Nursery nurses

You might have red my listing of information websites for nurses in Canada, that I posted last week.

The initial post asked for information concerning nursery nurses - I overlooked the first word, sorry, please find enclosed the information for caregivers or nannies, how they are called here in Canada. You wont find the British expression nursery nurses here.

I received a pretty unpolite email (in fact two emails from the same lady). I dont know what her problem is....She might never ever in her life overlooked a word, congratulations you are of
genius!

But I assume the rest of you will see this recoverable error in a positive way:
You got a wealth of information about nurses a n d now you get it for nursery nurses as well.

Have a great week and enjoy your life

Doris Aubin

Here are the definitions used by the International
Nanny Association to describe various in-home childcare jobs.

Nursery Nurse — Title used in Great Britain for a person who has received special training and preparation in caring for young children, in or out of the home.
Works independently and is responsible for everything related to the care of children. The nursery nurse will have successfully passed the British certification examination of the National
Nursery Examination Board (N.N.E.B.).
For example, in Great Britain, home of the "classic nanny," training consist of 2,200 classroom and practicum hours over a two year period. At the end of training, the British nanny takes a national examination to be certified as a nursery nurse.

In other countries they are called Babysitter, Mothers Helper or Au Pair (most of the time without special training), Caregiver or Nanny (Canada).

Canadian Governmental requirements:

- You must have completed a high school education that is equivalent to a grade 12 education in Canada

- You must be able to speak, read and understand English or French. You must be able to function independently in a home setting. For example, you must be able to contact emergency
services if required and to understand labels on medication. You will be unsupervised for most of the day and may be put in a position of having to communicate with someone outside the home. A good knowledge of English or French will also enable you to read and understand for yourself what your rights and obligations are.

- Within the last 3 years, you must have completed 6 months of full-time training in a field related to the job you want in Canada; or, you must have completed 12 months of full-time paid employment (this must include at least 6 months of continuous employment) in a field related to the work you want to do in Canada. This training or employment could be in a field such as childcare, early childhood education, geriatric care, special education, pediatric nursing, first aid, any healthprofession, to name just a few areas.

-You must have a clean criminal record

There is a shortage of Canadians who are available to work as live-in Caregivers. In order to keep up with such a demand a live-in Caregiver Program was developed to bring qualified foreign people who are available to work on a live-in basis.

There is also the possibility of applying for Permanent Residence in Canada after completing at least two (2) years of work here.

The host family, which is your employer, will pay you no less than the minimum wage set by the province in which you are working.

Minimum wage in the Canadian Provinces:
Alberta $5.40
British Colombia $8.00 ($6.00)
Manitoba $5.40
New Brunswick $5.50
Newfoundland $5.25
North West Territories $6.50
Nova Scotia $5.50
Ontario $6.85
Prince Edward Island $5.40
Quebec $6.90
Saskatchewan $6.00
Yukon $7.20

From the salary above, your employer (host family) will deduct specific amounts in order to pay various contributions. Part of the taxes are paid by you, part of them by your employer and there are taxes paid both by you and the employer. The principal deductions are:

- Room and board (the amount will be specified in your contract)
- Income tax
- Workers safety and insurance
- Employment insurance
- Canada pension plan

As an example for Ontario the maximum your employer can deduct weekly for your room is $31.70 for a private looked room or $15.85 for a shared room.

For example if you have a salary of $1,540.00 and $369.42 is your room and board contribution, your net salary after paying the taxes will be $900.00(*).
(*)The above example is meant to be taken just as guidance.

In most of the provinces, overtime is paid 1½ and you will have 8 public holidays (New Years' Day, Labor Day, Good Friday, Thanksgiving Day, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day).

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pub/caregiver/index.html
http://www.cedarnannies.com/about.htm
http://www.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca
http://www.canada-nanny.com/index.htm
http://www.snellingpa.com/caregiver.htm:D :)

Thanks for taking the time to research and post all this info.

Are you a nurse over here? how are you finding it?

Clare

Thank you for the correction.

Please note I did not post anything nasty or not nice on this forum for others to read. I went to you directly when I told you of the error. I respected your privacy and your feelings by NOT posting your errors on this site for everybody to read. My emails to you were businesslike and professional, but it was a topic that is very important to me. And perhaps I overstated my case.

Please have the simlar curtesy to not slander me on this forum.

Sincerely,
S. L. Fraser

Is there a really desperate need for nanny's/nursery nurses. Trying to decide what's the better career to go for over there cos of pay hours etc..

I would say that you might want to consider an alternative source of employment. Nannies are ten a penny, and the equivalent of nursery nurses (Early Childhood Educators) are not paid that well. You will have to get the ECE certificate (which is embarassingly simple but will cost you time and $$$) if you want to [ahem] "teach" preschool, and if you want to manage a daycare centre or work with babies, they will ask for either that certificate (most likely scenario) or years of Canadian experience in Canadian daycares. I owned a daycare for a while (two years) so my comments come from direct experience in BC.

Gosh well I'm a bit stuck then !!!!!!

I am sure you will find another route to employment. It also depends on where you are - city based nanny jobs in Ontario, for example, are easier to retain than in BC. I have friends who came over as live in nannies in Ontario, did their time and then moved. Their experience was welcomed in BC and Alberta respectively, and leant credibility to the UK/Russian qualifications they had. Without exception, however, they had to get Canadian qualifications to progress in the field. My friend D got her ECE from Lethbridge (?) in AB via correspondence. It involved doing a practicum, during which time she could not take paid employment, but she completed it over two years. She owner/manages a daycare centre in BC near where I live and seems to do alright for herself.She bought a property and converted it into a centre taking infant and toddlers, pre-schoolers and before and after school care kids. Running costs are very high, but two of my kids are there and they always have a waiting list. I guess what I am trying to say is use the skills you have to access a business opportunity, rather than work for minimum wage for someone lese if you can!

Thanks that really does help!!!