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