International Experience Canada (IEC)

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International Experience Canada (IEC)

The International Experience Canada (IEC) is a bilateral program that allows youth mobility to and from Canada and the other participant countries of the program. To be eligible to participate in this program, the candidate must be in the age range 18 to 35.

A total of 33 countries have bilateral youth mobility arrangements with Canada. The program is defined in Canada as the International Experience Canada (IEC), which consists of three categories. You may skip to the relevant section by clicking on the options below:

Young Professionals
Working Holidays
International Co-op

Young Professionals

To apply under this program, the candidate must receive a valid job offer letter from a Canadian employer, or, a contract of employment. The candidate must be in the age range of 18 to 35. The job offer or the contract of employment must fall under either one of the below National Occupation Classification (NOC) Skill Levels:

Skill Level 0 (managerial)
Skill Level A (professional)
Skill Level B (technical)

Working Holidays

Successful applicants through this program will receive open work permits that are valid from 1 year to 2 years. An open work permit means that the applicant is eligible to work in Canada under any employer. There are no employer-specific restriction(s) under an open work permit. Also, the applicant can work anywhere he or she chooses to work in Canada. In other words, there are no geographic restriction(s) as well. Nonetheless, citizens of certain countries may not be allowed to stay in Canada for more (or less) than 12 months (1 year) under this category.

International Co-op

Under this program category, persons who are enrolled in a post-secondary intuition recognised by a participating country of the IEC, is eligible to come to Canada on internships. The candidate must have arranged a co-op placement with a Canadian employer or company before applying under this program category.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for one (or more) of the International Experience Canada (IEC) program categories, the applicant must:

Be a citizen of one (or more) of the 33 participating countries;
The applicant must be in the age range of 18 to 35. For certain countries, the upper age limit is fixed at 30;
Have at least C$2,500 moveable funds to meet the essential living expenses;
Must not be having accompanying dependent(s);
Must have enough funds to purchase a return ticket, or, to make an exit from Canada;
Have valid health insurance throughout their stay in Canada;
Must not be inadmissible to Canada on medical grounds as well as criminal grounds;
Have a valid passport till the end of their stay in Canada.