International Experience Canada

When you receive an Invitation to Apply, you will have 10 days to decide if you want to accept or decline the invitation.

If you accept the Invitation to Apply, you will have 20 days from that point to submit your application for a work permit.

If you decline the Invitation to Apply, you will remain in the IEC pools to be considered in future rounds of invitations. Declining an invitation will not negatively affect your chances of being offered invitations in the future.

If you don’t respond by the deadline shown in the invitation, the invitation will expire. If it expires, you’ll have to submit a new IEC profile and be accepted to the pool again.

Note that if you’re in more than one pool and you receive an Invitation to Apply for one category, you cannot be selected from another pool until either:

• You decline the Invitation to Apply
• You’ve submitted your work permit application your application has been refused

If you decline the invitation or your application has been refused, your profile will become active again and you may receive another Invitation to Apply.

You can stay in an IEC pool until either:

• IRCC remove all profiles from the pools at the end of the season
• you’re no longer eligible for IEC

Some categories will run out of spots before the season closes. If that happens, IRCC will stop accepting profiles for that pool.

However, if your profile is in a pool for another category, you may still get an Invitation to Apply for that category. If you want to submit a profile to a different pool, you will have to withdraw your current profile and submit a new one.

The pools will close for at least two weeks at the end of each season. If you want to submit your profile for IEC again, you will need to complete and submit a new profile with a new IEC profile number when the next season opens.

If you’ve not received an Invitation to Apply while in the IEC pools and you’re not sure why, or you’d like more advice on how to proceed, don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of our expert legal advisers for more information. Contact us on +1 844 290 6312, or talk to us online.

After you accept your Invitation to Apply, you will have 20 days to complete and submit your application for a work permit.

The application will be an online form that you will have to fill out as fully and accurately as possible.

You will have to ensure that you:

• Answer all questions truthfully and completely
  • If you’re found to have supplied false information or left out important details, your application will be refused and you may also be ineligible for entry to Canada in the future
• Fill out all the mandatory fields in the form
• Don’t leave any gaps in time in the work history and education history sections
• Include all absences, periods of unemployment, travel dates, etc
• Include all paid and unpaid work in the work history section
• Click “validate” at the end of each form so there are no errors or blank fields in your application

When you have completed the application, the system will generate a personalized document checklist for you. It will show all the supporting documents you need to upload with your application.

The specific documents you will need to provide with your application will depend on your nationality, your current location, which category of IEC you’re applying for, as well as other factors.

However, below is an example list of documents that you may need to provide with your application:

• Proof of financial support
  • This will usually be in the form of a bank statement showing that you have at least CAN$2,500 or equivalent to cover initial expenses in Canada
• Medical exam certificate, if you need one
• Police certificate, if you need one
• Proof of health insurance
• CV/resume
• Passport
  • Your passport must be valid when you apply to IEC and when you enter and leave Canada
• Digital photo of yourself
• Family Information (IMM 5707) form
• Proof of school registration (only for the International Co-op category)
• Proof that your job is linked to your field of studies (only for the International Co-op category)
• Proof of education for National Occupational Classification (NOC) skill level C jobs (only for the Young Professionals category)

Note that this is not an exhaustive list and you may be asked to provide documents that are not included here.

Fees

After you complete your work permit application and upload your supporting documents, you will have to pay the appropriate fees.

The fees you pay will vary based on the IEC category you’re applying to.

All applicants will have to pay the IEC participation fee. This fee will vary year to year, but as an example, the participation fee in 2022 was CAN$156.

If you’ve applied to the Working Holiday category, you will need to pay an additional open work permit holder fee of CAN$100.

If you’ve applied to the Young Professionals or International Co-op (Internship) categories, you won’t have to pay any extra fees. However, your employer must pay a CAN$230 employer compliance fee and submit your offer of employment to IRCC.

All applicants may have to pay an additional fee of CAN$85 if they have to give biometrics.

Processing Times

IEC applications generally take between a few weeks and a few months to process, though this will vary from season to season.

You can check the IRCC website for up-to-date processing time estimates for the current IEC season.

After You Apply

After you submit your application, you will likely receive a letter asking you to give your biometrics information. You will have up to 30 days to give your biometrics, which must be done in person. You may have to travel to another city or country in order to give your biometrics.

You may also be asked to attend an interview with an officer or submit additional documents for an application already in progress. If so, then you will have 30 days from the date of contact to do so.

If Your Application is Approved

You will receive a port of entry letter of introduction. You will need to show this and your supporting documents to a border services officer when you arrive in Canada before the letter expires.

The border services officer will review your documents and make the final decision on whether you can enter Canada and be issued with your work permit.

If Your Application is Refused

If your application is refused, you will receive a letter of explanation outlining the reasons why.

Unless stated otherwise, you will be able to create a new profile and enter the IEC pools again to be selected for another invitation to apply.

If you’re unsure as to why your application was refused or would like advice about next steps to take, Total Law are here to help. Talk to us on +1 844 290 6312, or contact us online.