Caregivers
Caregivers
One of the goals of Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada is to ensure immigrants contribute to Canada’s economic development. However, despite the large numbers of immigrants coming to the country through Express Entry, Canada still experiences labor shortages in many industries which do not attract Canadian employees.
The high demand for Caregivers is an example of such labor shortages. For years, Canada has been trying to attract caregivers from abroad to help Canadians take care of their children and persons with high medical needs.
In 2019, IRCC introduced two pilot programs for individuals who would like to come to Canada to provide childcare services as well as care for individuals with high medical needs. They are called The Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker Pilots.
A pilot program means that the Canadian government launched this program as a trial, and they will either make it permanent or introduce further improvements after 5 years.
The current program has many advantages – it allows eligible individuals to come to Canada, work as a caregiver for any Canadian employer, and eventually apply for permanent residence for themselves and their family members.
You can visit the government website to find out if you’re eligible to apply for the pilot program.
In general, to be eligible you need to have Canadian experience working either as a childcare provider or caring for persons with high medical needs. In order to find out if your work experience will make you eligible, look up codes 4411 and 4412 on the National Occupation Classification. Pay special attention to job duties and see if they match what you did at work.
If you have 24 months or more Canadian work experience in the past 3 years, you should be able to apply for the pilot caregiver program. You will be able to include your family members in your caregiver permanent residence application – check the government website to find out who qualifies as a family member according to Canadian immigration law.
You will need to show proof of your work experience, you will need to take an approved English or French language test and score Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) level 5, and you must have a post-secondary education credential awarded for completing at least one year of studies. You will need to submit your credentials for an assessment to make sure they match similar Canadian credentials.
You will also need to complete a medical exam, get police certificates from countries where you used to reside for more than 6 months since you turned 18, have your biometrics taken, and pay application fees.
While all of these are quite costly, the pilot program is significantly less competitive than most programs that allow you to become a permanent resident right away. Check the application guide to make sure you understand how to fill out your application and what steps you need to take to submit it.
You may still be able to apply for the pilot program if you have less than 24 months of eligible work experience in Canada. Check the eligibility requirements for individuals with less than 24 months of relevant experience and those who do not have any experience working as a caregiver in Canada. In general, you will be able to ger a work permit that allows you to work caregiver jobs for any employer, and you will be able to apply for permanent residence once you gain the necessary 24 months of experience.
If you are already in Canada as a caregiver and you do not qualify for the pilot program, you can still apply to become a permanent resident or extend your work permit if you meet the eligibility requirements of the program under which you applied for your initial permit.
If you are not sure whether you qualify to apply for permanent residence as a caregiver or would like to know if there’s any other options available to you, contact our team of registered immigration consultants for an assessment of your chances to immigrate to Canada.
Regards,
SmartImmigrant
