Philippine Asian News Today Vol 20 No 20 | Page 10

IMMIGRATION & Mortgage 10 The Notary Corner By Editha Corrales Nelson PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY October 16 - 31, 2018 HIRING A FOREIGN CAREGIVER Immigration Consultant, Notary Public, Mediation / Arbitrator The Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) is closed to new applicants. You can only hire a caregiver through the LCP if you have: • found a caregiver who already has a work permit in the LCP and who is looking for a new employer and • been approved for a Labour Market Impact Assessment that shows the caregiver has agreed to live in your home If this does not apply to you, you can still hire a foreign caregiver. You and the caregiver can decide if they will live in or out of your home. You will need to get a positive LMIA from Service Canada and the caregiver must apply for a regular work permit. OVERVIEW Families can hire a foreign caregiver to provide care, in a private residence, to children, seniors or persons with certified medical needs, when Canadians and permanent residents are not available. Under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), families can hire foreign caregivers. However, the caregivers must: • provide care on a full-time basis (minimum 30 hours per week) • work in the private household where the care is being provided • meet the requirements set Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)/ Service Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) These families or private household employers will be able to hire foreign workers, on a live-in or live out basis, for 2 categories of in-home workers, which include: 1. Caregivers for children • Children under 18 years of age This category could include positions such as: • Child care provider, live-in caregiver, nanny (NOC 4411) 2. Caregivers for people with high medical needs • elderly persons, 65 years of age or over • people with disabilities, a chronic or terminal illness. This category could include positions such as: nurse or • Registered registered psychiatric nurse (NOC 3012) • Licensed practical nurse (NOC 3233) • Attendant for persons with disabilities, home support worker, live-in caregiver, personal care attendant (NOC 4412) practical nurse • nurse aid or orderly • home support worker ** Strictly taken from www.cic. gc.ca Canadian Certified A Immigration Consultant, Certified Senior Advisor and a Notary Public in the City of Burnaby, Editha CAREGIVERS – OPTIONS Corrales Nelson’s preferred areas FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE of practice are Powers of Attorney, There are now three ways to Wills Preparation, International apply for permanent residence, Legal Documents, Name based on Canadian work Changes, Affidavits, Letters of experience, as a caregiver. Invitation, Statutory Declarations, If you are eligible, you can use Drafting of Business Contracts any of these options to apply. and other notarial services. For CARING FOR CHILDREN an appointment, please call: 604- PROGRAM 777-2757. You can apply through the The following should not Caring for Children class if you have provided full-time child care be construed as providing legal in a home in Canada for at least advice and information in this column is intended only as a two years. CARING FOR PEOPLE general guide and should not be WITH HIGH MEDICAL NEEDS applied to specific circumstances without further consultation. For PROGRAM You can apply through the more information on the subject, Caring for People with High contact Editha Corrales Nelson at Medical Needs class if you have 604-777-2757 or email: corrales@ been working in Canada for at shaw.ca. least two years as a: or licensed • registered How Does the Mortgage Stress Test Affect You? I wrote a b o u t MYLENE LIM this new Licensed Mortgage Specialist regulation last November and had a lot of inquiries how this would affect borrowers, so I thought I’d go through the new regulation again. In mid-October, OFSI (Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions) announced that effective January 1, 2018 the new Residential Mortgage Underwriting Practices and Procedures (Guidelines B-20) will be applied to all federally regulated lenders such as the big banks. The changes to the guidelines are focused on the minimum qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages, otherwise known as conventional mortgages. These are mortgages with down payment of 20% or more of the purchase price. With the new guideline, all conventional mortgages will undergo stress testing to qualify borrower at the greater of the five- year Bank of Canada benchmark rate currently at 4.99% or the contractual mortgage rate +2%, whichever is higher. What this means in layman’s term is that those purchasing or refinancing a home would find that their buying power would be reduced by a significant amount with the new regulation. It’s worth noting that the stress test doesn’t mean the borrowers’ mortgage will actually be subjected to the “stress test interest rate”. The borrowers would still be able to enjoy the contracted rate committed by the lender. However, the government is ensuring that should the rates go up, borrowers would still be able to afford the mortgage and would not have to default on the loan. How has this this new rule affected borrowers ability to purchase or refinance? Let’s look at a few scenarios: Purchasing a Home Using an example of a dual family annual income of $90,000 and a contracted rate of 3.54% on a 25-year amortization, the couple would be able to purchase a home of $620,000. But with the new guideline, the qualifying rate would be 5.54% (3.34% + 2% = 5.54%); therefore the couple would only be able to purchase a home of $510,000. A reduction of the couple’s buying power by $110,000. Refinancing a Mortgage Again, using a dual-income family income of $90,000 as an example. The current market value of their home is $775,000 and they have a mortgage balance of $400,000. Lenders would generally refinance the property to a maximum of $620,000 (80%) of the value, provided the couple qualifies to borrow the new amount. With a 3.54% interest rate on a 25-year amortization and a combined income of $90,000, the couple would be able to borrow the refinance amount of $620,000 and thereby avail of $220,000 from their equity. But with the new guideline, the couple’s income would only be able to support a refinanced amount of $620,000. Therefore this would only give the couple $110,000 of extra funds from the equity once their current mortgage is deducted from the amount. No Mortgage Bundling Mortgage Bundling is when WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM primary mortgage lenders work with an alternative lender to provide a second mortgage. This allows mortgagors to borrow more funds than what primary lenders are willing to provide. Under the new guidelines, this will no longer be allowed with federally regulated financial institutions. Therefore borrowers are left with the alternative of sourcing funds from private lenders, which often come with a hefty fee and higher interest rate. These changes will greatly impact the majority of homeowners who currently have primary mortgages, bundled mortgages, considering refinancing their homes, or are looking to purchase a home. Please consult with a reliable and experienced mortgage broker to determine your best course of action. For more information, please feel free to contact me: Cel: 604 783 9097/ Email: [email protected]/ Web: www.MyleneLim.ca/ FB: Mylene Lim