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Immigration Launches Plan to Fast-Track Home Caregiver Applications
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
In a statement made today by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), they announced they will be processing 6000 caregiver applications by the end of this year.
IRCC is looking to prioritize processing qualified applicants from the Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker Pilot streams so that care workers can get their permanent residence and occupation-specific work permits faster. This will also help them reunite with their families sooner.
The plan will:
- finalize up to 6,000 permanent residence applications for caregivers who have completed their in-Canada work experience and their immediate family members, by December 31, 2021
- make at least 1,500 first-stage decisions on applications for the Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker pilots by June 30, 2021
- prioritization of these decisions will allow more caregiver work permits to be issued for those who have valid job offers to work for families in Canada.
- increase the digitization of caregiver applications
ensure applicants receive acknowledgement of receipt letters by May 31, 2021
The government says the COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant challenges for application processing, particularly for paper-based applications. With reduced capacity and office closures resulting in more employees working remotely, in 2020 IRCC only entered as many mailed-in applications as was possible into their case management system. As a result, a new public policy will be issued so that IRCC can process applications in 2021 that were received in 2020.
An estimated 2,367 (86%) applications were received for the Home Child Care Provider Pilot of the number of applications that can be accepted for 2021. And an estimated 51 (19%) applications for the Home Support Worker Pilot.
The plan comes at a time when foreign caregivers play an important role in supporting Canadian families who are unable to find care for their family members within Canada.
For more information see the New pathway to permanent residency for over 90,000 essential temporary workers and international graduates announcement by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Marco E. L. Mendicino.