The Caregiver Pathway Program offers a chance to qualify those with some experience in caregiving to become eligible for residency and employment in Canada. Applicants who obtain Work Permit as a Caregiver for Childcare or personal care and companionship for seniors, persons with disabilities can apply for their permanent residence from inside or outside Canada “before completing 2 years of work experience in Canada or without any work experience in Canada”. They can apply for permanent residence through the “Home Child Care Provider Pilot or Home Support Worker Pilot”.

The principal applicant and dependent family members can apply Permanent Residence under Caregiver Pilot Program and allow the caregiver’s family to accompany them to and in Canada on a Temporary Status as follows:

• Principal applicant on 03 years occupation-restricted open work permit (occupation-restricted work permits for caregivers, provide the ability to change jobs quickly if necessary)
• PA Spouse on 03 years open work permit
• Dependent Child (06 years or above) on study permit
• Dependent Child (below 06 years) on Visitor Record

Permanent residence for caregivers under Caregiver Pathway Program is an opportunity to apply for Permanent Residence parallelly with open work permit application. This work permit is occupation-restricted (the applicant must work in that specific occupation) with “any employer”.

The applicant does not require to have a Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), but requires a job offer from a Canadian employer.  This program helps applicants to get work experience they need to be eligible for Permanent Residence. If they are already working or have recently worked as a home childcare provider or support worker, their experience may count towards the eligibility for permanent residence.

If the employer is residing in Quebec, then he or she is not eligible to give job offer to a Caregiver

Caregiver Pathway Program Eligibility and Requirement:

To be eligible for Canada PR under Home Child Care Provider Pilot or Home Support Worker Pilot the applicant should meet 04 requirements:

• • Job Offer from a Canadian employer, from any province other than Quebec
  • Proficiency in English or French, minimum language skill is CLB 5 in English or NCLC 5 in French for all 4 language skills (listening, reading, writing, and speaking)
  • One-year Canadian post-secondary education, if the education is completed outside Canada, applicant need to get foreign education credential assessed
  • Qualifying Canadian work experience, when the applicant obtains open work permit and attains Canadian work experience

There are 3 different categories under which the applicant may be eligible to apply for an application under Caregiver Pilot Program:

• • No work experience in Canada (for applicants outside Canada)
  • Some qualifying work experience in Canada (for applicants completing less than 24 months of work experience)
  • 24 months of qualifying work experience in Canada (for applicants worked as a Caregiver for 24 months in past 36 months)

Applicants can apply under:

• Home Child Care Provider Pilot must have provided in-home care to children under the age of 18 in their own home or in their employer’s home, should fall in an occupation listed under NOC 4411, other than a foster parent.
• Home Support Worker Pilot, you must have provided in-home care to adult(s) and do not need to have lived in their employer’s home to be considered eligible, should fall in an occupation listed under NOC 4412, other than as a housekeeper.

The applicant applying under Caregiver Pilot Program should meet all the 4 requirements. They can apply from outside or inside Canada and to be eligible for these pilots, they need to show their intend to reside as permanent residents in a province other than Quebec.

Start preparing application under Caregiver Pilot Program on completing the 4 requirements.

Caregiver Pathway Program Process

Once the application package is received at the Case Processing Centre, the IRCC issues and sends a “Application Number” as an acknowledgement that the application is under review. On checking the completion of forms, documents and appropriate fees receipt that are included in the package, the applicant receives an AOR (Acknowledgment of receipt). Further, the application is processed for detailed review by an officer based on current selection criteria and admissibility requirements.

Upon receiving the work permit the applicant can start working as a Caregiver for any employer in Canada.

Once the AOR is received it is followed up by further requests and correspondences by IRCC. On approval of applicant’s Open work permit, they can enter Canada or continue to stay in Canada and gain eligible work experience. After completing 24 months of work experience, some applicants may continue to stay in Canada on a maintained legal status while waiting for the decision on their Permanent Residence application.

If an application is complete an AOR is issued which is a letter that quotes application number.

Caregiver Pathway Program Supporting Documents

This is a Paper-based application. On meeting the above requirements, the applicant can download the “Document Checklist” and fill all the forms and gather documents that are applicable for his or her (if applicable, dependent family member) application. Kindly remember the following while preparing application:

• All the documents should be either in English or in French, if not get them translated
• All the photocopy of original documents should be certified by an authorized person
• Applicants do not require to undergo upfront medical examination on submitting application unless advised by IRCC
• Applicants and dependent family members (if applicable, 18 years or above) must provide a valid police certificate for any country other than Canada spent 6 or more months

An application may be returned or delayed if documents are missing or not clear or legible.

Applicants should carefully fill their information and sign the forms. Collect the documents as listed in the document checklist and prepare the package.

Follow the document checklist as instructed, any missing document or information in the forms may led to delay in processing of the application.