Caregiver Jobs in Canada in 2026: Work Permits, Pay and Routes

You're good with children or with older people, you've done this work before, and Canada keeps coming up as the place to do it. The demand is real. What has changed is the route, and many of the ads still circulating describe programs that no longer take applications.

This guide covers caregiver work in Canada as it stands in September 2026: the jobs, the pay, the one work permit route still open, and how permanent residence fits in now that the dedicated pilots are paused. Check each official page before you act, because this area of Canadian immigration moves quickly.

What caregiver jobs in Canada involve

Canada groups most in-home care work into two occupations in its National Occupational Classification (NOC), the system the government uses to code every job.

• Home child care providers (NOC 44100). Nannies, babysitters and live-in child carers. You look after children's daily routines, meals, play and safety, and sometimes help with light housework.
• Home support workers and caregivers (NOC 44101). You help older people, people with disabilities or people recovering from illness with personal care, meals, mobility and companionship, usually in their own homes.

Both sit at TEER 4 in the NOC. TEER stands for Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities, and TEER 4 means jobs that usually need high school plus some on-the-job training.

Employers range from private families to home care agencies. Agency jobs in some provinces go by titles such as personal support worker, and many agencies expect a recognised care certificate. Ask each employer what training they require before you apply.

Where caregiver immigration stands in September 2026

Here's the short version. Canada still lets families hire foreign caregivers for temporary work, but the special permanent residence programs for caregivers aren't taking new applicants.

On 19 December 2025, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) paused intake for the Home Care Worker Immigration Pilots. IRCC said interest kept exceeding the spaces available and that intake would not reopen in March 2026. It's still processing applications it had already received.

IRCC's caregiver page lists every older caregiver program as closed too:

The work permit route that is still open

The open route runs through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). A family or agency first gets a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). That's a decision from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) confirming the employer needs a foreign worker because no Canadian or permanent resident is available.

With the LMIA in hand, you apply to IRCC for an employer-specific work permit. It names that employer, the job and the location.

The Quebec rule

This is the part most ads leave out. IRCC says you can only apply for this caregiver work permit from outside Canada if the job is in Quebec.

If you're already in Canada, you may be able to apply for a caregiver job in any province, but only if you hold a valid study or work permit or you're allowed to work without one. Visitors can't use this route, and you can't apply at the border. IRCC says these caregiver applications currently get faster processing.

How Quebec adds its own step

Quebec selects its own temporary workers. On top of the federal LMIA and work permit, a Quebec caregiver needs the province's temporary selection, known as the Québec Acceptance Certificate (CAQ).

Quebec's document list for in-home caregivers asks for:

• Proof of education, such as a secondary school diploma with transcripts, or a vocational training certificate for at least six months of full-time study.
• Proof of caregiving experience for children, older people or people with disabilities, with contracts and pay slips.
• Passport pages and, where relevant, language test results no older than two years.

Quebec has also announced that caregivers who have spent three years working in Quebec under the TFWP will need oral French at level 4 to renew, for applications sent from 17 December 2028. If you're planning a long stay in Quebec, start learning French now. Our guide to Quebec's immigration programs explains how the province's system differs from the rest of Canada.

What caregivers earn

An employer hiring through an LMIA must pay at least the median wage published on Job Bank for that occupation and location, and never less than the provincial minimum wage. Job Bank's figures are the most reliable guide to what's normal.

Source: Job Bank, 2023–2024 reference period. Job Bank updates its figures each year, so check the current page for your province and region.

The national range runs from about CAD 15 to CAD 28 an hour for nannies and CAD 16 to CAD 27 for home support workers. Pay in the territories is higher, as is the cost of living there.

What the employer must provide

ESDC sets clear rules for families who hire a foreign caregiver through the TFWP. As of September 2026, these include:

• A written employment contract signed by you and the employer on or before your first day.
• The same job, wages and conditions as in the offer. You can't be made to do work you weren't hired for.
• Travel costs for low-wage caregiver jobs, paid by the employer and never recovered from you.
• Private emergency health insurance until you qualify for provincial coverage, paid by the employer.
• For live-in jobs, a private, furnished bedroom with a lock and safety bolt on the inside, with no charge for room and board.
• No recruitment fees. Neither the employer nor anyone recruiting for them can charge you, directly or indirectly.
• Pay for all hours worked, including overtime where provincial law requires it.

