Many immigrant care workers reported feeling a sense of isolation not only at work but also at home. Although they allocate any free time to be with their families, their social life is limited. Most of immigrant care workers reveal that they have a few friends and those they do have are mostly those from their home countries. The problem is that they do not have enough time to spend with them. Since they all have busy schedules, they rarely meet and often talk on phone in order to maintain the connection.

Interviewer: What about your social life? Tell me about your friends.
Care Worker: I don’t have too many. I have... really I don’t have a social life. It’s sad. It’s not that I want it, but I hardly have any time for any of that. (Ontario Care Worker A12)

Interviewer: How did you meet the people from your country? At work or in some other way?Care Worker: Yeah. We have organization. Zimbabwean organization.Interviewer: In Hamilton?Care Worker: Yeah. So that’s where we meet. And even in church.Interviewer: How often do you get together with those people?Care Worker: Oh. We don’t get together much. We just talk on the phone usually.Interviewer: Because of your work?
Care Worker : Yes, because of our work and also we are ever busy. Going here and there. Unless if you go to church you feel all of a sudden, you go to church and meet people. But otherwise we talk on the phone. (Ontario Care Worker J1)

The majority of our interviewees do not have any Canadian born friends. The few immigrant care workers who do have Canadian born friends tend to have met them at work and do not see them very often outside of work time – maybe once or twice per year.

Interviewer: Do you have any Canadian born friends?
Respondent: No. Because here Canadian people they stick themselves. They don’t, like they don’t like to mix with immigrants. They are alone and to have a Canadian friend is very strange. (Ontario Care Worker A7)

Interviewer: Tell me about your friends. Do you have any Canadian born friends?
Care Worker: Yeah I do. Yeah I do.
Interviewer: Okay. How did you meet them? At work or...
Care Worker: At work.
Interviewer: How often do you get together with them?
Care Worker: Oh little. Once in a while. I could say once year or something. Get with each other, have fun, that’s once year. But we see each other at work. (Ontario Care Worker J12)

Although they know about the immigrant integration services available in their neighbourhoods, the immigrant care workers have had limited involvement with these institutions. In fact, most of them state that they went to these organizations only few times since they arrived in Canada in order to request technical help such as translation of documents, help with filling out the applications, preparing resumes, etc. They found these institutions generally helpful with respect to such services. Immigrant care workers reveal that in the case of more complex life problems, they tend to rely primarily on family, friends and sometimes ethnic organizations.

Interviewer: So let’s say that you are having a kind of a family problem or, you know, you lost your job or any kind of thing, any kind of problem, who do you go to?
Care Worker: We discuss it here with my wife.
Interviewer: So you never went to any immigrant organzations? SISO?
Care Worker: No. No. Well SISO yes because like at first we came here. Uh, we went to SISO for our orientation but no more.
Interviewer: Orientation for what?
Care Worker: Orientation like the immigration papers, the social security number, the permanent resident card, where to live. Things like that. (Ontario Care Worker A7)

Interviewer: Can you tell me about the last time you needed help with something and had to ask for help?
Care Worker: Communities have the church and the SISO. Church.
Interviewer: Okay. And can you be more specific? Give me some example of you had a problem and then you had to go for help, ask somebody for help such as SISO
Care Worker: Okay. In SISO for the papers, for the immigration and all this stuff.
Interviewer: Okay. So is that translation for papers or, um....
Care worker: Yeah. All that, like all immigration papers. And the church for my son’s help. Okay. My son has schizophrenia so we go talk with the father. (Ontario Care Worker J3)

I have friends. And my Scottish and Irish culture, I use them because I can talk about it in my own language. As they say here ‘when the shit hits the fan’ ... When that happens I really need to go into my own culture to say it in my own language, to hear it in my own language because that enables me to feel my way out of things. (BC Care Worker 7)

