Canada is not shutting down any caregiver programs

Let me start by saying we are not shutting down any caregiver programs.

We recognize the role caregivers have played is an important one in supporting our loved ones and helping grow Canada’s economy. We are thankful for all that caregivers have done and we understand the difficulty they have had to endure with the long processing times.

Let us be clear.  There is and always will be a pathway to permanent residency for caregivers under our government. Our government will not be shutting down opportunities for caregivers to become permanent residents.

We have made a commitment to eliminate at least 80% of the backlog of Live-in Caregiver Program cases by the end of 2018 and continuing to keep processing times low for the Caring for Children and Caring for People with High Medical Needs. Our government will continue to ensure caregivers and their families are reunited in Canada faster.

Recently an update was posted on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada website regarding the Caring for Children and Caring for People with High Medical Needs pilot projects which were introduced in 2014 and set to expire in 2019. The website update was about informing the public of the upcoming expiry of these two pilot projects.  However, as with all pilot projects, we undertake a review process in order to decide whether or not to extend pilot projects.   This is currently happening with respect to the Caring for Children and Caring for People with High Medical Needs pilot projects. I’d also like to be clear that the review of the pilots is in no way about the end to a pathway to permanent residency for caregivers.

The pilot projects are gaining in popularity and almost 2,000 people have been admitted under the pilots already.

The approval rate has been 95%, which is in line with the approval rate for the Live-in Caregiver Program in the past.

Also, contrary to numbers you may have read in the press, there were more than 27,000 admissions of permanent residents in the caregiver categories in 2015 and more than 18,000 in 2016.

We will use the results from the review and feedback from caregivers themselves to determine improvements to pathways for permanent residence for caregivers.  Let us be clear again.  There is and always will be a pathway to permanent residency for caregivers under our government and we will continue to reunite families faster.

The Honourable Ahmed Hussen,

Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship