Last Updated: 17 January, 2022

The Home Child Care Provider Pilot and Home Support Worker Pilot are 5-year pilot programs that let qualified caregivers and their family members come to Canada with the goal of becoming permanent residents.

If you’ve been offered a job in Canada as a caregiver or have experience working in Canada as a caregiver, you may be able to apply for permanent residence through one of these pilots.

The application process will be different depending on your situation and how much qualifying work experience you have.

• Caregivers with work experience in NOC 4411 (experience as a foster parent does not count) can apply for permanent residence through the Home Child Care Provider Pilot.
• Caregivers with work experience in NOC 4412 (experience as a housekeeper does not count) can apply for permanent residence through the Home Support Worker Pilot.

Work permits will be provided under both programs, the Home Child Care Provider Pilot and Home Support Worker Pilot, only if you have a job offer. The job offer is LMIA exempt under both these pilot programs. Caregivers also have to meet the following criteria in addition to the job offer:

• At least 1 year of Canadian post-secondary education or the foreign equivalent with Education Credential Assessment (ECA)
• Language proficiency showing a level of at least Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB 5)
• Meet admissibility requirements – People who want to enter Canada or immigrate to Canada need to have a clean criminal record. Any previous criminal record can result in a Canadian Immigration Officer refusing their entry, or application, on the basis of criminal inadmissibility.

A unique feature of this pilot is:

• An Occupation-specific work permit is provided for caregivers, giving them the ability to switch employers if needed, without leaving Canada, as long as they have a valid job offer from a new employer.
• Also, Open work permits are provided for spouses/common-law partners and study permits for dependent children, to allow the caregiver’s family to come with them to Canada.

This pilot program has an annual cap of 2,750 applications for each program. NOC Code 4411 and 4412. So a total cap of 5,500 under both programs combined.

The cap for the year 2022, under the Home Child Care Provider Pilot (HCCP), has been reached as of January 17, 2022. The HCCP program will accept new applications on 01 January 2023.