International Experience Canada welcomes overseas youth

From: IRCC

Image credit: News Canada

Canada continues to benefit from the interest shown by young people from around the world who wish to come here to acquire and contribute professional skills, travel and take part in the Canadian experience.

Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC), announced that the 2024 season of the International Experience Canada (IEC) Program is now open, which will allow nearly 90,000 young people from IEC partner countries and territories to come to Canada and participate. Those interested in applying can submit a profile.

IEC is a reciprocal program that allows Canadian and international youth aged 18 -35 to work and travel in each other’s countries. Canada has established youth mobility partnerships with over 35 countries and territories, and in 2023, it signed new arrangements or agreements with Finland, Iceland and Ukraine, and improved existing ones with South Korea and the United Kingdom. While IRCC looks forward to welcoming international youth from even more countries in 2024, Canadian youth will also have more options than ever to gain international experience and perspectives by visiting partner countries. IRCC is also pleased to expand IEC’s use of automation technology to identify routine applications for streamlined processing, support the growth of IEC and facilitate work and travel for international youth in Canada.

With the opening of the 2024 season, participants will once again be able to take part in the Canadian experience through work and travel. This will have a positive impact on employers who are looking to fill positions, as well as on Canada’s tourism industry.

A few quick facts:

• IEC has three participation categories:

Working Holiday participants receive an open work permit that allows them to work anywhere in the host country to support their travels.

International Co-op (Internship) participants receive an employer-specific work permit that allows students to gain targeted experience in their field of study.

Young Professionals participants receive an employer-specific work permit to gain targeted, professional work experience within their field of study or career path.

• Canada and Finland signed a new youth mobility agreement in March 2023. Youth from Finland are expected to be able to participate once the agreement is ratified by both countries in 2024.

• Youth will be able to participate in the Canada-Ukraine youth mobility agreement once travel to Ukraine becomes safe.