Caregiver Pilots: MI86, MI87, MI88 and MI91 Explained

Canada’s caregiver pilots have gone through a major change since they opened in March 2025. The federal government originally created two new pathways to permanent residence for home care workers. At the same time, it issued Ministerial Instructions that established the eligibility rules and controlled application intake. Less than a year later, the government changed the intake plan and stopped accepting new applications. As of September 2026, the two immigration classes still exist, but neither is open to new applicants.

Four Ministerial Instructions explain how we reached this point: MI86, MI87, MI88 and MI91. MI86 establishes the Home Care Worker Immigration, Child Care Class, while MI87 establishes the Home Support Class. MI88 originally determined how many applications IRCC could accept and process. MI91 later repealed MI88 and set new intake at zero. Understanding the difference between these instructions is essential because eligibility and the ability to submit an application are not the same thing.

How the Caregiver Pilots Are Structured

The Minister created the two classes under section 14.1 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act or IRPA. That section allows the Minister to establish temporary economic immigration classes through Ministerial Instructions. These particular classes took effect on March 31, 2025, and the instructions establishing them have a five-year life. Applicants must also intend to reside in a province other than Quebec. In other words, MI86 and MI87 form the legal foundation of the two caregiver pathways rather than simply providing administrative guidance.

There are also two streams within each class. IRCC calls them the Workers in Canada stream and the Applicants not working in Canada stream. The first stream generally applies to people who reside in Canada and have the required authorization to work. The second covers applicants who do not qualify under the first stream and includes an additional settlement funds requirement. Both streams are currently closed, although their eligibility rules remain part of MI86 and MI87.

MI86 and the Child Care Class

MI86 establishes the Home Care Worker Immigration, Child Care Class. For the experience or training requirement, the instructions recognize NOC 44100, Home child care providers, with foster parents excluded. They also recognize certain occupations within NOC 42202, Early childhood educators and assistants. However, the rules exclude early childhood educators, day care teachers, supervisors and certain other roles within that NOC. Therefore, applicants must look beyond the broad NOC number and determine whether their actual occupation qualifies.

The job offer requirement is narrower than the experience or training requirement. A qualifying Child Care job offer must be for work under NOC 44100. IRCC does not accept a NOC 42202 job offer for this purpose, even though some NOC 42202 experience or training can qualify. The work also cannot take place in an institutional setting such as a day care. This distinction matters because applicants sometimes assume that every occupation accepted for experience can also support the job offer.

MI87 and the Home Support Class

MI87 creates the Home Care Worker Immigration, Home Support Class. Applicants may use qualifying experience or training under NOC 44101, Home support workers, caregivers and related occupations. The instructions also recognize NOC 33102, Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates, for the experience or training component. Consequently, a worker does not necessarily need a background exclusively in private home support. Relevant experience in certain institutional health care occupations may also help satisfy this part of the test.

Again, however, the job offer rules are more restrictive. The qualifying offer must be under NOC 44101, not NOC 33102. IRCC also states that the work cannot take place in an institutional setting such as a nursing home. Therefore, a nurse aide may have qualifying prior experience but still need a genuine home support position for the permanent residence application. Keeping these two requirements separate avoids a common misunderstanding about MI87.

Language and Education Requirements

Both caregiver classes use the same minimum language standard. Applicants need at least Canadian Language Benchmark 4 or Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadien 4 in speaking, listening, reading and writing. They must prove those abilities through an approved language test. Under the Ministerial Instructions, the test results must be less than two years old when the applicant applies. Although CLB or NCLC 4 is relatively modest, an applicant must reach that level in every assessed ability.

Applicants must also have at least the equivalent of a Canadian high school diploma. Someone who relies on foreign education normally needs an Educational Credential Assessment from an approved organization. The assessment must confirm that the foreign credential equals at least a Canadian secondary school credential. Applicants should therefore check both their educational level and the validity of their assessment before relying on it. Meeting the occupational requirements alone does not overcome a deficiency in language or education.

Work Experience under the Caregiver Pilots

An applicant who relies on work experience needs at least six continuous months of full-time qualifying work. The experience can come from inside or outside Canada, but the applicant must complete it before applying. IRCC defines full-time work as at least 30 paid hours per week and requires the experience to be continuous. The applicant may change employers during the six months, provided there is no disqualifying break and the occupations remain within the same pilot. The qualifying experience must also fall within the required three-year period before the application.

Not every period of employment will count. Self-employment does not qualify, nor does work acquired while the applicant was a full-time student. Periods of unemployment and certain lengthy absences also interrupt the required experience. If the person gained the experience in Canada, work authorization and temporary resident status normally matter as well. Therefore, applicants should examine the circumstances of their employment, not simply the number of months shown on a reference letter.

