Home Child Care Provider Pilot and Home Support Worker Pilot: Application process and who can apply
This section contains policy, procedures and guidance used by IRCC staff. It is posted on the department’s website as a courtesy to stakeholders.
New changes to the pilots
The ministerial instructions were amended on June 16, 2024, mainly
- to reduce the work experience requirement from 12 months to 6 months
- for the Gaining experience category, to
- accept work experience gained outside of Canada
- accept work experience gained up to 36 months before the application for permanent residence is made, as well as work experience gained between the period of application submission and the date that the applicant demonstrates having acquired the work experience
- clarify that applicants have only one opportunity to submit their proof of work experience to IRCC for a decision on their permanent residence application
These amendments apply to pending applications.
The instructions will be updated as soon as possible to reflect the changes.
On this page
- Eligibility for processing
- How the process works
- Temporary public policy facilitating 2020 applicants to the pilots
- Learn more
Eligibility for processing
The Case Processing Centre in Edmonton (CPC-E), in Alberta is the intake office for all applications for permanent residence (APR) under the Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker pilots.
For each pilot, there are 2 caps:
- an intake cap; and
- a processing cap.
Intake cap
Each pilot is to accept a maximum of 2,750 applications each calendar year, which includes applications considered incomplete according to section 10 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR). Related processing instructions are set out in the Ministerial Instructions regarding the processing of applications under the Home Support Worker Class and Home Child Care Provider Class (MI59).The intake cap was previously stipulated in MI46.
The pilot categories accept different numbers of applications:
- Home Child Care Provider Pilot:
- Gaining experience category: 1,650 applications;
- 1,500 applications received online
- 150 applications received in an alternate format
- Direct to permanent residence category: 1,100 applications
- 1,000 applications received online
- 100 applications received in an alternate format
- Gaining experience category: 1,650 applications;
- Home Support Worker Pilot:
- Gaining experience category: 1,650 applications (received online or in an alternate format)
- Direct to permanent residence category: 1,100 applications (received online or in an alternate format)
Processing cap
A maximum of 2,750 applications will be put into process per calendar year in each pilot by operation of subsection 14.1(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). Applications must meet the requirements specified in section 10 of the IRPR and in the application kit to be considered complete and eligible for processing.
All complete applications received within the intake cap before the pilots expire will be processed.
How the process works
Applicants under the Home Child Care Provider or Home Support Worker pilots can apply with or without 12 months of eligible Canadian work experience.
Note: Amended Ministerial Instructions came into force on April 30, 2023. As part of the changes, the qualifying work experience requirement was reduced to 12 months instead of 24 months. This affects new applications and applications currently being processed.
Gaining experience category (Category A)
An applicant with less than 12 months of eligible Canadian work experience must satisfy eligibility and admissibility requirements upfront.
Applicants must:
- meet the minimum language requirements
- meet the minimum education requirements
- have a valid job offer and be likely to accept it
- be able to perform the work
- be admissible to Canada
Officers assess applicants against the above criteria. If the applicant is eligible and admissible, the applicant is issued an occupation-restricted open work permit (OROWP) and the permanent residence application is put on hold.
Dependants applying for permanent residence with the principal applicant may also be eligible to accompany the principal applicant and may be issued open work permits or study permits. When applying for permanent residence through one of these pilots, applicants are required to submit an application for a work permit for themselves and may include applications for work or study permits or applications to enter Canada as a visitor or to extend their stay as a visitor for any accompanying dependents along with their APR. They can also submit TR applications for their dependants separately from their APR, but only after they received an acknowledgement of receipt letter. Officers can refer to the instructions regarding the processing of TR applications for family members.
Once issued an OROWP, the principal applicant must obtain 12 months of eligible, full-time, Canadian work experience. To remain eligible in the program, this must happen within 3 years of being issued their OROWP. Applicants must submit proof of obtaining this work experience within 3 years of being issued their OROWP.
Note: Where the applicant met the eligibility requirements, but an OROWP is not printed, the applicant must demonstrate that they have met the work experience requirement within 36 months of the date of the Stage 1 eligibility approval letter.
Upon receipt of proof, the permanent residence application is put back into processing. An officer will assess whether the applicant meets the work experience requirement and make sure the applicant is still admissible to Canada.
In some cases, the applicant may submit the proof of work experience before IRCC processes the OROWP. In such cases, if the work experience is:
- eligible: officers can process and approve the PR applications without assessing the job offer, likelihood that they will accept it, and ability to perform the work (similar to a Category B assessment)
- not eligible: the officer will proceed with the assessment of the job offer, likelihood that they will accept it, and ability to perform the work. If approved, the officer will issue the OROWP and the applicant will have 3 years from the OROWP issuance to submit their work experience; otherwise the APR may be refused.
Assessing work experience under Category A – Work experience not eligible
After the issuance of the OROWP, if an applicant later submits proof of work experience and the officer determines that the work experience does not meet the criteria for eligible work experience (e.g., insufficient duration or incorrect NOC), they may refuse the application.
Direct to permanent residence category (Category B)
An applicant with 12 months or more of eligible Canadian work experience must satisfy the following criteria:
- meet the minimum language requirements
- meet the minimum education requirements
- meet the Canadian work experience requirement
- be admissible to Canada
Assessing work experience under Category B – Work experience not eligible
If the officer determines that the work experience does not meet the criteria for eligible work experience (e.g., insufficient duration or incorrect NOC), they may refuse the application.
Temporary public policy facilitating 2020 applicants to the pilots
A public policy was introduced on May 3, 2021 that covers all caregivers who applied under the HCCP or HSW pilots in 2020, but whose applications were not entered into processing (i.e. checked for completeness) in 2020 due to delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This measure was created mainly as to avoid negative impacts on future processing limits and the resulting repercussions on clients and employers with multiple year processing delays. MI46 further provides clarification that they are processed outside the class (and therefore outside the cap).
There is no distinction as to how these cases should be processed. The same HCCP/HSW criteria and procedures apply.
Learn more
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