Caregiver

This program is designed to help experienced home childcare providers, and home support workers relocate to Canada to work and gain permanent residency.

Pilot Programs for Home Caregivers

As of June 2019, there are two pilot programs to hire in-home caregivers:

Home Child Care Provider (NOC 4411)

You must care for children under 18 years of age in your own home or in your employers' home. You are not required to live in your employer's home. Experience as a foster parent doesn't count. 

Home Support Worker Pilot (NOC 4412)

You must care for someone who needs help from a home support worker either in your own home or in your employer's home. You don't need to live in your employer's home. Experience as a housekeeper doesn't count.

Both programs are 5-year pilots and aimed at helping experienced home childcare providers, and home support workers relocate to Canada to work and gain permanent residency. Canada will accept 2,750 principal applicants per pilot, a total of 5,500 applicants and their families. 

The initial applications will have a 12-month processing standard. If you meet the requirements, you will be issued a work permit to work in Canada temporarily. Your family members are also eligible to come with you temporarily to Canada. There is a 6-month processing standard for finalizing an application after submitting proof of the required work experience requirement.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must meet the minimum requirements to be eligible to apply to the pilot programs:

1. Job Offer

Applicants must have a genuine and valid job offer. It must be full-time (at least 30 hours) and from a Canadian employer from outside Canada. Applicants must satisfy the job offer is genuine; this means there is a real need to hire you.

2. Work Experience

past work experience or training will be used to assess whether applicants are able to do the work described in the NOC job description. To obtain permanent residence, applicants will need to have acquired 24 months of Canadian work experience as a caregiver.

3. Language Requirements

Applicants will need to take a language test and receive a minimum language skill of CLB 5 in English or French.

4. Education Requirements

Applicants must have completed a post-secondary education credential of at least one year. If this is not a Canadian education credential, an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report must show it is equal to a completed Canadian post-secondary education credential of one year.

Who can apply as a Caregiver?

There are three possible scenarios applicants can apply to the pilot programs: 

  1. No full-time work experience as a caregiver in Canada 

  2. Some full-time work experience as a caregiver in Canada but less than 24 months 

  3. 24 months or more of full-time work experience as a caregiver in Canada