Caregivers & home care workers
The caregiver PR pilots are closed.The work permits are not.
IRCC has closed every permanent-residence pilot built for caregivers, including the Home Care Worker Immigration pilots. What is still open is the LMIA-based work permit for home child care providers (NOC 44100) and home support workers (NOC 44101) — a stream IRCC currently processes faster than most. This page shows which door is still standing, and how you get through it.
- RCIC-led
- Brampton & London
- PR pilots closed
Program status
What is closed, and what is still open.
If a website is still selling you a caregiver PR pilot, it is out of date. Confirm the current position on IRCC’s caregiver page.
| Program | Status | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Home Care Worker Immigration pilots | Closed | Both the Child Care and the Home Support streams are closed, for applicants and for employers. IRCC paused intake on 19 December 2025, and Ministerial Instructions set the number of new applications accepted at zero from 31 March 2026 to 30 March 2030, unless repealed earlier. No reopening date has been announced (Source: Canada Gazette, 20 December 2025, verified October 9, 2026). |
| Home Child Care Provider & Home Support Worker pilots | Closed | The last day to apply was 17 June 2024. |
| Live-in Caregiver Program | Closed | Open only to people who already hold a permit under it, based on an LMIA filed before December 2014. |
| Caring for Children, High Medical Needs, Interim Pathway | Closed | All three closed in 2019. |
| LMIA-based work permit | Open | Home child care provider (NOC 44100) and home support worker (NOC 44101) under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. IRCC currently gives this stream faster processing than most work permits. |
| Extending or changing employers | Open | Already working in home care in Canada? You can extend, or move employer, once the new employer holds a positive LMIA. Do it before your permit expires. |
| Provincial nominee streams | Open in places | Several provinces still nominate health and home support occupations. Which ones are moving changes month to month. |
But read the fine print.
You can apply from inside Canada if you hold a valid study or work permit, or if you may work without one. From outside Canada the job must be in Quebec. Visitors and port-of-entry applications are not accepted for this stream.
Eligibility check
Would a home care work permit work for you?
Four questions covering what actually decides a home care file now that the PR pilots are closed.
What kind of care do you provide?
Care must be delivered in a private home, not a facility.
Language: can you reach CLB/NCLC 4?
Education: secondary school or higher?
Foreign credentials normally need an educational credential assessment.
Recent care experience or training?
0 of 4 answered
Who qualifies
Who these programs are for.
Caregiver routes are built for hands-on care in a private home. Facility-based roles follow different pathways.
NOC44100
Home child care providers
Caring for children in a private home, including nannies and live-in or live-out child caregivers.
NOC44101
Home support workers
Supporting seniors, people with disabilities, or people recovering from illness in a private residence.
Applicants from abroad
Workers overseas with a qualifying job offer who want a direct route into Canada. From outside Canada, IRCC accepts this LMIA-based work permit only for a job in Quebec (Source: IRCC, verified October 9, 2026).
Caregivers already in Canada
People already working in care here who want to move from temporary status to permanent residence.
Families hiring a caregiver
Canadian families who need help structuring a compliant job offer and, where required, an LMIA.
The requirements
What you generally need.
The closed pilots set these bars. The bars have not disappeared — employers, provinces and a later PR application still test the same four things, so this is what to have ready.
- 01
A qualifying job offer
Full-time home care work in a private home, structured properly. The offer is often where applications fail.
- 02
Language ability
Generally CLB or NCLC 4 across the abilities, on an approved test. Lower than most PR routes, but it must be current.
- 03
Education
A Canadian secondary credential or the foreign equivalent, normally proven with an educational credential assessment.
- 04
Relevant experience or training
Recent, genuine experience in care work, or training that maps to the occupation you apply under.
- 05
The right occupation code
Child care and home support are distinct streams. Applying under the wrong one is a common, costly error.
- 06
Admissibility
Medical and security requirements apply as they do to any permanent residence application.
How we work
How we support caregiver applications.
- 01
Confirm the stream
We establish whether your work is child care or home support, and whether your history genuinely supports it.
- 02
Audit documents early
ECA, language tests and experience letters take time. We start these before your employer files an LMIA, not after.
- 03
Structure the job offer
We work with the employer or family so the offer, duties and hours match what the program requires.
- 04
File, then plan for PR
We prepare the work permit application, then map the PR routes that are actually open: provincial nomination, or Express Entry once you hold Canadian experience.
Questions about caregiver programs?
We keep every common question — eligibility, documents, timing, fees and processing — answered and updated in one place.
Good to know
Questions, answered.
The questions we hear most on this topic, answered by our consultants. The full list is in the Help Centre.
Which caregiver programs exist now?
What are the main requirements?
Does work in a nursing home count?
Why do people miss these programs?
More questions on this topic are answered in the Help Centre.
Related services
Explore your other options.
General information only, not legal advice. Rules, fees and processing times change — confirm current requirements on canada.ca before filing. Contacting us does not create a client–consultant relationship until a written retainer is signed. IRCC makes all final decisions.
Caregiver help
Find out if you qualify.
Caregiver programs reward preparation. Tell us your background and a licensed RCIC will confirm which stream fits and what to get ready now.
Is your permit tied to an employer who is treating you badly?
An employer-specific permit can make leaving feel impossible. It is not. There is a permit built for this situation — free, prioritised, and your employer is never asked for permission.
Next on your path
Keep your file moving.
The checklist, free tools and guides that usually come next.
- ChecklistCaregiver checklistWork experience, language and offer documents.
- Free toolMedical exam checkerWhether you need an IME, and when.
- Free toolPolice certificate finderWhich countries need one, and how to get it.
- GuidePermanent residenceEvery route to PR, compared.
- GuideVulnerable worker permitsLeave an abusive employer and keep working.
Caregiver review
Do you qualify under the caregiver pathways?
Send a few details. A licensed RCIC reads your profile personally, then replies with the routes that genuinely fit, the ones that do not, and the consultation fee and next available times.
- 01Read personally by a CICC-licensed consultant
- 02A written shortlist of the programs you qualify for
- 03Fee-based; the fee and times come by reply
CHK Immigration Services, Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (CICC). Offices in Brampton and London, Ontario. Submitting this form does not create a client–consultant relationship; IRCC makes all final decisions. Prefer to talk first? Call 647-948-7200 or book a paid consultation.