Interesting! This is contrary to the information we received from the call agent — and I am starting to assume that call agents are yet to be briefed or trained on responding to inquiries relating to the temporary public policy.
I called today to ask three questions, i) get the status of my application, ii) get clarity on the temporary public policy, and how it affects applicants (both inside and outside), and iii) what I should be expecting — a PR or Work Permit. The response to the first question was — "your PR application is in progress, you passed criminality check, and eligibility is yet to be finalized". For the second and third questions, "I am sorry I do not have details on the new policy but I can only confirm that your application is being processed as a PR and unfortunately I can't see anything other than that...the officer working on your application will reach out if there are any questions"
Let's keep in mind the purpose of a public policy — it is a deviation or exemption from certain requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations to applicants who meet conditions or eligibility requirements — meaning, normal requirements will be exempted to compensate the public or bring normalcy to a program. Let's also keep in mind that this exemption is not only for caregivers, there are other public policies that will grant compensation or exemption to asylum claimants, international students, visitors, and a few other categories.
Also, carefully read this excerpt from the public policy:
"As such, I hereby establish that, pursuant to my authority under section 25.2 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (the Act), there are sufficient public policy considerations that justify the granting of permanent resident status or an exemption from certain requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (the Regulations), to foreign nationals who meet the eligibility criteria and conditions listed below"
Hopefully, the next couple of days bring clarity. Good luck everyone!