Given the difficulties cited above that many immigrant care workers face in their work and living environments, the question that remains is why they choose to stay in Canada and why they choose to continue working in care sector for older adults? Ironically, as already stated in the previous chapter, most of the respondents cite quality of life issues as the main reason for their decision to move to and work in Canada. Canada has the reputation of providing better salaries, and an improved economic standing than many of the immigrants’ home countries. Thus, immigration to Canada is seen by newcomers as a way to secure better life. In particular, as evident from the figure V.3, 38% of immigrant care workers we interviewed consider their current economic situation as better and 24% far better relative to their economic position if they were doing the same job in their own country. Elaborating on this, one immigrant care worker stated:

Interviewer: So you can earn more here than in the Philippines?
Care Worker: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Something economic. (QUÉBEC Care Worker 10)

The majority of immigrant care workers explained that by moving to Canada, they hoped to ensure not only better life for themselves, but more importantly for their families. Such a finding is not surprising if we take into consideration that 65% of them are providing financial support to other people (mostly the immediate and extended family), 64% are married and 68% have children (see figures V.4 and V.5 and V.6 respectively). Reflecting on this, one immigrant care worker said:

It’s for the future of our family and due to financial problems, that’s it (QUÉBEC Care Worker 14)

Indeed, most of the immigrant care workers that were interviewed felt the weight of responsibility of supporting family living back in their home country. In particular, 64 % of our respondents send money back home (see Figure V.7). Such statistics are not surprising if we take into consideration that out of the workers who have children, 25% do not live with them and 22% of those married do not live with their spouses (see figure V.8 and V.9). While they earn very little money here, what they can manage to send home goes a long way.

Care Worker: “Yeah. I like. It’s difficult because it’s a family separation but we have to because, you know, like this even a little bit of earning you can save a little bit.
Interviewer: Right.
Care Worker: And you have to. Because of the exchange rate. Our country is very poor and the exchange is very high.” (QUÉBEC Care Worker 8)

Despite many challenges that immigrant care workers face in long-term and home care settings for elderly, they are reluctant to quit their jobs due to their higher aspirations. In particular, the large number of respondents in itself reveals that they use their current job as stepping stone to move onto other jobs within or beyond the sector. When asked where they see themselves in one, five and ten years, many of interviewees respond that they plan on upgrading their education so that they can secure better positions in the care sector for elderly. In addition, many of our respondents reveal that they see their current job in the care sector for elderly as temporary and aiding their transition to other jobs in the healthcare field.

I have a will to learn more. ... In the future I want to go for RPN. ... And then if I can, little by little RN. I never stop learning. That’s my wish. (Ontario Care Worker A13, a PSW in a long-term care facility)

Once the license [for physiotherapy] comes in then it will be opening up. Then the main thing starts. Right now it’s just kind of going through the phase. And at the beginning as I mentioned tomorrow if I didn’t work, if I didn’t do this work, I get my license and I apply for the job they won’t give me the job because they will say ‘You don’t have Canadian work experience.’ So this is just to fill Canadian experience right now as an assistant. (Ontario Care Worker J13, assistant for physiotherapy in a long-term care facility in Ontario)

Some immigrant care workers involved in this study (mostly those who did not have any experience in healthcare in their countries of origin) reveal that they would like to end up in jobs outside of the healthcare field.

I just have a feeling I will get a job where I will deal with communities and issues, dealing with community issues and working as a coordinator of one of these cause I do enjoy working with people. And I know we have a lot of people from different nationalities, different communities in Hamilton. I would love to do something like that. ... bringing in my skills as a communicator and as a journalist but working in a similar environment. (Ontario Care Worker A12, a PSW in long-term care facility

Similarly, many respondents who came to Canada through the live-in caregiver programme did so in hopes that, in time, they will be able to pursue their education and eventually work in higher-paying jobs. They are willing to work for 24 months in difficult working conditions for future gain.

The reason why I came here is that you have the privilege, like you can have... you can be immigrant in the future after... after the 24 months of working as a caregiver, and after that you can... after the 24 months then you can find another job. (QUÉBEC Care Worker 10)