Caregiver Program
If you have experience as a caregiver you may qualify for Caregiver Program in Canada. As a caregiver, you have several options to work temporarily or become a permanent resident of Canada.
- Home Child Care Provider
- Home Support Worker Pilot
- Live-In Caregiver Program
Overview
- Home Child Care Provider
Home child care providers care for children on an ongoing or short-term basis. They care for the well-being and physical and social development of children, assist parents with child care and may assist with household duties. They provide care primarily in their own homes or in the children’s homes, where they may also reside. They are employed by private households and child-care agencies, or they may be self-employed. Jobs might be: Babysitter, Child care live-in caregiver, Child care provider – private home, Nanny, Parent’s helper.
The pilot is closed to new applications for 2022 but it will reopen to new applications on January 1, 2023.
- Home Support Worker Pilot
Home support workers provide personal care and companionship for seniors, persons with disabilities and convalescent clients. Care is provided within the client’s residence, in which the home support worker may also reside. They are employed by home care and support agencies, private households, or they may be self-employed.
You can still apply under the new 2022 cap for the Home Support Worker Pilot. In 2022, Canada will accept up to 2,750 applications for this pilot.
- Live-In Caregiver Program
Canada’s Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP): is for foreign nationals who wish to be employed by a Canadian citizen as a caretaker/nanny for their children or someone with disabilities in the home. This would provide a direct pathway to permanent residence. After just two years of experience with the LCP work permit, foreign nationals are able to apply for permanent residence.
Employers
When hiring through the Home Child Care Provider or Home Support Worker Pilots, Silvester and Associates will help determine if your job offer is genuine and valid, including your ability to pay the caregiver’s salary.
You may show:
- your household annual income
- bank statements
- your most recent Canada Revenue Agency notice of assessment
To know more about requirements to hire caregivers from inside or outside Canada, contact us to schedule a free consultation for employers.
You can only hire a caregiver through Live-In Caregiver Program
program if you have:
- found a caregiver who already has a work permit in the Live-in Caregiver Program and who is looking for a new employer, and
- been approved for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) that shows the caregiver has agreed to live in your home
Applicants for Caregiver program
Eligibility
You may be eligible to apply for the Home Child Care Provider Pilot or Home Support Worker Pilot, if you:
- have enough work experience
- meet the language level
- meet the education requirement
- are admissible to Canada,
- plan to live outside the province of Quebec
Home child care provider (NOC 4411)
- You must care for children under the age of 18 in your own home or in your employer’s home
- You don’t need to live in your employer’s home to qualify
- Experience as a foster parent doesn’t count
Home support worker (NOC 4412)
- You must have cared 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 have lived in your employer’s home to qualify
- Only home support workers are eligible under NOC 4412
- Experience as a housekeeper doesn’t count
Work experience
For this work experience:
- your qualifying work experience must be in 1 of these jobs. It cannot be a mix of both jobs
- you must show that your job matched the NOC job description and you must have done most of the main duties
- your 24 months of work experience must be gained in a 36 month period
- you don’t have to have worked 24 months in a row, just 24 months total
- full-time means at least 30 hours of paid work each week
- any work experience you had while you were a full-time student doesn’t count
Two categories:
Category A: Applicants without 24 months of experience
Category B: Applicants with 24 months of experience
Language levels
You need to take a language test to prove you meet the minimum language skills.
- The minimum language skill is CLB 5 in English (Canadian Language Benchmarks)
- NLCL 5 in French (Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadien) for all 4 language skills: Writing, reading, listening, speaking
Education
- Canadian 1-year post-secondary (or higher) educational credential
- foreign educational credential equivalent to the above and an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report issued by an organization designated by IRCC
Who is Eligible For the Live-In Caregiver Program?
To be eligible for the live-in caregiver program, applicants must:
- Have a valid work permit, or have applied to extend your work permit, or have applied to restore your status as a worker in Canada.
- Have work experience in Canada as either a Home Child Care provider or a Home Support Worker.
- Have at least 1 year of full-time work experience since November 30, 2014 which can be cumulative rather than continuous but cannot include work experience while a student.
- Have been working in a job that matches your NOC code’s listed duties.
- Have tested language skills equivalent to Canadian Languages Benchmark (CLB) 5 or NLCL (French language) 5 in all four areas of reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
- Have a minimum Canadian High School Diploma or a foreign diploma, certificate, or credential that’s equivalent.
