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International Experience Canada (IEC) Requirements by Country

Posted on 13/01/2020

Are you under 35, fashionably dressed, fussy about your cappuccino, and stuck in an office in a city working for some company? Or lost in the maze of data bases in the basement of a molecular biology research centre at a university somewhere in Salzburg?

Be of good cheer! The world awaits you fine young professionals! For example, in Canada you may very well find your own country has signed a bilateral youth agreement with Canada which allows you to work for up to 24 months in Canada under 3 specific programs.

As we previously outlined here, International Experience Canada (IEC) allows younger professionals and/or post-secondary students to work in Canada on a temporary basis in order to expand their contacts and gain valuable experience in international work environments. The participating countries (see the table below) are ones that Canada has signed accords or agreements with that also allow young Canadian professionals and/or post-secondary students to work in those countries. There are 3 programs operating under IEC:

Working Holiday:

Participants apply for an open work permit enabling them to work for any employer in any location across Canada and gain some extra income as they travel in Canada and experience the scintillating scenery in the great northern climes.

Young Professionals:

This program allows participants to apply for employer-specific work permits in order to gain professional experience in their occupational areas.

International Co-op:

Post-secondary students apply for employer-specific work permits in order to gain experience in their area of academic study.

General Requirements

Applicants must meet both general and country-specific requirements in order to be eligible. The general requirements include the following:

  • Medical examination: All IES applicants who are going to be working in a designated occupation (go here for more information) require a medical examination regardless of the length of their temporary work permit. As well, if you were a resident of or travelled in a country for which medical exams are required (go here) for more than 6 months, you must also undergo a medical exam.
  • Police certificates: Even if you have not lived in or are not from a country for which Canada requires a police certificate, you may be asked for one by Canadian immigration authorities, so it’s best to assume you will need to get one from local police authorities to help ensure you are admissible to Canada.
  • Residence requirements: If your country of residence is not your country of citizenship, you must provide a permanent mailing address in your country of citizenship.
  • Discontinuance requirements: Don’t let the odd name confuse you. This just refers to the fact that under bilateral arrangements (Youth Mobility Arrangements) with Canada, some participating countries are not allowed continuous participations in one of the 3 IEC programs. In other words, you have to leave Canada and wait a certain period of time before applying to participate in the same or another of the 3 programs (Working Holiday or WH, Young Professionals or YP, and International Co-op, or IC).
    • Please note, however, that if you are applying for another work permit outside (not involved with) the IEC-linked work permits, then you may apply while your IEC work permit is still valid.

Country-specific requirements

Discontinuance requirements differ depending on the country-specific youth mobility arrangements Canada has signed. As well, there are further differences between different countries, so that in addition to ages allowed and length of programs which you can find here in our previous blog, the following may also be different from one participating country to another:

  • Discontinuance requirements
  • Type of work permit
  • Residence requirements
  • Additional participations allowed for members who participated prior to 2015 or 2013

 

So, to guide you as to what options might be available for you, let’s dive in and detail the differences across each IEC participating country in the following table:

Country & Program Type of Work Permit Discontinuance requirements Residence requirements Additional/Total participations
Australia
WH Open None None 1 additional participation for participants prior to 2015

2 total participations

YP Employer-specific None None
IC Employer-specific None Registered in school in Australia
Austria
WH Open None None 3 total participations
YP Employer-specific None Working at Austrian company & will be working at subsidiary, partner, or parent company in Canada
IC Employer-specific OR agriculture, forestry, or tourism None Resident of Austria and registered as student in agriculture, forestry, or tourism or have recently graduated from these
Belgium
WH Open None Resident of Belgium 1 total participation
Chile
WH Open None None 2 total participations repeat category permitted
YP Employer-specific None None
IC Employer-specific None None
Costa Rica
WH Open None None 2 total participations repeat category NOT permitted
YP Employer-specific None None
IC Employer-specific None Registered at school in Costa Rica
Croatia
WH Open 3 months discontinuance None 2 total participations repeat category permitted
YP Employer-specific 3 months discontinuance None
IC Employer-specific 3 months discontinuance Registered at school in Croatia
Czech Republic
WH Open None Resident of Czech Republic 2 total participations repeat category NOT permitted

