Canada Caregiver Program Immigration Route

The Caregiver Programs are programs specifically organized by the Canadian government for caregivers who want to work in Canada either temporarily or to live in Canada permanently. if you are a caregiver and you want to immigrate into Canada to live and work, then, you can choose from any of the new caregiver programs introduced by the Canadian government.

The Canadian government replaced the old caregiver programs with new ones because they discovered that the old programs were not employee-friendly. So, they introduced new programs which will allow immigrants to qualify for permanent residence while working as caregivers in Canada.

Types of Canada Caregiver Program

Canada has different Caregiver programs for workers, some of these caregiver programs have been replaced by new ones because it was not helping the workers to get easy access to Canada Permanent Residence through experience class.

 Old Caregiver Program


Caring for Children Program: This program was stopped in 2019 and replaced with the Home Child Care Provider Pilot. The Caring For Children Program was in line with the Temporary Foreign Worker Program which helps the caregiver get a temporary work permit. If you applied for Canada PR through the Caring For Children Program before June 2019, your application will be processed if you qualify.

Caring for People with High Medical Needs Pathway: The Caring For People with High Medical Needs Pathway is a program aligned with TFWP to allow foreign workers to get a temporary work permit to work as caregivers in Canada. The program was replaced with Home Support Worker Program and has not received applications since June 2019.

to qualify for this program, you must have at least 24 months of full-time work experience in any in-demand occupation:

  • NOC 3012
  • NOC 3233
  • NOC3413
  • NOC 4412

Live-In Caregiver Program: The Live-in Caregiver Program is a program which allows immigrants to apply for Canada PR on the basis that they can work as caregivers to children, people with disabilities, or elderly people without supervision.

To qualify to apply for permanent residence this program, you must have

  • at least two years of experience under LCP
  • already working in Canada with LCP work permit
  • you were approved for your first LCP work permit based on a Labour Market Impact Assessment submitted to Employment and Social Development Canada on or before November 30, 2014

Interim Pathway Caregiver Program

The Interim Pathway Caregive Program ended in November 2019, but those who submitted application before then will stilled be accessed through the program. The requirements for this program is language test result and Educational Credential Assessment(ECA).

The Interim Pathway Caregiver Program is a temporary pathway for caregivers who wanted PR.

Limitations of the old Caregiver Program

The old caregiver programs have some limitations that led to its end. They were not really worker-friendly and did not give the caregivers easy access to Canada Permanent Residence. so, in order to help caregivers have easy access to PR, the old caregiver programs were replaced with new programs that are more employee-friendly. some of the limitations in the old programs are:

  • the old programs focused mainly on the employers, not really putting the welfare of the caregivers into consideration. An employer who wants to hire a foreign caregiver must do so through the process of Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), and the caregiver is bound to work under the same employer because the caregiver’s work permit has the name of the employer on it. If the caregiver wants to work for another employer, the caregiver must get another work permit.
  • the care giver is not allowed to bring in any family member. The caregiver must come to Canada only to perform his work. if a family member wants to visit, they must do so when the caregiver has applied for permanent resilience and has received approval in principle. Then, family members can visit with open work permit, study permit or visit visa.

Canada’s New Caregiver Program

In order to reduce the difficulties faced by caregivers in the old Caregiver programs, the Canadian government decided to replace them with new Caregiver programs which will be more worker friendly. The new caregiver programs are:

  1. Home Child Care Program HCCP)
  2. Home Support Worker Program (HSWP)

The following are the features of the new caregiver programs:

  • employers are not required in the new caregiver programs to undergo the process of LMIA to hire a caregiver
  • caregivers are now allowed to work for as many in employers as possible once they receive their work permit, and they can work in any location of their choice.
  • the new programs allow the whole family to move into Canada with the applicant even before work permit is issued.
  • the new programs allow the caregivers to change jobs faster

HCCP and HSWP Eligbility

To qualify for the new caregiver pilot immigration program, must meet the following requirements:

Language test result: if you want to apply for PR through the new caregiver pilot immigration program, you must present a language test result showing that the reached the Canadian Language Benchmark(CLB) 5 in either French or English.

Education: to qualify for this program, you must have attained a Canadian post secondary school institution or if you are a foreign student, you must complete foreign educational credentials showing you have attained an institution equivalent to a Canadian post secondary school institution.

Admissibility: you must be admissible into Canada, that means you must be legally allowed into Canada. certain medical conditions or criminal record can affect your admissibility.

Home Child Care Program HCCP)

HCCP is a program that allow caregivers to migrate into Canada with their family members. With the Home Child Care Program, you ca eventually apply for Permanent Residence. In order to qualify for this program, you must have work experience according National Occupational Classification or have a job offer in Canada.

The work experience must be one year in any of these jobs according to NOC:

  • Home Child Care Provider – NOC 4411 (your experience as a foster parent does not apply)
  • Home Support Worker-NOC 4412 (your experience as a housekeeper does not apply)

You can work in any of the following jobs as a home child caregiver:

  • Babysitter
  • Nanny
  • Child-care live in
  • Child-care provider in a private home.
  • A parent’s helper.

HCCP Job Requirements

The job requirements for Home Child Caregiver Program include:

  • language proficiency test for English or French
  • appropriate experience including home management
  • have first aid certification and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training
  • must have at least an equivalent of Canadian secondary school education.

