In a surprise holiday-season move, IRCC announced on 26 December an immediate freeze on new applications under its Home-Child-Care Provider and Home-Support Worker pilots, two streams that offer foreign caregivers a direct pathway to permanent residence . Officials said files in the queue already exceed the 9,000 places allocated in the 2026-28 Immigration Levels Plan, with processing times far beyond the advertised 12-month standard.
The pause gives IRCC breathing room to clear inventory and rethink programme design. Caregiver associations welcomed the clarity but warned of short-term labour gaps, especially in Ontario and British Columbia where demand is highest. Recruiters predict a shift towards the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) route, noting the Labour-Market Impact Assessment process is lengthier and costlier than the suspended pilots .
VisaHQ’s online platform (https://www.visahq.com/canada/) can help both caregivers and Canadian employers identify alternative work-permit routes, prepare documentation, and monitor timelines in real time, making the pivot to LMIA-based hiring or provincial streams faster and less stressful.
![IRCC Pauses Home-Care Worker Pilot Intake to Tackle Backlog]()
For foreign nationals who planned to file in early 2026, immigration lawyers recommend building Canadian work experience under open work permits or exploring provincial nominee caregiver streams. Families reliant on live-in support should budget for higher agency fees and allow extra lead-time.
Strategically, the freeze signals Ottawa’s broader effort to curb the temporary-resident population, which hit a record 2.5 million in 2025. Stakeholders expect further tweaks to niche economic-class pathways before IRCC unveils a revamped caregiver programme in 2026.
Mobility managers with transferees who require childcare or elder-care support should track developments closely; changes could affect relocation packages and duty-of-care obligations.
The pause gives IRCC breathing room to clear inventory and rethink programme design. Caregiver associations welcomed the clarity but warned of short-term labour gaps, especially in Ontario and British Columbia where demand is highest. Recruiters predict a shift towards the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) route, noting the Labour-Market Impact Assessment process is lengthier and costlier than the suspended pilots .
VisaHQ’s online platform (https://www.visahq.com/canada/) can help both caregivers and Canadian employers identify alternative work-permit routes, prepare documentation, and monitor timelines in real time, making the pivot to LMIA-based hiring or provincial streams faster and less stressful.
For foreign nationals who planned to file in early 2026, immigration lawyers recommend building Canadian work experience under open work permits or exploring provincial nominee caregiver streams. Families reliant on live-in support should budget for higher agency fees and allow extra lead-time.
Strategically, the freeze signals Ottawa’s broader effort to curb the temporary-resident population, which hit a record 2.5 million in 2025. Stakeholders expect further tweaks to niche economic-class pathways before IRCC unveils a revamped caregiver programme in 2026.
Mobility managers with transferees who require childcare or elder-care support should track developments closely; changes could affect relocation packages and duty-of-care obligations.
