province of employment.

A foreign representative who fails to respect the terms and conditions of the employment contract will be prohibited from employing domestic workers in the future. Other restrictions may be imposed on the mission, including a domestic worker employment ban.

Employee qualifications

Employers must ensure that their prospective foreign-recruited employees have the following qualifications:

• be at least 25 years old
• be able to speak, read and understand English or French so that they can function in an unsupervised setting
• have the equivalent of a Canadian high school diploma
• have at least six (6) months of training and at least 2 years  of work experience as a domestic worker, caregiver or other related occupation acquired over the last 5 years.

The hiring of first- and second-degree relatives of the employer or the employer’s spouse is prohibited.

Proof of official language (English or French) abilities

Domestic workers are required to possess, at minimum, a beginner-intermediate level of proficiency in either English or French, equivalent to CEFR/DELF A2 or International English Testing System (IELTS) 3.5.

Due to a high number of past requests where the language capacity of the employee did not align with the level indicated by the employer, the Office of Protocol now requests the potential employee to present proof of official language skills. Domestic workers will need to:

• submit proof of secondary studies (high school) completed in English or French, or internationally recognized test results and
• demonstrate their language ability during an interview prior to approval of the visa

How to apply

Before the Office of Protocol can accept the presence in Canada of a foreign domestic worker with accreditation and corresponding privileges:

• The mission submits the employer’s request. The Immigration Liaison Unit will review, and if the request meets the applicable criteria, issue a notification for the worker to proceed with the submission of a TRV application
• The perspective employee submits a TRV application. IRCC will assess the prospective employee at interview and request an immigration medical examination. If successful, the employee will be issued a TRV for travel to Canada.

Part 1: Mission submission to the Office of Protocol

When a qualifying potential employer wishes to hire a domestic worker, the head of mission must submit an official request to the Immigration Liaison Unit, which includes the following documentation attached to the request:

• proof of in-Canada recruitment efforts, per section 3 above, to hire a Canadian citizen or resident, together with an explanation of why alternative arrangements through the Domestic Worker Accreditation Program are warranted
• a complete draft employment contract based on the Canadian model (available upon request) that includes, among other things, details regarding:

• wages, including overtime
• hours of work
• job duties
• suitable accommodation arrangements and workplace safety
• holiday and leave entitlements
• a commitment to allow the domestic worker to attend, at the request of the Office of Protocol, mandatory training, outreach, or information sessions from the Office of Protocol at the employer’s expense and without loss of wages
• termination, resignation, and repatriation terms
• proof of the employee’s language abilities in one of Canada’s official languages, in the form of internationally recognized language test results demonstrating the equivalent of CEFR/DELF A2 or IETLS 3.5 band or proof of completion of secondary school education in English or French
• proof of the equivalent of a secondary school diploma, for example the employee’s diploma, transcript or certificate; this proof must be in English or French (if it is in another language, you must also send a certified English or French translation, and if applicable, demonstrating that the language of instruction of the program was English or French)
• proof of health insurance coverage, or identification of a plan that will be purchased by the employer for the employee upon approval in Canada
• a statement that the potential employer has the financial ability to pay the wages and the ability to otherwise meet the workplace standards of the province of employment
• a statement that no other contract (for example, with the local mission or foreign ministry) has been concluded or will be concluded
• the full details regarding the awareness training or outreach program undergone by the employer regarding the labour protections owed to domestic workers.

The Office of Protocol will assess the request and supporting documentation and may schedule an interview with the prospective employer. If program requirements are met, the Office of Protocol will notify the hiring official that the prospective employee is invited to submit their application for an official TRV to Canada.

Employment contracts should not be signed until the Office of Protocol has issued the “notification to proceed”. Global Affairs Canada cannot be held responsible for breach of employment contract as a result of a prematurely signed contract. Note also that incomplete packages will be returned unprocessed.

The Office of Protocol cannot provide any information regarding the processing time for any application as this depends on the circumstances of each application.

Part 2: Employee visa application

If the request to hire a private domestic worker has been accepted in principle by the Office of Protocol (also known as the “notification to proceed”), the prospective employee is then required to:

• Apply for an official TRV according to the application instructions provided by the Office of Protocol
• Be deemed admissible to Canada by IRCC under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
• Participate in and pass the eligibility interview with the IRCC migration officer

Please notify the Office of Protocol and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada of the file number (V plus nine digits) once submitted by email to:

• IOBRROCDIPLO-DGOICORRDIPLO.IRCC@cic.gc.ca
• xdc-ircc@international.gc.ca

A migration section at a Canadian mission abroad will hold an interview with the prospective employee to confirm language abilities, work experience, education, any relation of the employee to the employer, and to ensure that the domestic worker has been informed about workplace rights in Canada and understands the terms and conditions of the employment contract.

The prospective domestic worker will have to pass a Immigration Medical Exam with a panel physician. A TRV will not be issued to a domestic worker who is inadmissible to Canada for medical reasons.

If there is no adverse information, the Office of Protocol will notify the relevant migration section to proceed with the issuance of an official TRV.

Information for domestic workers

See Accredited Domestic Workers in Diplomatic Households - About your Rights and Protections. A copy of this document must be provided to each domestic worker who has received instructions to submit an official TRV application.

Other related content: Income tax exemption

Accreditation, in-person meetings and notification of the end of employment

Missions are requested to provide pre-arrival notification of the employee three weeks before the expected arrival date as per the Accreditation services guidelines. Once the domestic worker arrives in Canada, missions must promptly submit a post-arrival notification by email, along with the following supplementary documents to complete accreditation. 

In terms of outreach and as part of the processing of the initial application for accreditation documents, the Office of Protocol will invite domestic workers to an in-person meeting to discuss the program and the employment contract. Additional in-person meetings will be held annually on a date set by the Office of Protocol. It is understood that the employer will cover the employee’s travel expenses to attend any meeting, training, or information session required by Global Affairs Canada; and that the employer will not recover these expenses from the employee (nor their salary), whether through payroll deductions or by any other means.

Per the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic (or Consular) Relations, missions must notify the Office of Protocol of the final departure of domestic workers in the employ of a person referred to in this policy, or the fact that they are leaving the employ of such persons, or the fact that they are discharged. Notifications should be emailed within 24 hours.

Before making any decision or taking any action with respect to the termination of an employee, the hiring official should consult a professional to ensure compliance with Canadian laws. The hiring official should also promptly alert the Office of Protocol.

Related content:

• Renewing accreditation documents
• End of functions and departure notifications, and the attestation of IDs destruction

Disclaimer

Global Affairs Canada’s review of the domestic worker request and visa application does not alleviate the responsibility of the hiring official to conduct appropriate background checks on their prospective employee to ensure the suitability of the employee and the safety and security of the employer’s residence and its occupants. At a minimum, employers are recommended to review references and conduct criminal reference checks.