Caring for children and caring for people with high medical needs classes: Assessing the application against selection criteria

The applicant must provide evidence that they have either of the following:

• a completed Canadian one-year post-secondary educational credential (or higher);
  ou
• a completed foreign educational credential and an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report issued by an organization designated by IRCC.

The ECA report must indicate that the completed foreign educational credential is equivalent to a completed Canadian one-year post-secondary educational credential (or higher), and must have been issued on or after the date the ECA organization was designated by IRCC. In addition, the ECA report must be less than five years old on the date of application receipt.

The assessment outcome stated in the ECA report is conclusive evidence that an applicant’s completed foreign educational credentials are equivalent to at least a completed Canadian one-year post-secondary educational credential.

Equivalency assessments will include an assessment by the designated organization of the authenticity of the applicant’s completed foreign educational credentials. This assessment provided by the designated organization is not conclusive evidence of the authenticity of the foreign educational credentials. If an officer has concerns about the authenticity of an applicant’s foreign educational credentials, they must communicate these concerns to the applicant, afford them an opportunity to respond to those concerns and provide additional information or documentation.

The applicant must demonstrate that they have obtained a total of at least 24 months of authorized full-time work experience in Canada within the 48 months before their complete application is received. Full-time work means at least 30 hours of paid work per week. To qualify, an applicant must have obtained work experience in an eligible occupation listed in the National Occupational Classification (NOC):

• Caring for children class applicants must have qualifying work experience as Home child care providers (NOC 4411). Applicants must have provided in-home care to children under the age of 18, whether in their own home or in the employer’s or child’s home.

  Note: Foster parents are not eligible to apply under this class. Only Home child care providers are eligible under NOC 4411.

• Caring for people with high medical needs class applicants must have qualifying work experience in one of the following eligible occupations:

  • Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses (NOC 3012)
  • Licensed practical nurses (NOC 3233)
  • Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates (NOC 3413)
  • Home support workers and related occupations (NOC 4412)

  Note: Among the sub-occupations under NOC 4412, housekeepers and related occupations are not eligible to apply under this class. Only home support workers and workers in related occupations are eligible under NOC 4412. This means that the onus is on the applicant to satisfy the officer that they predominantly provided personal care and support services as per the main duties described in the NOC occupational description, with any performance of routine housekeeping duties such as laundry, washing dishes, etc., being incidental to their primary role providing in-home care.

Note: On January 31, 2012, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and Statistics Canada replaced the 2006 edition of the NOC with the 2011 edition. Applications received under the caring for children and caring for people with high medical needs classes must be assessed against the 2011 edition of the NOC. This means that all applicants must demonstrate that they meet the requirements specified in the 2011 NOC occupational description irrespective of the coding of their work permit. For example, an applicant with a work permit issued under NOC 6474 per the 2006 edition would be eligible to apply under the caring for children class, provided they demonstrate they meet the requirements specified in the 2011 NOC 4411 description.

For the periods of work experience claimed in the application, all applicants must demonstrate they performed both of the following:

• the actions identified in the initial lead statement of the NOC description; and
• a substantial number of the main duties, including all the essential duties, listed in the NOC description. This means the applicant performed some or all of the main duties, including all the duties that distinguish a particular occupation from any other. For example, duties that begin with “may” in the NOC description are not usually considered to be essential duties.

Applicants do not have to be employed at the time they apply.

Work experience does not need to be continuous to qualify, but the period of 24 months of required employment does not include any extended absence from Canada (including any time worked for an employer outside Canada), periods of unemployment, prolonged sickness or parental leave. However, a reasonable period of vacation time will be counted towards meeting the work experience requirement (e.g., a two-week period of paid vacation leave within a given 52-week period in which the applicant was engaged in qualifying work, whether that period of vacation was taken in Canada or outside Canada).

Any periods of self-employment or periods of employment during which the applicant was engaged in full-time study will not be included when calculating the period of qualifying work experience.

All applicants must have had temporary resident status during the period of work experience acquired in Canada. Only authorized work will be counted towards the work experience requirement.

Applicants must demonstrate they meet the relevant employment requirements of the eligible occupation identified in their application. Relevant employment requirements may include education, training or other qualifications listed in the NOC description.

If an applicant under the caring for people with high medical needs class obtained their qualifying work experience in Canada as a registered nurse or registered psychiatric nurse (NOC 3012) or licensed practical nurse (NOC 3233), they must demonstrate they are licensed to practice in Canada and provide proof of registration with the competent regulatory body, as required, in their intended province of destination at the time they apply.