Hire a temporary worker as an in-home caregiver: Overview

1. Overview

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) is intended to be used when you are facing short-term skills and labour shortages, and only when no Canadians and permanent residents are available.

Under the TFWP, families can hire foreign caregivers to provide care to children, seniors or persons with certified medical needs in a private residence. However, the caregivers must:

• provide care on a full-time basis (minimum 30 hours per week)
• work in the private household where the care is being provided
• meet the requirements set by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)/Service Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)

Employers must meet the program requirements for the streams for high-wage positions or low-wage positions, including paying the prevailing wage for the occupation in the location where the work will be performed and conducting the necessary recruitment and advertisement requirements for the stream.

Employers submitting an LMIA application for a low-wage position may request a maximum employment duration of 1 year.

Employers submitting an LMIA application for a high-wage position may request an employment duration of up to 3 years. The employment duration must align with the employer’s reasonable employment needs.

In-home caregiver categories

Families or private household employers can hire foreign workers, on a live-in or live-out basis, for 2 categories of in-home workers:

Caregivers for children

• Children under 18 years of age

This category could include positions from the National Occupational Classification (NOC) such as:

• childcare provider, live-in caregiver, nanny (NOC 44100)

Caregivers for people with high medical needs

• Elderly persons, 65 years of age or over
• People with disabilities, a chronic or terminal illness

This category could include positions such as:

• registered nurse or registered psychiatric nurse (NOC 31301)
• licensed practical nurse (NOC 32101)
• attendant for persons with disabilities, home support worker, live-in caregiver, personal care attendant (NOC 44101)

IRCC considerations

• Foreign caregivers working in Canada may be eligible for permanent residency, provided they meet IRCC requirements. For more information on the pathways to permanent residence for caregivers, and the specific occupations that are eligible , visit IRCC.
• If you’re submitting an LMIA application to hire a foreign caregiver for a position located outside of Quebec, consult Important information for employers hiring in-home caregivers from overseas.