Home care employees can now obtain additional details on the forthcoming routes to Canadian permanent residence.
Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) have released more information on the forthcoming Home Care Worker Immigration Pilots (HCWP), including decreased language, job skills, and education qualification measures for applicants.
The Home Care Worker Immigration Pilots are two forthcoming Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) exempt relocation routes for international home care employees to discover jobs and obtain permanent residence (PR) upon landing in Canada. They will be introduced on March 31, 2025.
The immigration unit explained that the Home Care Worker Immigration Pilots would only approve requests from applicants currently in Canada upon opening. Candidates outside Canada will have the opportunity to make an application at a later date.
IRCC also offered additional information for these routes, which will be protected in this article, which includes:
- Which streams are attached within the HCWP
- Qualification conditions for language points, job skills, and employment offers
- HCWP qualification for out-of-status employees in Canada
- Direction for candidates to the currently closed Home Child Care Worker and Home Support Worker Pilots.
The Streams For The New Home Care Worker Immigration Pilots
International citizens can make an application to the new Home Care Worker Immigration Pilot under one of the two streams obtainable:
- The employees in Canada stream
- The candidates are not employed in the Canada stream.
Only the employees in Canada stream will approve new requests upon opening at the end of March. The candidates not working in the Canada stream will open their request intake later in the year.
IRCC suggests that prospective candidates for the workers in Canada stream take endorsed language exams and have their education evaluated via the Education Credential Assessment (ECA) in anticipation of the HCWP’s opening date in March.
The immigration unit has not revealed information on request processes for Candidates not working in the Canada stream. IRCC will publish additional information when it becomes available.
IRCC also warns that guidance on preparing to apply may be modified anytime and recommends that those interested review their websites frequently for updates.
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Who Is Qualified For The Hcwp
IRCC has declared the following qualification measures for the HCWP:
| Qualification Measures | Information |
| Employment skill | 6 months or current, necessary job
OR A certificate of a minimum of six months of associated home care internship |
| Language skill | CLB 4 or higher in English or French |
| Employment offer | Required to have an employment offer from either a private family or an institution that directly employs full-time home care workers to offer short-term or occasional home care |
| Education | Secondary school diploma |
Furthermore, home care employees must plan to live in a Canadian region other than Quebec to qualify for these new streams.
Applicants who are eligible depending on job skill may have obtained this job skill either in Canada or overseas.
Employment Offer Requirements
International citizens making an application to the HCWP may hold an employment offer from any of the following institutions:
- Home health care service givers
- Home care support service givers
- Direct care agencies
- Private care services in the residential surrounding
- Pediatric home health care service givers.
Employment offers from recruitment and placement agencies are not qualified.
Keep in mind that an LMIA is not needed to support employment offers.
Additional Qualification For Out-Of-Status Employees And Past Candidates
IRCC has made available qualifications for the HCWP to home care employees in Canada who are presently out of status. Because of public policy, these persons may still be qualified to apply under the HCWP. A restricted number of positions are obtainable to this cohort.
Furthermore, some past candidates for the Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker Pilots (the former home care worker immigration routes closed in June 2024) may apply under the old routes. Newcomers who applied under the past pilots’ “Gaining experience category” before June 2024 and who have now developed sufficient qualified work skills may forward IRCC evidence of their work skills under past policies to have their permanent residence request considered.
