Work temporarily as a caregiver

You may be able to work as a home child care provider (NOC 44100) or home support worker (NOC 44101) for an employer who has a positive labour market impact assessment (LMIA) through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). This type of work permit application for caregivers in Canada currently gets faster processing.

The information below only applies to home child care providers and home support workers. If you want to work in another caregiver occupation, follow the normal process to work in Canada.

On this page

• Apply for a new LMIA-based work permit
• Extend your work permit or change jobs

Apply for a new LMIA-based work permit

Who can apply

You can apply for a work permit for a job as a home child care provider or home support worker through the TFWP if 1 of these applies to you:

1. You’re currently outside Canada and you’ll be working in Quebec.
2. You’re currently in Canada and 1 of these applies to you:
   • You have a valid study or work permit.
   • You’re allowed to work in Canada without a work permit (this does not apply to business visitors).
   • You plan to work in Quebec and you’re also eligible to apply for a work permit from inside Canada.

Who can’t apply

You can’t apply for this type of work permit in these cases:

1. You’re applying for a work permit from outside Canada through the TFWP and you plan to work in a province or territory other than Quebec.
2. You’re applying for a work permit at a port of entry.
3. You’re in Canada as a visitor.
   • You may be able to apply for a LMIA-based work permit from inside Canada as a home child care provider or home support worker if you plan to work in Quebec. You must still meet the eligibility criteria.
   • You may still be able to get a work permit as a visitor for another occupation. Find out if you’re eligible and how to apply.

How to apply

Your employer will need to get a positive LMIA first. Once they have a positive LMIA, you can apply for a work permit.

Extend your work permit or change jobs

If you’re currently working in Canada and have a valid work permit, you may be eligible to

• extend your current work permit
• change jobs or employers

Your employer will need to get a positive LMIA first. Once they have a positive LMIA, you can apply to extend or change the conditions on your work permit.

It’s important that you extend your work permit or change its conditions before it expires.

If you applied for a new work permit before your previous one expired

If you're working for the same employer

Even if your work permit expires, you may be able to continue working in the same job while you wait for a decision on your work permit application. This is called maintained status. You may have maintained status if you applied for an extension while your work permit was still valid.

Learn more about maintained status.

If you applied to the gaining experience category of the Home Child Care Provider or Home Support Worker pilots

You may already have maintained status. However, you may consider submitting a separate application for a work permit extension. Find out what it means to be on maintained status while you wait for a decision on your Home Child Care Provider or Home Support Worker pilot application.

If you’re changing jobs or employers

You may not need to wait until your work permit application is approved to start your new job or work for a new employer. You can request authorization to change jobs while we process your application.

If you didn’t extend your work permit before it expired

If your work permit has expired and you lost your temporary resident status, you may be able to restore your status as a worker.