Training as an Alternative to Experience

One unusual feature of the new caregiver pilots is the training option. An applicant may satisfy this part of the eligibility test through a qualifying training credential instead of six months of employment experience. However, the program must relate to one of the occupations accepted under the relevant pilot. It must also be post-secondary, full-time, at least six months long and delivered mainly through in-person classroom instruction. The applicant must have completed the training within the two years before applying.

These details make the training option narrower than it may first appear. A short caregiver certificate does not automatically qualify, and a program delivered mainly online will generally fail the test. On-the-job training does not meet the requirement either. In addition, applicants cannot combine occupations from the Child Care and Home Support classes to construct a qualifying training history. Anyone relying on education rather than experience should therefore compare the actual curriculum and delivery method with IRCC’s requirements.

The Workers in Canada Stream

The Workers in Canada stream was the stream that actually opened for general intake in 2025. An applicant normally had to reside in Canada and hold authorization for full-time, non-seasonal work. That authorization could arise from a valid work permit, maintained status or an applicable public policy. A person could be temporarily outside Canada when applying and still show that Canada remained their usual residence. However, simply being physically present in Canada did not make someone eligible for the stream.

The stream also had to be read together with the common requirements in MI86 or MI87. Applicants still needed the required language level, education, work experience or training, and qualifying employment offer. They also had to satisfy Canada’s ordinary admissibility requirements. Consequently, Canadian residence and work authorization only addressed part of the eligibility test. The structure created a direct permanent residence pathway, but it did not eliminate the need to satisfy each selection criterion.

The Applicants Not Working in Canada Stream

The second stream covers people who do not qualify under the Workers in Canada stream. Its substantive framework appears in MI86 and MI87, but IRCC has never opened the stream for general intake. These applicants must satisfy the common selection requirements and show sufficient settlement funds. The calculation includes the applicant and relevant family members, including certain family members who will not accompany the applicant to Canada. Thus, this stream has an additional financial requirement that does not normally apply in the same way to Stream A.

IRCC’s public website still says that this stream will open at a later date. However, there is currently no scheduled opening date under the Ministerial Instructions now in force. MI91 sets new intake for both classes at zero until March 30, 2030, unless the Minister repeals the instructions earlier. A future government decision could therefore open the stream sooner, but applicants should not treat that possibility as an announced intake. The legal position today remains zero new applications.

Job Offers under the Caregiver Pilots

Both classes require a genuine job offer from an eligible employer in Canada outside Quebec. The position must provide continuous, full-time employment, which means at least 30 paid hours each week. It must also offer permanent employment without a predetermined end date. The employer must directly hire the worker, pay the worker and control the working conditions. These rules prevent businesses from using the pilots simply to create pools of workers for placement with unrelated third parties.

An eligible employer may be a private household, business or non-profit organization. Businesses and non-profits must have a direct employment relationship with the worker and a genuine need for the position. They must also have provided the relevant type of care services for at least one year before making the offer. Employers need a Canada Revenue Agency business number and must be able to fulfil the employment terms. Recruitment or placement agencies that transfer workers to other businesses do not qualify as employers for these pilots.

Why the Job Offer Remains Important after Applying

Applicants should not assume that the job offer only matters on the application date. IRCC currently states that an applicant must continue to have a valid qualifying offer until becoming a permanent resident. However, the applicant does not necessarily need to remain with the employer who made the original offer. If another eligible employer provides a new qualifying offer, the applicant can send the updated information to IRCC. This flexibility helps workers change employers, but it does not eliminate the underlying job offer requirement.

This continuing requirement can have significant consequences for a pending application. If an employer withdraws the offer and the applicant cannot replace it, the applicant may no longer satisfy the class requirements. Likewise, a new offer must still comply with the appropriate NOC, location and employment conditions. Applicants with pending files should therefore report relevant changes and assess the new offer carefully. The long processing period does not freeze every factual requirement as it existed on the filing date.

MI88 and the Original Intake Plan

MI88 did not create the two immigration classes. Instead, the Minister issued it under section 87.3 of IRPA to control application intake and processing. For the year beginning March 31, 2025, MI88 allowed IRCC to process 2,610 applications in each class. Each class received 2,350 online Stream A spaces and 260 spaces through alternate submission methods. Stream B received no general intake allocation for that year.

MI88 originally contained a longer-term intake plan. For the year beginning March 31, 2026, it contemplated 2,750 applications in each class, all allocated to Stream A. Beginning in March 2027, the original plan would have divided each class between Stream A and Stream B. Both streams would then have received online and alternate-method allocations through March 2030. Anyone who read MI88 when the pilots launched could therefore reasonably have expected later openings, particularly for Stream B.

