Are you wanting to experience life away from home? With Canada ranking one of the best countries in the world it’s hard to say no. Spend a winter working in a ski resort or the summer in Banff, whether it’s 6 months, 1 or even 2 years you’ll need a visa to work here.
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What is the IEC Visa?
The IEC ( International Experience Canada) Visa provides a temporary work permit for people from over 30 countries aged under 35 to legally travel and work within Canada for up to 24 months ( depending on the country your applying from) there are three programs available, the Working Holiday (the most popular), Young Professionals and International Co-ops.
Types of IEC Programs
Working Holiday:
Suitable for those who:
- Do not have a job offer
- Want to work for more than one employer
- Want to work in more than one location
- Want to earn extra money to travel.
If you plan on working in the health sector, i.e with children or vulnerable people you must have a medical exam carried out by an approved physician.
Young Professionals
Suitable for those who:
- Have a job offer that contributes to their professional development
- Plan to work for the same employer in the same location for the duration of their stay in Canada.
This job offer must be paid and applicants cannot be self employed.
International Co-op
- Are registered at a post- secondary institution
- Have a job offer or work placement/ internship in Canada
- Need the work placement in order to complete their studies
- Will work for the same employer in the same location for the duration of their stay in Canada.
The internship must be directly linked to their field of study.
What countries can get it?
You can find out if your country is eligible on the Government of Canada website
How Much Does it Cost?
- Participation fee, $150
- Biometric fee $85
- Working Holiday Open Work Permit Holder Fee, $100
- Proof of funds, $2500
- Flight to Canada
- Police certificate fee
- Travel expenses
- Travel insurance that must be valid for the length of your stay in Canada
- Return flight/ proof of funds for a return flight.
How to Apply for an IEC Visa
Complete the come to Canada Questionaire. This must be answered accurately as answering wrongly can lead to you failing the questionaire. It may take a couple of tries for this.
Once you pass the questionaire you will be given a reference code. Save it, you’ll be using this to create your IRCC account on the CIC website.
Next, submit your profile to the IEC pool. It’s official! You’ve now applied for an invite for your work permit. You’re probably wondering what that means. You need to receive an invitation in order to apply for your work permit. Think of it as a birthday party, the work permit is the party and you want to go but to be able to go, you need an invitation first.
Now for the waiting game. Right now your profile is waiting in what’s called a ‘pool’ with thousands of other profiles. Each country has its own pools and each type of visa has its own pool so all of the UK IEC Visa’s are in one pool.
Once the first round of invites begin more are usually sent out weekly. Let’s say your one of the lucky ones and you got your invite, congratulations!! You have the choice to either accept or decline it and you have 10 days to make this decision. Once you accept your invite you will have 20 days to complete, submit your documents and pay any fees for your work permit. If you take any longer than those 20 days then you’ve lost your chance and must apply again into the pool.
IRCC will begin their assessment of your application, you may be asked to provide additional documents, this typically takes up to 8 weeks. If you are successful you will receive your POE ( Port of Entry) this must be presented on arrival in Canada where you will be asked to show your documents before receiving your work permit.
How Long Does it Take to Get?
Depending on when you apply the pools may or may not be open yet for the season, for example you can apply and go in the pool in October but they might not start inviting anyone until December and you won’t know until a few days or hours before they do. Once the pool opens you will find out how many spaces there are so there could be 3,000 invitations available but 5,000 people applying. This is why it can take a more than one season to get your invite. Some people are lucky and get theirs within a few months, others not so lucky and it can take them years, it took me and David nearly 3 years to get ours!
What Documents Do I Need?
You will be asked to take photos and upload the following documents:
- Police Check,
- CV
- Passport
- Digital Photo (passport style)
- Family Information Form
- Canadian resume
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