Barely a year before the pilots were due to reopen, IRCC announced on December 30, 2025 that it is pausing all new applications to the Home Child-Care Provider and Home Support Worker pilots “until further notice.” Both streams, launched in 2019, each admit 2,750 permanent residents annually and have been a critical pathway for in-home caregivers seeking status.
The department cites unmanageable demand: intake caps for the March 2025 window were reached within hours, swelling the combined inventory to more than 13,000 files. Officers now face processing times topping 30 months—double the six-month target written into pilot regulations. IRCC says the freeze will let it finalize existing cases, evaluate program outcomes and decide whether to replace the pilots with a permanent caregiver stream in 2027.
![Intake Paused for Canada’s Home-Care Worker Immigration Pilots]()
Amid this uncertainty, VisaHQ can help applicants and employers navigate alternative Canadian work-permit options and stay ahead of regulatory changes. Its platform offers real-time requirement updates, document checklists, and end-to-end application management, all accessible through https://www.visahq.com/canada/.
For families that rely on live-in support, the pause threatens to deepen labour shortages. Staffing agencies report 35,000 unfilled caregiver vacancies nationwide, with wait-lists for seniors-care particularly acute in Atlantic Canada and rural Prairies. Employers may pivot to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, but that route requires a Labour Market Impact Assessment and currently entails a 10-to-12-week processing window.
Applicants who already submitted complete files remain in queue. Those who hold closed work permits through the caregiver pilots can continue working and are encouraged to maintain legal status via extensions. Prospective caregivers should watch for possible interim pathways—such as occupation-specific open work permits—that IRCC is studying to bridge the gap until a redesigned program is launched.
The department cites unmanageable demand: intake caps for the March 2025 window were reached within hours, swelling the combined inventory to more than 13,000 files. Officers now face processing times topping 30 months—double the six-month target written into pilot regulations. IRCC says the freeze will let it finalize existing cases, evaluate program outcomes and decide whether to replace the pilots with a permanent caregiver stream in 2027.
Amid this uncertainty, VisaHQ can help applicants and employers navigate alternative Canadian work-permit options and stay ahead of regulatory changes. Its platform offers real-time requirement updates, document checklists, and end-to-end application management, all accessible through https://www.visahq.com/canada/.
For families that rely on live-in support, the pause threatens to deepen labour shortages. Staffing agencies report 35,000 unfilled caregiver vacancies nationwide, with wait-lists for seniors-care particularly acute in Atlantic Canada and rural Prairies. Employers may pivot to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, but that route requires a Labour Market Impact Assessment and currently entails a 10-to-12-week processing window.
Applicants who already submitted complete files remain in queue. Those who hold closed work permits through the caregiver pilots can continue working and are encouraged to maintain legal status via extensions. Prospective caregivers should watch for possible interim pathways—such as occupation-specific open work permits—that IRCC is studying to bridge the gap until a redesigned program is launched.
