New Immigration Programs for Caregivers Offer Pathway to Permanent Residence

New programs have been developed by the Government of Canada to further their commitment on family reunification and immigration stream backlog elimination. This is definitely great news for caregivers working in Canada and aspiring to work in Canada.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Ahmed Hussen has announced 2 new 5-year caregiver immigration pilot programs that will replace the Caring for Children and Caring for People with High Medical Needs pilots.

The Home Child Care Provider Pilot and the Home Support Worker Pilot programs will launch later this year. Each will have a maximum of 2,750 principal applicants each so that will be a total of 5,500 principal applicants, per year. Note that spouses/common-law partners and dependent children will not count against the limit.

Under these new pilot programs successful applicants will be granted:

(1)    Occupation-specific work permits that will give them the ability to change jobs quickly when necessary.

(2)    Open work permits for spouses/common-law partners and study permits for dependent children so their families can accompany them to Canada.

As part of the process, before applicants begin their work in Canada, they will be assessed under the permanent residence criteria. After the caregiver has acquired a work permit and 2 years of work experience, he or she will be able to apply for permanent residency.

Moreover, another new program will certainly benefit the caregivers who are already working in Canada without a clear pathway to permanent residence. The Minister has also announced the launch of the Interim Pathway for Caregivers, which will be open on March 4 – June 4, 2019.

This interim program has been developed to address the issue of many caregivers working for families in Canada who do not qualify for permanent residence under an existing program due to misunderstanding the changes made in 2014. This new interim program will have a modified criteria that grants qualified caregivers access to a pathway to permanent residence.

“Caregivers provide care to families in Canada that need it, and it’s time for Canada to care for them in return. We are providing them with both the opportunity to bring their family members here and access permanent residency to demonstrate our commitment.”

 – The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Source: CIC

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