Interim Pathway for Caregivers

The Interim Pathway for Caregivers is a limited time pathway to permanent residence for qualifying in-home caregivers and their families. If you have work experience in Canada as a home child care provider or home support worker, you may be able to apply for permanent residence.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply, you must have the required:

· status in Canada

· work experience

· language levels

· education

You must also plan to live outside the province of Quebec.

Your status in Canada

When you apply, you must:

· have a valid work permit, or

· have applied to extend your work permit and be waiting on a decision, or

· have applied to restore your status as a worker

You aren’t eligible for the Interim Pathway for Caregivers if:

· your application to extend your work permit is refused

· your application to restore your status as a worker is refused

· your current work permit is in the Live-in Caregiver Program, or

· you’re applying to extend your work permit or restore your status and your most recent work permit was under the Live-in Caregiver Program

Since November 30, 2014, you must have gained at least 12 months of full-time work experience in Canada as a:

· home child care provider

· home support worker, or

· combination of the two

For this work experience:

· full-time work means at least 30 hours of paid work per week

· you can have breaks in employment (for example, periods where you weren’t working, on sick leave or parental leave)

· any work experience you had while you were a full-time student doesn’t count

In your application, you’ll have to include documents to show proof of your work experience

Home child care provider

· Your work must match the description of a home child care provider

· You must have cared for children under the age of 18, in your own home or in your employer’s home

o You don’t need to have lived in your employer’s home to qualify

· Experience as a foster parent doesn’t count

Home support worker

· Your work must match the description of a home support worker

· Only home support workers are eligible under 4412

o Experience as a housekeeper doesn’t count

Language levels

You need to take a language test to prove you meet the minimum language skills that are required.

To measure your English or French levels, we use:

· Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) for English

· Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadien (NCLC) for French

The minimum language skill is CLB 5 in English or NLCL 5 in French for all 4 language skills:

· writing

· reading

· listening

· speaking

Education

You must have a Canadian high school diploma or a non-Canadian educational diploma, certificate or credential that’s equal to a Canadian secondary school (high school) diploma.

Getting your education assessed

If you don’t have a Canadian high school diploma or higher, you must get an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) from an approved organization.

An ECA is used to check that your completed foreign educational credential is valid and equal to a completed Canadian high school diploma or higher. This can be a degree, diploma, certificate or other proof of your education.

How to get an ECA

Choose a designated organization

You can get your assessment from any of these organizations:

· Comparative Education Service – University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies

· International Credential Assessment Service of Canada

· World Education Services

· International Qualifications Assessment Service

· International Credential Evaluation Service

Mail your complete application to the Case Processing Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada:

Case Processing Centre in Edmonton Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada c/o PR (CG), Station 805 9700 Jasper Avenue NW, Suite 55 Edmonton, AB T5J 4C3

Don’t send your application to any other processing center or visa office.