Apply to the International Experience Canada – Travel and Work in Canada

International Experience Canada (IEC) provides young individuals the opportunity to travel and work in Canada. IEC is available in countries and territories that have a bilateral youth mobility agreement with Canada. If your country of citizenship does not have an agreement with Canada, you may be able to use a Recognized Organization to come to Canada under IEC.

Working Holiday Recognized Organizations

Working Holiday Recognized Organizations (RO) help foreign participants come to Canada and Canadian participants go abroad, under IEC’s Working Holiday category. These ROs can help you with travel arrangements and may be able to help you find work in your country of destination. Working Holiday ROs offer their services for a fee.

Working Holiday ROs send IEC participants to and receive them from both IEC and non-IEC countries.

If you are a citizen of one of the countries that has a youth mobility agreement with Canada under the Working Holiday category, then your participation with a Working Holiday RO will be:

• included in the bilateral country quota, and
• subject to the terms and conditions of participation in the YMA with your country.

The above also applies to Canadians using a Working Holiday RO to go to an IEC country.

If you are a citizen of a non-IEC country, then your participation with a Working Holiday RO will be subject to the RO’s:

• country-specific quota, and
• conditions of participation.

Work permits under the Working Holiday category will be listed as «open» (in Canada). This means you can work for any employer in your country of destination.

Check the application process to become an IEC participant, check the following step by step aplication process:

1 Become a candidate

If you want to travel and work temporarily in Canada as part of International Experience Canada (IEC), your first step is to become a candidate in one or more IEC pools.
If you are eligible:

you will be placed in the pools for which you are eligible, along with other eligible candidates, and
if you receive an Invitation to Apply, you can then apply for a work permit.

2 Apply for a work permit

After you receive your Invitation to Apply, follow the steps to apply for a work permit under International Experience Canada.
If you have accepted an Invitation to Apply for a work permit under International Experience Canada (IEC), follow these steps to apply for a work permit:

1. Complete the online form
   • You can save the information in this online form and go back to it as often as you need to until you are ready to submit it.
   • Once you accept your Invitation to Apply, you have 20 days to submit your work permit application. You will receive a message in your MyCIC account with the time and date of your deadline.
2. Get all the documents you need
   • Using your Document Checklist, get all the documents you need to include with your application.
   • You must be able to make electronic copies of your supporting documents using a scanner or camera.
   • Once you have your documents ready, upload them on the Document Checklist page in your MyCIC account.
3. Pay your fees
   • The fees you pay depend on the IEC category you are applying for.
   • a) The IEC participation fee
     • This $150 CAD participation fee is for all IEC participants.
   • b) Working Holiday participants
   • Working Holiday participants must also pay an open work permit holder fee of $100 CAD online through MyCIC.
   • You may receive a refund, if you withdraw your work permit application before CIC issues your Letter of Introduction, or your work permit application is refused.
   • You will not receive a refund if we find you misrepresented yourself (gave false information or left out important details).
   • c) Young Professionals and International Co-op (Internship) participants
   • You do not have to pay any additional fees, but your employer must pay a $230 CAD employer compliance fee and submit your offer of employment to CIC. Your employer must complete this step before you submit your work permit application.
4. Submit your complete application
   • Make sure you have:
     • filled out all mandatory form fields,
     • paid your fees, and
     • included readable colour scans of all the supporting documents.

3 Check processing times

Find out how long it will take for CIC to process your application.
Processing time: 8 weeks
This is based on a service standard set out between IEC and its partner countries. After you submit your work permit application with all your final documents, your application will be processed on a “first-in, first-out” basis.

4 After you apply: get next steps

Find out what you should do after you apply for your work permit.

5 Prepare for arrival

Be prepared and know what to expect when you arrive in Canada.