Many people associate “tutor” with academia, but Canada lists them under immediate family members who are exempt from travel restrictions.
Canada has listed “tutors” as immediate family members, causing confusion for people who are only familiar with the word being used in academia.
In Canada, many people think of “tutors” as people who help students study a particular subject.
However, the Government of Canada groups them in with “guardians” under the list of family members who are exempt from travel restrictions. They define guardians and tutors as: “individuals who are responsible for caring for a foreign national minor who is living apart from a parent for an extended period of time. Minors are people who are under the age of 18 in Canada.
“The Government of Canada first implemented travel restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during the March break, when some of these foreign national minors were travelling abroad,” IRCC said in an email. “Guardians and tutors were included in the definition of an immediate family member to ensure these foreign national minors were not stranded because the people housing them in Canada did not meet the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations’ definition of an immediate family member.”
In order to come to Canada, the guardian or tutor must be able to prove that they normally live at the same address as the minor. Live-in nannies are not considered to be guardians or tutors.
Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) provides the following list of some of the acceptable documents that prove the employment or status as a guardian or tutor:
• documents that indicate the relationship to the child;
• documents that indicate legal responsibility for the child and authority to make decisions in the absence of their parents;
• documents showing power of attorney; or
• a judicial court order or affidavit.
