Do I Need a LMIA to Hire a Foreign Caregiver?

While a Labour Market Impact Assessment (“LMIA”), or labour market approval, was generally required in order to hire a foreign caregiver, LMIAs are no longer necessary pursuant to the Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker pilot programs that were recently introduced by the Government of Canada.

Caregivers are now able to receive a work permit provided they meet the following conditions, (which are discussed in further detail below):

• Have a genuine and valid job offer
• Are able to do the job
• Obtain satisfactory language test results
• Meet the education requirement
• Are admissible to Canada
• Plan to live outside the province of Quebec

Once working in Canada, caregivers will be able to begin gaining the required two years of Canadian work experience they need obtain or permanent resident status.

Through these new pilot programs, caregivers will also benefit from:

• occupation-specific work permits, rather than employer-specific, to allow for a fast change of employers when necessary;
• open work permits and/or study permits for the caregivers’ immediate family, to help families come to Canada together; and
• a clear transition from temporary to permanent status, to ensure that once caregivers have met the work experience requirement, they will be able to become permanent residents quickly.

Genuine and valid job offer

The job you’re offered must be:

• made using Offer of Employment (IMM 5983) form
• full-time, which means at least 30 hours of paid work each week
• from a Canadian employer
• outside the province of Quebec
• from an employer who’s not an embassy, high commission or consulate
• genuine, meaning there’s a real need to hire you

The job you’re offered must be in the National Occupational Classification (NOC) job that matches the pilot you apply for:

Home child care provider (NOC 4411)

• You must care for children under the age of 18 in your own home or in your employer’s home
• You don’t need to live in your employer’s home to qualify
• Experience as a foster parent doesn’t count

Home support worker (NOC 4412)

• You must care for someone who needs help from a home support worker either in your own home or in your employer’s home
• You don’t need to live in your employer’s home to qualify
• Only home support workers are eligible under NOC 4412
• Experience as a housekeeper doesn’t count

Ability to do the work

Your past work experience and training are used to decide whether you’re able to do the work described in the NOC job description.

Language levels

You need to take a language test to prove you meet the minimum language skills using:

• 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 completed post-secondary education credential of at least one year in Canada. If you don’t have a Canadian education credential, you need to get your foreign education credential assessed to show that it’s equal to a completed Canadian post-secondary education credential of at least one year.