Home Care Intake Limits and Parents Cap

Summary#

These are ministerial instructions from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that set how many applications will be accepted and how they will be processed for two caregiver streams and for parents and grandparents. They fix yearly intake caps and eligibility rules for the Home Care Worker Immigration (Child Care) class and Home Care Worker Immigration (Home Support) class, and set a limit of 25,000 sponsorship applications for parents and grandparents to be processed in 2025.

What it does#

• Home care worker intake limits (annual caps and how many can be filed online vs by alternate means):
  • For both Home Care Worker Immigration (Child Care) class and Home Care Worker Immigration (Home Support) class:
    • Year March 31, 2025 – March 30, 2026: up to 2,610 applications; Stream A online 2,350, Stream A alternate 260, Stream B 0.
    • Year March 31, 2026 – March 30, 2027: up to 2,750 applications; Stream A online 2,475, Stream A alternate 275, Stream B 0.
    • Years beginning March 31, 2027, March 31, 2028, March 31, 2029 (each to the following March 30): up to 2,750 applications per year; Stream A online 1,235, Stream A alternate 140, Stream B online 1,235, Stream B alternate 140.
  • Applications are counted by date received. Only applications that meet documentation and completeness rules will be entered into processing.
  • Applications beyond the yearly cap will be returned with fees.
  • Humanitarian and compassionate requests from outside Canada that accompany an application not processed under these rules will not be processed.
  • These Home Care instructions take effect March 31, 2025 and expire March 30, 2030, unless revoked earlier.
• Eligibility and application requirements spelled out for both home care classes (these are the substantive rules applicants must meet):
  • Language: test results less than two years old showing at least Canadian Language Benchmarks (or French equivalent) level 4 in each skill area.
  • Education: a Canadian credential or a foreign credential with an equivalency assessment less than 5 years old.
  • Work/training: at least 6 months of continuous full‑time work in an eligible occupation within the last 3 years, or completion of a qualifying in‑person training program of at least 6 months.
  • Job offer: a genuine, full‑time, indeterminate offer from a Canadian employer (outside Quebec) with a Canada Revenue Agency business number; wages must meet collective agreement rates or be at or above provincial or national median prevailing wage rates.
  • Funds: applicants must show transferable, available funds equal to one‑half of the minimum necessary income for their household group.
  • The Home Care instructions take effect for five years beginning March 31, 2025.
• Parents and grandparents (family class) processing for 2025:
  • Authorizes processing of sponsorship applications received in 2024 and new sponsorship applications received in 2025, up to a combined maximum of 25,000 sponsorship applications to be accepted for processing in the calendar year 2025.
  • Invitations to apply will come from a randomized selection of non‑duplicate “interest to sponsor” forms submitted between October 13, 2020 and November 3, 2020.
  • Applications must be submitted online (alternate formats only for those unable to apply online). Sponsors have at least 60 calendar days from invitation to submit an application; a 30‑day extension can be given for missing documents in some cases.
  • Processing order is by date received. Applications that do not meet the stated conditions will be returned. Humanitarian and compassionate requests from outside Canada that accompany an application not accepted under these Instructions will not be processed.
  • These parents/grandparents Instructions took effect on signature (March 13, 2025, per the notice).

Who's affected#

• People who want permanent residence as home care workers in Canada under the Home Care Worker Immigration (Child Care) class or Home Care Worker Immigration (Home Support) class — especially applicants who are in Canada and those with job offers from private households or businesses outside Quebec.
• Employers and private households that hire caregivers and may provide the required job offers and wages.
• People who applied or plan to apply to sponsor parents or grandparents, especially those who filed an “interest to sponsor” in 2020 and those who submitted sponsorship or visa applications in 2024 or 2025.
• It applies only to applicants who plan to live outside Quebec. It is unclear from this notice whether any other groups beyond those listed will be affected.

Why it matters#

• These instructions set fixed yearly limits. That directly affects how many caregivers and sponsored parents/grandparents can move forward in any year and changes how long people may wait.
• The rules spell out concrete eligibility tests — language, recent work or training, a genuine job offer with minimum wage requirements, and proof of some funds — so applicants and employers can prepare or decide whether to apply.
• For families, the 25,000 limit for parents/grandparents in 2025 is a clear cap on how many sponsorships the government will accept that year, which matters for planning family reunification.
• For employers and caregivers, the way applications are counted and returned (including that incomplete or out‑of‑quota applications may be returned with fees) affects application timing and costs.