Hours, rest days and termination rules come from provincial employment standards, so they vary by province. Ask for your contract to spell them out.

Costs and money: who pays for what

Caregivers are often told they need to pay large sums to get to Canada. In the LMIA route, most of the costs belong to the employer.

ESDC waives the LMIA fee for families hiring care for someone with medical needs, with a medical certificate, and for child care for a child under 13 when the family's gross annual income is CAD 150,000 or less.

Once you're working

Apply for a Social Insurance Number (SIN) so you can be paid and taxed correctly. Open a Canadian bank account early, since most employers pay by direct deposit and many banks have fee-free newcomer packages for the first year.

If you're supporting family at home, compare transfer providers on the total cost, including the exchange rate margin, not just the advertised fee. Keep your pay slips and tax slips, because they're also your proof of work experience for any future permanent residence application.

Permanent residence after the pause

With the caregiver pilots paused, caregivers now look at the same routes as other workers in TEER 4 jobs.

• Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs). Several provinces run streams for workers in TEER 4 and 5 jobs, usually with a permanent, full-time job offer and a language score around the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 4.
• The Atlantic Immigration Program. It accepts TEER 4 job offers from designated employers in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.
• The Rural Community Immigration Pilot. Designated employers in participating communities can support workers in eligible jobs.
• Quebec's own programs, for caregivers working there.

Each route has its own occupation lists and caps, and none of them is reserved for caregivers. Our guide to Canadian immigration for workers without a degree compares them in detail.

Scams aimed at caregivers

Care work attracts scammers because many applicants are new to Canada's system and eager to move. Watch for these signs:

• A fee for a job offer or an LMIA. The LMIA is the employer's cost, and recruitment fees charged to workers aren't allowed.
• "Guaranteed" visas or permanent residence. Only IRCC decides, and there's no caregiver PR program open to new applicants.
• A job outside Quebec offered to you while you're abroad "through the caregiver program." IRCC's rules don't allow that application from outside Canada.
• Contact only through messaging apps, no interview, and pressure to pay quickly.
• Requests to send money to a personal account for "processing" or "training."

If you pay anyone for immigration advice, they must be a Canadian lawyer, a Quebec notary or a licensed consultant with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. Check their licence on the regulator's public register yourself.

If you're already working and being mistreated, you may be able to leave. IRCC's open work permit for vulnerable workers is for people who are being abused, or are at risk of abuse, in their job in Canada.

Step by step: finding a caregiver job legally

1. Confirm your situation. Are you outside Canada (Quebec jobs only through this route) or inside Canada with a valid permit?
2. Match your experience to the NOC. Write down your caregiving duties, hours and dates, and get reference letters.
3. Check your education documents. Quebec asks for a secondary diploma or at least six months of vocational training.
4. Take an approved language test. It helps with employers now and with almost every permanent residence route later.
5. Search Job Bank. Look for home child care or home support postings, and note whether the listing says an LMIA was requested or approved.
6. Get a written offer and contract. It should show wages, hours, duties, live-in arrangements and who pays for travel.
7. Wait for the positive LMIA, and for Quebec jobs the CAQ, before you apply for your work permit.
8. Apply to IRCC, pay the work permit and biometrics fees, and follow the instructions for medicals or police certificates.

If you're also weighing the United States, our guide to caregiver jobs in the USA covers the American routes. For the general work permit process, see how to apply for a Canadian work permit.

Your caregiver checklist

• Read IRCC's caregivers page to confirm what's open this month.
• If you're abroad, focus on Quebec jobs, or on routes that don't depend on the caregiver work permit.
• Gather proof of education, experience and pay.
• Book a language test, and start French if Quebec is your target.
• Compare any offer against the Job Bank median for that province.
• Make sure the employer, not you, pays the LMIA, travel and health insurance.
• Never pay for a job offer or a "guaranteed" visa.
• Keep every contract and pay slip for future applications.

Caregiving in Canada is still possible in 2026, but through a narrower door than the old pilots offered. Go in with the right expectations and the right paperwork, and you'll be ready when new routes open.