Which Caregiver Program Is Available for Caregivers Right Now?

Since Canada has been offering many paths to permanent residency for caregivers for a very long time, there are some confusions regarding the caregiver immigration programs. The programs below are not available to apply as of April 2021:

• Caring For Children (ended on June 18, 2019)
• Caring For People with High Medical Needs (ended on June 18, 2019)
• Interim Pathway for Caregivers
• Live-in Caregiver Program (also known as the LCP)

Instead of many different programs that more or less served the same purpose, IRCC instead just created two programs – one for caregivers for the elderly and those who need medical attention, and another one for children and adolescents. These two programs, available as of April 2021, are:

• Home Child Care Provider Pilot
• Home Support Worker Pilot

Who Are Eligible for this Caregiver Program?

Although some different eligibility requirements are different for both of these programs, the main eligibility requirements are the same. In order to be eligible for these pilot programs you must:

• receive a valid job offer from a Canadian employer,
• be able to do what the job requires,
• be proficient enough in either English or French,
• have a post-secondary level of education in an institution in Canada,
  • if you didn’t do your studies in Canada, you have to get an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) by approved designated organizations or designated professional bodies
• plan to live outside Quebec. The Province of Quebec has its own immigration policies, which are different from IRCC rules and regulations.

Since there are a lot of factors that affect your eligibility, it would be best if we took a look at each of these factors one-by-one, starting with the job offer which is probably the most important condition out of all of them.

What is Considered as a “Valid Job Offer?”

Probably the hardest condition to fulfill for the Home Child Care Provider or Home Support Worker programs is getting a valid job offer. This is because there are no clear-cut things that an applicant must do to get a job offer, like every other job offer it will entirely depend on the applicants’ past experience, education and language skills, and of course, the employer. However, there are some clear-cut rules on the meaning of a “Valid Job Offer”, these rules are:

• the job offer must be made with the official document IMM 5983, Offer of Employment,
• the job offer must be for a full-time position. In Canada, a full-time job means at least working at least 30 hours a week,
• must be from a Canadian citizen or permanent resident,
• your employer must not be an embassy, consulate, or high commission.
• if you’re applying for the Home Child Care Provider Program:
  • the children you’re caring for must be under 18,
  • you must care for them in your employer’s home or your own home. You can’t work in a daycare center or a kindergarten kind of work environment. Your employer must make a job offer directly with you, not with a third party such as a kindergarten.
  • you don’t need to live in your employer’s home, however, you can do so if both parties agree.
• if you’re applying for the Home Support Worker Program:
  • you must care for the person you’re caring for either in their home or in your home,
  • you don’t have to live in your employer’s home, however, you can do so if both parties agree.
  • your previous experience as a housekeeper does not count towards permanent residency

How Do they Decide if an Applicant Can do the Job?

This rule is more or less a formality because people who receive a valid job offer will already have many qualifications (such as education and former experience) to prove that they can do the job. IRCC checks the applicants’ background in education and work experience to weed out fraudulent applications. As long as you receive a valid job offer, this rule is not something you should be worried about.

What is the Language Requirement for Caregiver Program?

As you probably know, Canada has two official languages – English and French. In order to be eligible for these caregiver programs, you must be proficient in at least one of these languages (although being proficient in both of them will not hurt your chances!). For English, you must be CLB Level 5 and for French, you must be NCLC Level 5. For English, you can provide exam results with IELTS – General and CELPIP – General, and for French you can provide TEF and TCF exams. You can find the CLB 5 equivalent scores for all of these exams in the table below:

Education Requirements for Caregiver Program

You must have completed a post-secondary education program for at least 1 year in Canada. A post-secondary education credential can be received from many institutions, such as:

• universities – from universities you can receive the credentials below:
  • bachelor’s degree – takes three or four years to complete
  • master’s degree – takes one to three years to complete
  • doctoral degree – takes three or more years to complete, on top of your master’s degree
• colleges and institutes – you can think of these as trade schools. They generally offer one to three-year programs. Most colleges or institutes will not be offering masters or doctoral degrees.
  • colleges,
  • community colleges,
  • institutes of science or technology,

If you did not study in a Canadian institution, you can always get your educational credentials assessed (also known as getting an ECA) by designated organizations in Canada. Basically, an ECA shows the IRCC that the education you received is equivalent to a 1-year post-secondary program in Canada. If you graduated from a 2-year program abroad, you will successfully receive your ECA. You can receive your ECA from designated organizations. There is no set price for an ECA; it is determined entirely by these designated organizations so we highly suggest that you shop around before paying the ECA fees. Don’t forget that it’s free to get a quote!

How the Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker Pilot Programs Work?

The process for these caregiver programs is relatively straightforward. If you fulfill all of the eligibility requirements and if your application is accepted, you will get an open work permit that is occupation-restricted. So for example, if you applied to the Home Support Worker Program, you can only work in occupations with the NOC Code 4412. On the other hand, if you applied to the Home Child Care Provider Program you can work as NOC 4411. Other than this limitation, you will be able to work for any Canadian employer, your employer won’t be needing an LMIA to hire you and your dependents will be able to apply for an open work permit or a study permit.

You have to get 24 months of work experience with this occupation-restricted open work permit to apply for permanent residency. Please note that this 24-month experience does not have to be with a single employer and it also does not have to be continuous. So you can work for employer X for a year, stop working for him/her for 2 months and start working for employer Y. After you work for employer Y for another year, you will be able to apply for permanent residency. Once you complete your 24 months of work experience, you will be asked to provide proofs for your work experience, these proofs can be:

• valid job offers,
• Notice of Assessment from Canada Revenue Agency (CRA),
• paychecks,
• contracts made with the employer,

How Canadapt Can Help You?

If you are interested in immigrating to Canada, now is your chance! The Canadian government is aware of how vital home support workers are to working parents and elderly Canadian citizens. Especially during the COVID-19 crisis, elder citizens have become extremely dependent on professional caregivers. This is exactly why the Canadian government is trying to speed up the application processes of caregivers who are already in Canada so that they can open positions for more foreign candidates. If your dream is moving to Canada, don’t miss the train!

Call us at +1 416 939 9911 or write to us at info@canadapt.ca if you have any queries with Canadian immigration processes. Our experts would be happy to assist you. Don’t forget to check out our free 15-minute consultation by filling out the evaluation form down below!