Changes are being proposed to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) that will support greater use of technology across temporary and permanent resident immigration programs, and streamline and clarify processes for international adoptions and permanent resident sponsorship applications.

The proposed changes to the IRPR are outlined in the Canada Gazette, Part 1. The consultation period closes on February 24, 2018. The proposed changes involve:

• ensuring that applicants who are paying fees or applying electronically only use the electronic systems provided by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), where available
• requiring that most temporary resident applications submitted from within Canada, as well as International Experience Canada applications, be submitted electronically on Canada.ca
• requiring that all IRCC clients pay their immigration fees online, unless
  • a disability prevents them from doing so, or
  • IRCC provides other payment methods, such as paying in person at a visa application centre
• listing situations where the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, or the Minister of Public Safety, can provide applicants with alternative ways to apply for immigration services in the event of an unforeseen circumstance, such as a natural disaster or system outage
• outlining a clear process for IRCC officers to timestamp electronic applications, or other application-related communication, to give both clients and IRCC officers a clear and consistent point of reference when calculating processing times
• allowing sponsorship and permanent residence applications for inter-country adoptions to be submitted before a child has been identified, so that the approval process can start earlier
• requiring that clients include their permanent resident application with their family sponsorship application submission to help reduce processing delays
• removing existing requirements that specify where all non-electronic (paper) applications can be submitted, to give IRCC more flexibility in order to maximize processing efficiency and accommodate clients

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The Interim Pathway for Caregivers is a short-term, 3-month economic pathway for caregivers who come to Canada, and who may expect to qualify for permanent residence, but who do not qualify under existing caregiver pathways.

To be eligible, caregivers have to meet all the following conditions:

• At the time of application, they are authorized to work in Canada on a work permit other than a Live-in Caregiver Program work permit.
• They intend to reside in a province or territory other than Quebec.
• Since November 30, 2014, they have acquired at least 1 year of full-time Canadian work experience in an eligible caregiver occupation (that is, National Occupational Classification [NOC] 4411 and NOC 4412 for occupations other than housekeeper).
• They meet the minimum education requirement.
• They meet the minimum language proficiency requirement

Eligibility Criteria and Conditions

This public policy applies to foreign nationals who meet the following criteria:

1. At the time of application:
   1. is authorized to work in Canada on a work permit other than a Live-in Caregiver Program work permit;
   2. is authorized to work without a work permit pursuant to subsection 186(u) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, if they have applied for a renewal of a work permit other than a Live-in Caregiver Program work permit; or,
   3. has applied and is eligible for restoration of status, and held a work permit other than a Live-in Caregiver Program work permit as their most recent work permit.
2. Intends to reside in a province or territory other than Quebec.
3. Has obtained:
   1. a completed Canadian educational credential of at least a secondary school diploma; or,
   2. a foreign diploma, certificate or credential, along with an equivalency assessment — issued within five years before the date of application— that indicates that the foreign diploma, certificate or credential is equivalent to a completed Canadian secondary school diploma.
4. Has attained a level of proficiency of at least benchmark 5 in either official language for each of the four language skill areas, as set out in the Canadian Language Benchmarks or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens, as demonstrated by the results of an evaluation designated by the Minister — that must be less than two years old on that date — by an organization or institution designated by the Minister for the purpose of evaluating language proficiency under subsection 74(3) of the Regulations.
5. Since November 30, 2014, has acquired one year of authorized full-time Canadian work experience^F on a Temporary Foreign Worker Program work permit in any combination of the following eligible occupations:
   1. a home child care provider within the meaning of that occupation as set out in the National Occupational Classification for unit group 4411, other than any experience as a foster parent;
   2. a home support worker or related occupation, but not a housekeeper, within the meaning of that occupation as set out in the National Occupational Classification for unit group 4412, including the occupations — other than housekeeper — listed under that unit group as example titles.
6. Is not otherwise inadmissible.
7. Meets all other statutory and regulatory requirements applicable to foreign nationals seeking to obtain permanent resident status in Canada, with the exception of the requirement to belong to a class.

Start and End dates

This public policy comes into effect on March 4, 2019 and expires on June 4, 2019. Applications received during this time period will continue to be processed until all applications are finalized.

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