Karen Sargent's maternity leave is over in three months.
She will go back to her job as a physical education teacher, but needs to lock down childcare for her son Sawyer first.
"As two professionals, in this household, wanting to keep our careers going, the options for childcare out there, it's a difficult process," said Sargent.
Sargent tried to hire a live-in nanny that she found from Thailand but before she could do that, federal law required her to post the job locally so Canadians could apply.
She did and requested five years’ experience from applicants in her ad.
She says only foreigners applied so she sent the ad and her application in to Employment and Social Development Canada and waited for government approval to hire her foreign nanny.
15-weeks later, she got a rejection letter stating that her ad asked for five years’ experience when the permitted maximum is only two.
Sargent says the government doesn't tell you about that limit in any of its instructions.
"I really think this was not properly advised as to their decision, it just didn't make any sense as to everything I had done up to then in the process,” said Sargent.
Sargent contacted the agent that wrote the letter and escalated her complaint to his superior.
She says the agency basically admitted that the "two years or less experience" requirement isn't stated anywhere in its information and she had to start from square one by posting a new ad and paying a new $275 application fee.
CTV Calgary’s Consumer Watch Specialist Lea Williams-Doherty contacted the government to point out that she can't find its "two years or less experience" requirement in its information and to say that it is unfair to punish parents for not following a rule they didn't know existed.
The government acknowledged its mistake stating:
"...to avoid any future confusion...Employment and Social Development Canada has updated its published guidelines to clarify that....applicants may only request an individual who has worked as a full-time caregiver for a minimum of one year and up to a maximum of two years..."
That new language is on the government website today so now families won't run into the same roadblock in the future.
Karen Sargent ended up posting a second want ad and requested only two years’ experience this time.
Once again, only foreign workers applied for the live-in nanny position so Sargent took that ad and filed her second application and $275 fee.
This time she got approval to hire the nanny she wants and it only took two weeks instead of 15.
(With files from Lea Williams-Doherty)
