By: Dana Kyle, Case Manager
The Home Child Care Provider Pilot and the Home Support Worker Pilot are 5-year pilot programs that let qualified caregivers and their family members come to Canada with the goal of becoming permanent residents. Individuals who have been offered a job in Canada as a caregiver or who have experience working in Canada as a caregiver may be eligible to apply for permanent residence through one of these pilot programs. These pathways offer permanent residence for applicants who meet specific requirements and have a limited number of spots each year.
Through these programs, individuals will get an open work permit which:
- Is occupation restricted
- Does not require a labour market impact assessment (LMIA)
- Lets individuals gain necessary work experience to be eligible for permanent residence
Home Child Care Provider (NOC 44100)
- You must care for children in your own home or in your employer’s private home.
- The location can’t be an institutional setting such as a daycare.
- You don’t need to live in your employer’s home to qualify.
Home Support Worker (NOC 44101)
- You must care for someone who needs help from a home support worker in your employer’s private home.
- The location can’t be an institutional setting such as a nursing home.
- You don’t need to live in your employer’s home to qualify.
Individuals who have never worked full-time as a caregiver in Canada or who have less than 12 months of work experience can apply via the Gaining Experience category. Those who have worked full-time as a caregiver in Canada for a total of 12 months or more in the last 36 months, can apply to the Direct to Permanent Residence category.
This immigration pathway only accepts a limited number of applications each year. In 2023 the Home Child Care Provider Pilot was capped at 1,650 applications total, which was reached on January 1, 2023 for the 1,500 applications submitted online, and February 1, 2023 for 150 alternate format applications. The Home Support Worker Pilot was also capped at 1,650 applications, with the cap reached on November 28, 2023.
We suspect that the urgency to apply starting January 2024 may be even greater, given the competitive nature and changes made to other permanent resident categories.
For more about the program see here: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/caregivers/child-care-home-support-worker.html
The Canadian Government’s previous program for caregivers, the Live-in Caregiver Program closed to new applicants on November 29, 2019.
The Canadian Government plans to welcome 485,000 new immigrants in 2024, including through the caregiver pilot programs.
As always, if you need support please contact us at info@heronlaw.ca
