The Six New Requirements You Need to Qualify for the Caregiver Program in Canada

Immigration, refugees and citizenship Canada is primarily responsible for the Canada Caregiver Program. The Canada Caregiver program used to be known as the Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP). The Caregiver program allows Canadians to hire and sponsor foreign caregivers to live and work in Canada as nannies, caregivers and caretakers. These caregivers in Canada take care of Canadian children, older people and persons with disabilities in their homes. The Caregiver program in Canada has gone through different changes and modifications.

At the moment, if you are qualified and interested in working as a caregiver in Canada, you may apply for the Home Child Care Provider Pilot or Home Support Worker Pilot. If your application is approved, you can immigrate and become a caregiver in Canada.

The New Six Requirements for the Canada Caregiver Program 2021 are as follows:

• The caregiver applicant must have a genuine and valid job offer
• The caregiver applicant must be able to do the caregiver job
• The caregiver applicant must meet the language level requirement
• The caregiver applicant must meet the education requirement
• The caregiver applicant must be admissible to Canada
• The caregiver applicant must live outside the province of Quebec as a permanent resident

Caregiver Requirement One: Caregiver Applicant Must Have Genuine and Valid Job Offer

The job offered to the caregiver applicant must comply with the following:

• The caregiver job offer must be made using Offer of Employment IMM 5983 (PDF, 2.33 MB)
• The caregiver job offer must be full-time, which means at least 30 hours of paid work each week
• The caregiver job offer must come from a Canadian employer
• The caregiver job offer should come from outside the province of Quebec
• The caregiver job offer must come from an employer who’s not an embassy, high commission or consulate
• The caregiver job offer must be genuine, meaning there’s a real need to hire you

The caregiver job offer must be in the National Occupational Classification (NOC) job that matches the pilot you apply for: Home child care provider (NOC 4411) or Home support worker (NOC 4412)

Home child care provider (NOC 4411)

• The Home child care provider (NOC 4411) indicates that the caregiver must care for children under the age of 18 in your own home or in your employer’s home
• Under the current caregiver program, the caregiver doesn’t need to live in the employer’s home to qualify for this programs
• Even if the caregiver applicant has an experience as a foster parent, the foster parent experience cannot be used as part of the required caregiver experience

Home support worker (NOC 4412)

• Under the Home support worker (NOC 4412), the caregiver must care for someone who needs help from a home support worker either in your own home or in your employer’s home
• The caregiver doesn’t need to live in the employer’s home to qualify
• The caregiver applicant must be home support worker to qualify under Home support worker (NOC 4412)
• Under the Home support worker (NOC 4412), previous experience as a housekeeper is not enough to satisfy the qualification

Caregiver Requirement Two: Caregiver Applicant Must Have the Ability to Do the Caregiver Work

Immigration, refugees and citizenship Canada uses any past experience or training of the caregiver applicant to determine if the applicant is able to do the work described in the NOC job description.

Caregiver Requirement Three: Language Skills of the Caregiver Applicant Must Be Acceptable

The caregiver applicant is required to meet the minimum language skills by taking a language test

Immigration, refugees and citizenship Canada measures the caregiver’s English or French skills, through:

• Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) for English
• Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadien (NCLC) for French

The minimum language skill is CLB 5 in English or NLCL 5 in French for all 4 language skills:

• Writing skills of the caregiver
• Reading skills of the caregiver
• Listening skills of the caregiver
• Speaking skills of the caregiver

Caregiver Requirement Four: Caregiver Applicant Must Have An Appreciable Level of Education

Immigration, refugees and citizenship Canada requires the caregiver applicant to have a post-secondary education credential of at least 1 year in Canada. If the caregiver does not have a Canadian education credential, the caregiver is required to get her foreign education credential assessed to show that it’s equal to a completed Canadian post-secondary education credential of at least 1 year.

Caregiver Requirement Five: Caregiver Applicant Must Be Admissible to Canada

Under the Canadian immigration law, some individuals are deemed inadmissible and therefore not allowed to enter Canada. Immigration, refugees and citizenship Canada will scrutinize every caregiver application to make sure that the caregiver applicant is barred from coming to Canada or considered to be “inadmissible”.

Immigration, refugees and citizenship Canada  considers different reasons before making a decision not let you into Canada, such as security, criminal or medical reasons.

Caregiver Requirement Six: Caregiver Applicant Must Live Outside the Province of Quebec

The sixth requirement of the Canada Caregiver program is that the caregiver must plan to live outside the province of Quebec as a permanent resident. The Province of Quebec is not a participant of the Government of Canada Caregiver program. Therefore, anyone who uses the Canada Caregiver program must make provisions not to live in the Province of Quebec as a permanent resident in Canada.

If the Caregiver Applicant is Currently Working in Canada as a Caregiver

If you are already one of the caregivers in Canada, the caregiver applicant may be eligible to extend her work permit because the caregiver may not need to meet the requirements for either the Home child care provider (NOC 4411) or Home support worker (NOC 4412)

The Canadian caregiver employer will have to complete some steps before the caregiver can apply to extend her work permit.

For More Information About Caregivers in Canada, Visit: www.caregiversincanada.com

Caregiversincanada.com is a platform for Canadian employers & families to connect directly with caregivers, nannies, maids, housekeepers and au pairs. 

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