Must be paid internship

YP Employer-specific None Resident of Czech Republic
IC Employer-specific None Resident of Czech Republic & registered at school in Czech Republic
Denmark
WH Open None Must be citizen of Denmark & habitual resident of Denmark 1 total participation
Estonia
WH Open None None 2 total participations repeat category NOT permitted
YP Employer-specific None None
IC Employer-specific None Registered at school in Estonia
France
WH Open None None 2 total participations & 1 additional participations for those prior to 2015
YP Employer-specific None None
YP – VIE Employer-specific None None
IC Employer-specific None None although enrolment in a training program in France acceptable
Germany
WH Open None None 2 total participations repeat category NOT permitted
YP Employer-specific None None
IC Employer-specific None None
Greece
WH Open None None 2 total participations repeat category NOT permitted
YP Employer-specific None None
IC Employer-specific None None
Hong Kong
WH Open None Resident of HK SAR with valid HK SAR passport or British National (overseas) passport 1 total participation
Ireland
WH Open None None 2 total participations 1 of which must be in IC program

Those prior to 2013 have additional participation of up to 24 months

YP Employer-specific None None
IC Employer-specific None Registered at school in Ireland
Italy
WH Open None Resident of Italy 1 total participation
Japan
WH Open None Resident of Japan 1 total participation
Latvia
WH Open 1-year discontinuance Resident of Latvia 2 total participations repeat category NOT permitted
YP Employer-specific 1-year discontinuance Resident of Latvia
IC Employer-specific 1-year discontinuance Resident of Latvia & registered at school in Latvia
Lithuania
WH Open 3-month discontinuance None 2 total participations repeat category NOT permitted
YP Employer-specific 3-month discontinuance None
IC Employer-specific 3-month discontinuance Registered at a school in Lithuania
Luxembourg
WH Open None None 1 total participation
YP Employer-specific None None
IC Employer-specific None None
Mexico (the Youth Mobility arrangement with Mexico is currently under review)
WH Open 3-years discontinuance None 2 total participations repeat category is permitted
YP Employer-specific 3-years discontinuance None
IC Employer-specific 3-years discontinuance Registered at school in Mexico
Netherlands (includes nationals of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, & Sint Maarten)
WH Open None Resident of Netherlands 2 total participations repeat category NOT permitted
YP Employer-specific None Resident of Netherlands
New Zealand
WH Open None None 1 total participation
Norway
WH Open None Resident of Norway 2 total participations repeat category NOT permitted
YP Employer-specific None Resident of Norway
IC Employer-specific None Resident of Norway
Poland
WH Open 6-month discontinuance None 2 total participations repeat category NOT permitted
YP Employer-specific 6-month discontinuance None
IC Employer-specific 6-month discontinuance Registered at school in Poland
Portugal
WH Open None None 1 total participation
YP Employer-specific None None
IC Employer-specific None None
San Marino
WH Open None None 2 total participations
Slovakia
WH Open 3-month discontinuance Resident of Slovakia 2 total participations repeat category NOT permitted
YP Employer-specific 3-month discontinuance Resident of Slovakia
IC Employer-specific 3-month discontinuance Resident of Slovakia & registered at school in Slovakia
Slovenia
WH Open None None 2 total participations repeat category NOT permitted
YP Employer-specific None None
IC Employer-specific None Registered at school in Slovenia
South Korea
WH Open None Resident of South Korea 1 total participation
Spain
WH Open 3-month discontinuance Resident of Spain 2 total participations repeat category NOT permitted
YP Employer-specific 3-month discontinuance Resident of Spain
IC Employer-specific 3-month discontinuance Resident of Spain & registered at school in Spain
Sweden
WH Open None Resident of Sweden 2 total participations repeat category NOT permitted
YP Employer-specific None Resident of Sweden
IC Employer-specific None Resident of Sweden & registered at school in Sweden
Switzerland
YP Employer-specific None None 2 total participations – repeat participations if within 18-month limit
IC Employer-specific None Registered at school in Switzerland
Taiwan
WH Open None None 1 total participation
YP Employer-specific None None
IC Employer-specific None Registered at school in Taiwan
Ukraine (Youth Mobility arrangement with Ukraine is currently under review)
WH Open None None 2 total participations repeat category permitted
YP Employer-specific None None
IC Employer-specific None Registered at school in Ukraine
UK
WH Open None None 1 total participation those who participated prior to 2015 may be eligible for 24 months extra participation

 

Use the above chart along with the chart in our previous blog to get an overview of how International Experience Canada (IEC) works with regards to your country. If your country is not on this chart you may still be able to participate. Go here to our previous blog for more information or contact us directly!

Posted in Tips and tagged Work Permit

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