What is International Experience Canada Program?
The IEC is a program that allows the youth to experience life Canada by providing them an opportunity to travel and work in Canada for short periods of time.
To be eligible to participate:
- You must be between the ages of 18 and 35
- Your country or territory of citizenship must have an agreement with Canada allowing you to apply for an IEC work permit or
- You may be eligible to use a recognized organization (RO). ROs are youth service organizations that offer work and travel support to youths. They can help you with planning your trip to Canada, getting information about Canadian culture, laws, taxes, finding a job, transportation, and general support and advice.
Your country of citizenship will determine which of the following 3 categories you can apply under:
- Working Holiday
- Young Professionals
- International Co-op
Work permits that are issued under the IEC program are exempt from requiring an LMIA to apply.
Working Holiday
This option allows you to work anywhere in Canada for almost any Canadian employer and as such is considered an open work permit. Your work permit is valid up to the time in the agreement between your country and Canada, so that can be more or less than one year.
This category is great for individuals who:
- Don’t have a job offer yet
- Want to work for more than one employer in Canada
- Want to work in more than one location
- Would like to earn some money so they can travel
Young Professionals
This category allows individuals of participating countries to gain work experience by working for a Canadian employer. Work permit under this category will receive an employer-specific work permit and is for participants who:
- Have a valid job offer in Canada that contributes to their professional development
- Will work for the same employer in the same location during their stay in Canada
The work under this program must be a paid and not self-employed.
The job that you have been offered must be classified as a National Occupational Classification (NOC) Code Skill Type Level 0, A, or B to be considered as contributing to you professional development.
International Co-Op (Internship)
This program allows participants to gain valuable international work experience related to their field of study. The type of work permit that they will receive will be an employer-specific work permit. This is a great option for individuals who:
- Are a registered student at a post-secondary institution
- Have a job offer for a work placement or internship in Canada
- Need to do a work placement or internship to complete their studies
- Will work for the same employer in the same location during their stay in Canada
Prior to applying under this category, participants must arrange their co-op placement with a Canadian employer.
Eligibility Requirements for the IEC Program
To be eligible under one of the three categories, the candidate must:
- Be a citizen of an eligible country that has this arrangement with Canada
- Have a valid passport for the entirety of their stay in Canada (your work permit will not be longer than the validity of your passport)
- Be between the ages of 18 and 35 at the time of applying
- Have an equivalent of $2,500CAD to cover your expenses in Canada
- Be able to take out health insurance for the duration of your stay (you may have to present evidence of this at the port of entry)
- Be admissible to Canada
- Prior to your departure, have a round trip ticket or the financial resources to purchase a departure ticket at the end of your authorized stay in Canada
- Not be accompanied by dependants
- Pay the required fees
Dependants
Unfortunately, your dependants cannot accompany you to Canada under this program, but they can apply separately to visit, study, or work in Canada.
How the IEC Program works
See below the chronological step-by-step overview of how this program works:
- Complete the Come to Canada questionnaire and get your personal reference code, if eligible
- Use this code to create your MyCIC account
- Complete the remaining steps in the IEC profile builder
- Submit your profile and choose the IEC pools you want to be in
- If you receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) via your MyCIC account, you will have 10 days to begin your application or decline it. If you accept, click the “Start Application” button in your account to start the work permit application process
- After you press that button, you then have 20 days from that day regardless of whether you accept on day 1 or 10, to complete, pay, and submit the work permit application
- For the Young Professionals and International Co-op categories, your employer needs to pay the $230 Employer Compliance Fee through their Employer Portal before those 20 days expire. Request your employer to send you the offer of employer number that they will get once they have paid the fees as you will need it to apply for your work permit
- Upload all supporting documents, including police and medical exam certificates, if applicable (if you don’t have supporting documents, you can upload proof that you have applied to undertake a medical exam and that you have sent in a request for a police certificate)
- Pay the participation fee of $153 CAD with a credit card through the online payment system in your MyCIC account
- For the Working Holiday category, applicants pay their own open work permit holder fee of $100 CAD at this time
- At this point, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) begins its temporary work permit application assessment. IRCC may ask you to provide additional documents. This is the last chance to withdraw from the IEC and obtain refunds. IRCC typically processes complete applications within 8 weeks
- If your application is successful, a letter of introduction (LOI) will be sent to your account. The official name of the document Is Port of Entry (POE) Introduction Letter
- This letter must be presented upon arrival at the POE (such as an international airport) in Canada, whereupon you may obtain your work permit