Home Child Care Program Job Descriptions

The home child caregiver performs the following duties:

  • Supervise and take care of children at their residence.
  • Prepare and feed meals to children.
  • Take care of infants by preparing formulas, changing diapers bathe and dress them.
  • Make sure the child’s emotional well-being is being taken care of along with their social development.
  • Maintain discipline as per instructed by the parents.
  • Provide educational training to the children. Take them to school if required.
  • Keep records of the children’s activities.

Home Support Worker Program (HSWP)

Home Support Workers Program include house keepers and other related jobs. Caregivers who can provide support to senior citizens, people with disabilities, and people recovering from illness or undergoing medical treatment. Home support workers can live in the the residence of the employer. HSWP falls under NOC 4412.

The following jobs fall under HSWP work category:

  • Family caregivers
  • Home support worker
  • Attendant for people with disabilities
  • Live-in caregiver for seniors
  • Respite worker
  • Housekeeper
  • Personal aide as a home support

Home Support Worker Job Requirements

In order to qualify for Home Support Workers Program, you must have

  • completed at least secondary school.
  • experience in house management.
  • completed college or other courses in home support.
  • have first aid training
  • training in care for the elderly, people with disabilities, and convalescent care.

Home Support Worker Job Descriptions

The following are the duties expected of a home support worker:

  • Provide care/companionship for families/individuals during convalescence and medical treatment.
  • Bathe, take care of personal hygiene, dress & undress and provide ambulation to the individual.
  • Prepare meals and special diets. Ensure the client is being fed according to their needs.
  • Perform routine health-related duties.
  • Collect medications or specimens under the direction of the household/home care agency/nurse etc.
  • Housekeeping management may include duties such as laundry, washing dishes, making beds, etc.
  • Housekeepers may have to perform house management duties which may also include preparing meals, serve meals, do dishes, laundry, and take care of children if required.

How to Hire a Caregiver in Canada

If you want to hire a caregiver in Canada, you can follow the following steps to make it an easy process for you.

Look for a Canadian citizen: The first step to take when looking for a caregiver is to look for a Canadian citizen. If after searching and can not see a citizen to fill the vacant post, then you can look for foreigners with work permit.

Find a caregiver: provided you have searched and did not see a Canadian citizen, you can go ahead and look for foreign caregiver with work permit.

Check caregiver’s eligibility: when you find a caregiver, you will have to check the caregiver’s eligibility. you have to check his language proficiency, level of education, work permit status and if the caregiver is admissible into Canada.

Present your job offer: after you have checked and the caregiver is eligible, then you send your job offer to him. to send a job offer, you have to download job offer template and fill the form with correct details, the caregiver will also fill in some details and both of you will sign the offer and keep one piece each.

Ask the caregiver to apply for work permit: if the employee does not have work permit, make them to submit work permit application. this is necessary because that is what will make them eligible to work in Canada.

If a caregiver is already in Canada but does not meet the requirements for PR, the caregiver can apply for temporary work permit. This can be done two ways;

  • Apply to extend your work permit: if you are already in Canada, then you may be eligible to extend your work permit through Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) but before you do that, your employer will have to obtain a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment(LMIA).
  • Apply for a new work permit: you can also decide to apply for a new work permit through TFWP if
    • you’re in Canada and eligible to apply for a work permit from inside Canada
    • you’re outside Canada and your employer applied for an LMIA before June 18, 2019, or
    • you’ll be working in Quebec.

Permanent Residence for Caregivers

If you are a caregiver with temporary work permit, you can be become eligible for permanent residence if you:

  • extend your work permit before it expires or
  • change its conditions before it expires

FAQs about Caregiver Programs

Who is a caregiver in Canada?

A caregiver in Canada is any person who takes up the job to work either as a home child worker or as a home support worker.

As a home child worker, the caregiver takes care of the child. The caregiver can be a nurse, a nanny or any other related job.

The home support worker helps to take care of the old people, sick people or any other related job in the home.

How much does a caregiver make in Canada?

An average full-time caregiver earns approximately $30,600 per year, that is $15 per hour. Some earn more than that with the most experienced earning around  $43,781 per year. New caregiver can earn lower than the average amount at $23,400.

An average caregiver can earn the following:

  • $15 hourly
  • $188 daily
  • $588 weekly
  • $1,275 bi-weekly
  • $2,550 monthly
  • $30,600 yearly.

You can earn more or less than this depending on your qualifications and experience. Your earning also depends on the minimum wage and income tax of the province where you are working.

How can I become a caregiver in Canada?

To become a caregiver in Canada, you must have at least six months training or one year experience as a fulltime work as a caregiver or in a related occupation.

Six months of the work experience must be with one employer.

How can I hire a caregiver in Canada?

To hire a caregiver in Canada you must first try to hire a citizen or permanent resident, you must be able to pay them, accept them to live in your home and give them a job either to care for a child, an elderly person or a sick person.

How can a permanent resident in Canada apply for live-in caregiver?

You can qualify to apply for permanent residence through caregiver program when you meet the following requirements.

  • 24 months full-time live-in employment
  • 3,900 hours of authorized full-time employment which can be completed in 22 months.

How much is Caregiver Program Application Fee?

Beginning April 30, 2022 – Applicants under the Canada Caregiver class will paying $570 to apply. Learn more via the new immigration fee structure here.