MI91 Changed the Caregiver Pilots

That original schedule did not survive. In December 2025, the Minister issued new processing instructions that IRCC now identifies as MI91. Those instructions expressly repealed MI88 and took effect on March 31, 2026. MI91 then set the number of new applications accepted for processing under both classes at zero. The government stated that the change would help IRCC manage inventory pressures and reduce the existing application inventory.

MI91 remains in effect until March 30, 2030, unless the Minister repeals it earlier. Therefore, the 2027 Stream B opening contemplated by MI88 is no longer part of the operative intake schedule. The same applies to the additional Stream A spaces that MI88 had contemplated after March 2026. A future Minister could issue different instructions before 2030, but applicants cannot rely on that possibility. Under the instructions now in force, IRCC accepts no new applications under either class.

Did MI91 Cancel MI86 and MI87?

No. MI91 repealed the processing instructions in MI88, but it did not repeal the two instructions that created the immigration classes. MI86 and MI87 therefore continue to define the Child Care and Home Support classes. Their language, education, experience, training and job offer rules remain relevant to applications already in the system. This distinction explains why the programs can remain legally alive while their intake remains closed.

It is therefore more accurate to say that the caregiver pilots are closed to new applications than to say that Canada abolished them. IRCC uses similar language on its current program pages and continues to publish eligibility and post-application guidance. Existing applicants may still receive decisions under MI86 or MI87. Meanwhile, prospective applicants cannot currently place a new application into the processing inventory. The two questions, eligibility and intake, must remain separate.

What Happens to Existing Applications?

MI91 targets new applications submitted on or after March 31, 2026. It does not cancel applications that IRCC had already accepted under the previous intake. IRCC continues to assess those applications for eligibility and admissibility under the applicable class. Applicants must therefore continue to pay attention to requirements that remain relevant during processing, particularly the qualifying job offer. IRCC’s current guidance also explains what applicants should do if they change employers while waiting for a decision.

The closure therefore has very different consequences for existing and prospective applicants. Someone who successfully entered the 2025 intake may continue through the permanent residence process. Someone who becomes fully eligible today cannot simply submit a new application and join that inventory. This remains true even if the prospective applicant has the perfect NOC, language score, education and employment offer. MI91 currently prevents IRCC from accepting that new application for processing.

Humanitarian and Compassionate Requests

MI91 also addresses humanitarian and compassionate requests made from outside Canada. If IRCC does not process an application because of these intake instructions, it will not process an accompanying request under subsection 25(1) of IRPA either. MI88 contained a comparable rule. As a result, a person outside Canada cannot sidestep the zero-intake limit by attaching an H&C request to a new caregiver application that IRCC cannot process.

This provision should not be misunderstood as eliminating H&C relief generally. Section 25 of IRPA continues to operate in Canadian immigration law. MI91 deals with a narrower situation involving an H&C request attached to an application that the processing instructions exclude. Applicants with separate humanitarian circumstances may need to consider whether another legal mechanism applies to their situation. The caregiver application itself does not provide a back door around the current intake restriction.

Are These Ministerial Instructions Final?

Yes. MI86, MI87, MI88 and MI91 are formal Ministerial Instructions, not consultation documents or proposed rules. However, calling them final does not mean that a Minister can never replace or repeal them. MI88 demonstrates this point particularly well because it contained a detailed intake schedule through 2030. Before the second intake year began, MI91 repealed that schedule and substituted zero intake.

This distinction matters whenever applicants plan several years ahead. Someone may spend time and money obtaining training, work experience or a qualifying job offer based on today’s program structure. Yet Ministerial Instructions can change before that person becomes able to apply. Applicants and employers should therefore distinguish between existing eligibility rules and a guaranteed future intake opportunity. The current instructions establish the former but offer no guaranteed date for the latter.

The Current Status of the Caregiver Pilots

As of September 2026, the legal position can be summarized quite simply. MI86 remains in force for the Child Care Class, and MI87 remains in force for the Home Support Class. MI88 has been repealed. MI91 now governs intake and sets the number of new applications at zero. IRCC accordingly lists both the Workers in Canada stream and the Applicants not working in Canada stream as closed.

For existing applicants, MI86 and MI87 remain highly relevant because IRCC still has to determine whether they meet those requirements. For prospective applicants, however, satisfying those requirements does not currently create an opportunity to apply. The Minister would need to repeal or replace MI91, or allow it to expire, before new intake could resume. Therefore, anyone following the caregiver pilots should monitor the Ministerial Instructions rather than relying on old program announcements or the original MI88 schedule.

Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/mandate/policies-operational-instructions-agreements/ministerial-instructions/other-goals/mi86-87-88.html