Home Care Worker Immigration Instructions

Summary#

These are new instructions from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. They (1) set how many permanent‑resident applications will be accepted and processed each year for the Home Care Worker Immigration (Child Care) and Home Care Worker Immigration (Home Support) classes (effective March 31, 2025 to March 30, 2030), (2) spell out the eligibility rules for those two classes (language, education, work experience, job offer and funds), and (3) allow the department to accept sponsorship and permanent‑resident applications from the parents‑and‑grandparents intake so up to 25,000 sponsorship applications received in 2024 and 2025 can be processed in the 2025 calendar year (January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025).

What it does#

• Sets annual intake limits for the Home Care Worker Immigration (Child Care) class:
  • Year March 31, 2025 – March 30, 2026: process 2,610 applications; 2,350 Stream A online; 260 Stream A alternate; Stream B 0.
  • Year March 31, 2026 – March 30, 2027: process 2,750 applications; 2,475 Stream A online; 275 Stream A alternate; Stream B 0.
  • Years March 31, 2027 – March 30, 2028, March 31, 2028 – March 30, 2029, March 31, 2029 – March 30, 2030: process 2,750 each year; Stream A online 1,235; Stream A alternate 140; Stream B online 1,235; Stream B alternate 140.
• Sets the same annual intake limits for the Home Care Worker Immigration (Home Support) class (same numbers and schedule as above).
• Explains counting and processing rules for those pilot intakes:
  • Applications are counted by date received; only those that meet completeness requirements are entered into processing.
  • Applications received beyond the yearly limit will be returned with fees.
  • Humanitarian‑and‑compassionate requests submitted from outside Canada with an application that is not processed under these Instructions will not be processed.
  • These processing limits take effect March 31, 2025 and expire March 30, 2030 unless revoked earlier.
• Lays out eligibility rules for both care‑worker classes (summary of the main requirements):
  • Language: valid test showing Canadian Language Benchmarks / Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens level 4 in all four skills (test results < 2 years old).
  • Education: Canadian credential or foreign credential with an equivalency assessment < 5 years old.
  • Work experience / training: at least 6 months continuous full‑time in an eligible occupation within the 3 years before applying, or recent qualifying classroom training of at least 6 months.
  • Employment offer: a genuine continuous full‑time offer from a Canadian employer (outside Quebec) with a Canada Revenue Agency business number; wage must meet collective agreement or provincial/national median prevailing wage.
  • Funds: must show available, transferable funds equal to one half of the minimum necessary income for the applicant and family.
  • Stream A is for applicants who already live and are authorized to work in Canada; Stream B is for those who do not qualify for Stream A and must meet extra conditions while awaiting landing.
  • The detailed conditions take effect for a five‑year period beginning March 31, 2025.
• Parents and grandparents (family class):
  • Authorizes the department to accept for processing sponsorship applications received in 2024 and new sponsorship applications received in 2025, and to accept up to 25,000 sponsorship applications (from the two intake years combined) for processing in the 2025 calendar year.
  • Invitations to apply will come from a randomized draw of non‑duplicate “interest to sponsor” forms submitted during the intake period in 2020 (noon EDT October 13, 2020 to noon EST November 3, 2020).
  • Applications must generally be submitted online (alternate formats available for people unable to apply online).
  • Sponsors invited must submit their sponsorship application within at least 60 calendar days of the invitation; if fees and the application arrive but documents are missing, an extra 30 days may be allowed to provide missing documents.
  • Applications meeting the specified conditions are processed in order received; applications that do not meet the conditions will be returned.

Who's affected#

• Prospective permanent residents applying under the Home Care Worker Immigration (Child Care) and Home Care Worker Immigration (Home Support) classes — both people already in Canada with work authorization (Stream A) and those who would apply from abroad (Stream B).
• Employers and private households in Canada that hire child‑care and home‑support workers, because job‑offer rules (wages, genuineness, employer documentation) are part of the eligibility test.
• People who submitted an “interest to sponsor” for parents or grandparents in 2020, those who are invited to apply, and anyone planning to apply to sponsor a parent or grandparent in 2025 — because only invited sponsors and qualifying applications will be accepted and there is a cap of 25,000 sponsorships for processing in 2025.
• Representatives, immigration consultants and service providers who help prepare or submit these applications.
• If it is unclear who is affected in a particular case (for example, some family‑class exceptions or public‑policy exemptions), the instructions say those situations are treated separately.

Why it matters#

• These instructions limit how many caregiver applications will be processed each year. That affects how many child‑care and home‑support workers can get permanent residence through these specific streams and when they can expect an application to be accepted.
• They standardize the rules for who can apply: key checks on language, recent work or training, a genuine job offer with specified wage standards, and proof of funds. That helps applicants know what to prepare and helps employers understand what documentation they must provide.
• For families, the parents‑and‑grandparents measure means only invited sponsors (from the 2020 interest pool and new 2025 invitations) can have their applications considered, and only up to 25,000 sponsorships will be accepted for processing in 2025 — which affects family‑reunification timing for many sponsors and relatives.
• Practically, applicants should check the exact, detailed criteria in the instructions before applying, meet the deadlines, and be aware that incomplete or out‑of‑window applications will be returned rather than processed.