Travel and Work in Canada as a Youth

Travel and Work in Canada as a Youth

International Experience Canada

This category provides youth with the opportunity to travel and work in Canada.
Profile submission will stay in the pool until: the Invitation to Apply for a work permit has been not issued.
IEC pool issue invitations to candidates regularly during the IEC season.

  • when the rounds of invitations for each country and category will start and end
  • the number of candidates in the pools and
  • your chances of getting an invitation this season

You can submit an IEC profile at any time during the IEC season. As long as you submit your profile before the date of the last round of invitations for your country, you may receive an Invitation to Apply for a work permit.

1 IEC profile in multiple pools

You can only have 1 IEC profile at any time. However, you can be eligible for more than 1 IEC pool.

When you complete your profile, we’ll tell you which pools are available to you. You can submit your profile to any of these available pools. For example, you might be eligible to submit your profile to the Working Holiday and Young Professionals pools.

How we issue Invitations to Apply

Invitations to Apply are issued in the following order:

  • International Co-op (Internship)
  • Young Professionals
  • Working Holiday

If your profile is in an International Co-op (Internship) pool and Working Holiday pool, you’ll receive an Invitation to Apply for an International Co-op category. You’ll only receive an Invitation to Apply for a Working Holiday work permit if there are no spots left in the International Co-op (Internship) category.

Country Age limit Working Holiday Young Professionals International Co-op (Internship)
Australia 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Australia 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Belgium 18 to 35 Yes No No
Chile 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Costa Rica 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Croatia 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Czech Republic 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Denmark 18 to 35 Yes No No
Estonia 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
France 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Germany 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Greece 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Hong kong SAR 18 to 35 Yes No No
Ireland 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Italy 18 to 35 Yes No No
Japan 18 to 35 Yes No No
Korea, Republic 18 to 35 Yes No No
Latvia Republic 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Lithuania 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Luxembourg 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Mexico 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Netherlands 18 to 35 Yes Yes No
New Zealand 18 to 35 Yes No No
Norway 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Poland 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Portugal 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
San Marino 18 to 35 Yes No No
Slovakia 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Slovenia 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Spain 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Sweden 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Switzerland 18 to 35 No Yes Yes
Taiwan 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
Ukraine 18 to 35 Yes Yes Yes
United Kingdom 18 to 35 Yes No No

If you’re in an IEC pool, you should start getting any supporting documents you may need for your work permit application. Some documents may take several months to get. You could get an Invitation to Apply at any time, and you’ll have limited time to submit your work permit application and documents.

Under this category, applicant dependents aren’t eligible to accompany, they may apply for visit, work or study separately.

Invitations to Apply are issued in the following order:

1. International Co-op (Internship)

Get valuable overseas work experience related to the field of study.

This category is specially for student registered at a post-secondary institution and having a job offer for a work placement or internship in Canada. The internship is the part of the study completion.

The International Co-op (Internship) category is an employer-specific work permit. (closed work permit) The internship you are offered in Canada must be directly linked to your field of studies.

2. Young Professionals

This category requires a job offer in Canada that contributes to your professional development. The purpose behind this is to gain Canadian professional work experience to better compete in a global economy.

The Young Professionals category is an employer-specific work permit (closed work permit)

3. Working Holiday

This category wont require to have job offer, applicant can work with more than one employer.

Working Holiday is an open work permit. An open work permit allows to work at most jobs in Canada.