Canada: Work experience for caregivers reduced to 12 months for permanent residence

TORONTO - Canada has slashed the amount of work experience required for a caregiver to qualify for permanent residence from 24 months to 12 months.

As per a press release issued by the government on Saturday, some spaces under the existing caregiver pathways have been reserved for caregivers who have work experience in Canada already from a previous work permit so that they are able to apply for permanent residence.

As far as the implementation is concerned, the change will be effective from April 30 this year and interestingly will be retrospective for caregivers who have already applied.

The benefit of the change is that caregivers and their families will benefit from a swift path to permanent residence and successful settlement in Canada and will improve processing of applications.

The beneficiaries of the change would be enormous as government estimates that 90% of applications fall in the category. The government has stated that it would continue to make any necessary changes to appreciate caregivers.

Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship commented on the development that caregivers are indispensable in assisting Canadian families, and it's an honour to provide them a more expedited route to permanent residence and prosperous integration into Canada.

On the other hand, Salma Zahid, Member of Parliament for Scarborough Centre said it is their responsibility to support caregivers in Canada.

'Reducing work experience and creating reserved pathways to permanent residence are just a couple of ways we can show our appreciation for the sacrifices and hard work of caregivers,' she added.

It is to be mentioned that the shift in criteria is intended to apply to applicants from both the Home Child Care Provider (HCCP) pilot as well as the Home Support Worker (HSW) pilot, including those whose applications have already been received by IRCC. The prospective applicants for the remainder of the five‑year pilots would also take benefit from the change.