Verena and Ramon Klose say they are outraged that an agency charged their prospective nanny thousands of dollars. (CBC)

A Vancouver nanny agency is under fire from a couple in Richmond, B.C., for charging their prospective Filipina nanny more than she'd earn in a year at her current job for the promise of work in Canada.

"I was completely devastated that she should be paying into this," said Verena Klose. "She's coming here looking for work and here she is being told, before you even get to start in Canada, pay up."

A-Pro Caregivers and Nannies is one of the biggest caregiver agencies in Vancouver. The owner, El Apostol, told CBC News she has brought approximately 500 foreign nannies to B.C. since 2001 — and all of them were charged thousands of dollars in fees.

Apostol's company offers a variety of services to newcomers, including driving lessons and first aid training. The current fee the company charges foreign nannies for "relocation" is $3,500 — the equivalent of a year's salary for many overseas domestic workers.

Fee is market price, agency owner says

The fee is listed on Apostol's website for people who want to be nannies in Canada.

"Clients are often concerned about the expense of relocation fees. However, we have all had the experience of trying to get a service that is much cheaper — when it would have been more cost-effective to hire a company who was experienced," the website says.

"It is a market price," said Apostol. "If they want to come in, they can go to any other company, any other agencies and, yes, they are going to be charged that."

El Apostol, right, owner of A-Pro Caregivers and Nannies, tells Go Public reporter Kathy Tomlinson that many nanny agencies charge prospective workers. (CBC)

Verena and Ramon Klose signed up with A-Pro in January to get help finding a nanny and submitting paperwork under the federal government's live-in caregiver program. They are both teachers and wanted a live-in nanny to look after their first baby, Keira.

Apostol put them in contact with Bingclaire Castillo, a Filipina maid working in Singapore. The couple paid the initial $500 fee the agency charges parents. Verena Klose said Apostol assured her Castillo would be in B.C. by June, when Klose planned to go back to work.

Klose said she then heard nothing from the company for several weeks, despite repeated calls and e-mails. Desperate for child care, she began talking to Castillo directly about bringing her to Canada without the agency's involvement.

"The agency didn't do much for me," said Klose. "Now, I am extremely jaded."

She said she was shocked when Castillo told her she had already wired $2,400 Cdn to Apostol and another representative for the promise of a placement.

"For Bingclaire to make up $2,400 — that will take her a year or more to make that up, because she is sending money home as well," Klose said.

"I was devastated, because that is not how I want a relationship with someone who is ultimately going to be part of my family," Klose said. "I mean, she is going to be Kiera's second mom. I was devastated to find out that she had been taken advantage of in such a fashion."

Castillo told CBC News in an e-mail from Singapore that she earns the equivalent of $200 to $250 Cdn per month as a maid in Singapore and used her savings and money borrowed from relatives to pay Apostol. She was expected to pay another $1,100 after she arrived, she said.

'Please help me,' says prospective nanny

"A-Pro Caregiver and Nannies guaranteed a services to get me a work/job in Canada as a nanny … but since they received my payment last 17/05/2008 they never sending me an e-mail massage or even a single phone call," Castillo wrote. "Please help me. I'm very thankful for being so kind to considerate my situation."

A-Pro's website, aimed at Canadian parents, contains a warning advising them to watch out for agencies that charge nannies a fee.

'The Canadian government has an obligation to fully inform these people not only of the rules of the game but of the pitfalls of being potentially ripped off.'— Richard Kurland, Vancouver immigration lawyer

"Beware: If you're not paying a fee, chances are the nanny is picking up the bill — that means that the client is the caregiver and NOT you. In most cases the Canadian family is taken advantage of as the caregivers are paying the agency to do everything possible to bring them to Canada," the website says.

When CBC News first asked Apostol how much the nannies pay, she repeatedly said, "We don't charge them anything."

When presented with the receipts of wire transfers sent by Castillo directly to Apostol, she changed her story.

"They're not paying for the job, they are paying for the relocation," she said, although the standard fee does not include airfare.

A-Pro's website for prospective nannies has a list of services the company provides, but when asked, Apostol wouldn't say what services are provided.

Under provincial labour law, it is illegal for any B.C. employer to charge someone a fee for a job. Apostol said she is aware of that law.

Apostol also said the nannies are better off with her than other agencies, because in most cases she does find them a job, as opposed to overseas operators who simply take the money and run.

"It is my intention to do good by these people [the nannies]," she said.

Tougher rules needed, say parents

Verena Klose wants the federal government to do more to protect overseas workers who want to come to Canada, perhaps requiring agencies to be licensed to charge fees to parents, not applicants, before they can act as third-party representatives.

Vancouver immigration lawyer Richard Kurland says the federal government should do more to inform and protect foreign workers. (CBC)

"[The live-in caregiver program] was put in place to alleviate the child-care crisis but it's got so many loopholes. It's giving opportunities for these types of agencies to open up and take advantage and exploit these workers overseas," Klose said.

"They [the nanny agency] profit off the backs of these people that are workers — you know, good people — and it's just unbelievable that people can sleep at night," said Ramon Klose.

Vancouver immigration lawyer Richard Kurland said the federal government doesn't need to change any laws to fix what he says is a national problem. It can simply make the live-in caregiver application process easier and inform applicants that they don't and shouldn't have to pay big fees, Kurland said.

"The fix is easy and cheap," he said. "We could protect the vulnerable simply by posting on a website the appropriate warnings."

"If we intend to stimulate the global economy and bring in global workers, the Canadian government has an obligation to fully inform these people not only of the rules of the game but of the pitfalls of being potentially ripped off."

The Kloses are now determined to bring Castillo to Canada on their own, no matter how long it takes.

"This is not an expendable object that you can just replace. This is a human being that we are talking about," said Verena Klose. "I am so outraged that I am doing everything possible to help her recoup her money."

The couple has also filed a complaint about A-Pro's practices with B.C.'s Employment Standards Branch.