Step 4: Wait for an invitation from the IEC pool - and prepare
How many rounds of invitations are there?
IRCC never discloses the exact number of invitation rounds or when the next one is. However, they announce:
- the date of the first round at the beginning of the IEC season
- the date of the last round one week before the end of the season.
In between, several rounds will take place, usually weekly, during which the system will send out a set number of invitations.
Typically, the largest number of invitations is issued in the very first round to ensure a strong start with a high volume of applications. As the season progresses, the number of invitations gradually decreases.
Around the summer months, there is often a brief pause, typically lasting 1 to 2 weeks. This break allows processing officers time to catch up on the large volume of submitted applications.
After the pause, invitations resume and continue until the IEC season officially closes, which is usually around October.
What are my chances to receive an invitation from the IEC pool?
The likelihood of receiving an invitation always depends on two main factors: the number of applicants in the pool and the number of spots still available. For this reason, it’s not possible to calculate your exact chances.
Generally, the chances are higher at the beginning of the season. However, as more spots get filled over time, your chances decrease.
An invitation can arrive in the very first round, in a later round after several weeks or months, or, in some cases, not at all. Essentially, it’s a lottery.
Throughout the season, the number of people in the pool will fluctuate. Based on past experience, more invitations are sent out than there are actual spots available.
The UK Working Holiday pool as an example from season 2025:
Half way through the season over 14,000 invitations were already issued compared to the quota of 9,000 spots. This happens because many applicants:
- decline their invitation,
- miss the 10 day deadline to respond to the invitation,
- miss the 20 day deadline to submit their application,
- withdraw their application voluntarily, or
- are refused for various reasons.
As a result, the system compensates by sending out more invitations to ensure all available spots are eventually filled.
In July, an additional 660 spots were added to the UK pool. However, by August 8, the number of available spots had already dropped to a very low level, and the number of participants in the pool had surpassed the remaining spots.
While the pool is open, every Friday the government updates the pool numbers — showing how many spots are still available and how many people are currently waiting. This information can help you estimate your odds of receiving an invitation.
To find out the chances for your country select your country here.
What are some common reasons an IEC application might be refused? Many of these reasons are preventable.
In this section, you’ll learn about the mistakes you can avoid to increase your chances of success.
How can I prepare for the IEC application?
A little preparation can go a long way—it’s often said that good preparation is half the battle! To save you time when the application process begins, you can start getting things in order while you wait for your invitation.
You must be able to scan your supporting documents using a scanner or camera.
What if I don't have access to a laptop/computer to scan?
If you don’t have a scanner, you can easily use one of the many Scanner Apps available. For example, if you have an iPhone, you can use the built-in “Notes” App.
To scan a document with the Notes App, simply press and hold the app icon, and the “Scan Document” option will appear. From there, you can scan your passport pages or any other documents you need.
There are also many other scanning apps available for Android, such as Adobe Scan or CamScanner, that offer easy-to-use scanning features.
Passport
This will be an upload of a document
From your current, valid passport, scan the photo page and all pages that have marks, dates, or stamps into a PDF file.
You’ll only have one upload spot for your passport, so merge all the pages into one PDF before submitting. You can easily do this online using tools like Merge PDF.
If you have multiple passports, you only need to upload the passport you are using for your pool application.
It is important to note, that your work permit will not be issued for longer than the validity of your passport. Therefore, if your passport is about to expire soon, here is some information and recommendation.
Police Certificates
This will be an upload of a document
For detailed information about the police certificate, many common questions have been answered in a dedicated post, which you can find > here <.
Apply for the police certificate:
- From your home country or the country where you currently reside.
- From all countries where you’ve lived for more than 6 months in a row since turning 18. This includes any time you spent as a tourist, student, or worker—the key factor is the length of stay, not your purpose for being there. So, if you’ve stayed in a country for 6 months or more at any point, you’ll need a police certificate.
For specific instructions on how to apply for the police certificate in each country, you can visit the official website of each respective country, which you can find >here<.
Keep in mind that you will only have one upload spot for all your police certificates. Therefore, if you have certificates from multiple countries, be sure to merge them into a single file before uploading. For example, with Merge PDF.
Work History
This will be a manual entry in the application system
Tip
To ensure everything is accurate and to save time, create a list of your jobs on paper first. This way, you can double-check the details before transferring the information into the system once you receive your invitation.
The Work History section in your application will ask for details about your jobs in the past 10 years. However, you must list everything from the age of 18, not just the last 10 years. You do not need to include anything before you turned 18, so you can leave that out.
For each entry, you’ll need to provide only the month/year, city, and country—there’s no need for exact dates or addresses.
Do not leave any gaps in the work history! Include all dates of work, unemployment, study...
If there are any gaps in your work history or CV/résumé, the processing agent may ask you to fill out a more detailed travel history form. This form is time-consuming and frustrating to complete, and it can delay your application significantly.
Start by listing your most recent entry first, then work backward, going all the way to your 18th birthday.
List everything without any gaps.
- In school → select “Student”
- Not working or looking for work → select “Unemployed”
- Traveling after finishing school or between jobs → also select “Unemployed”
- There will not be a “Travelling” option in the drop-down list.
An example of the work history.
You start with the latest (most recent) entry and go back to your 18th birthday:
09/2024 – ongoing Unemployed
02/2021 – 09/2024 Customer Service
06/2020 – 01/2021 Unemployed
09/2016 – 06/2020 Student
What if I was a student and had part-time jobs while studying?
If your main occupation during a period was as a student, leave out any work experience from that time.
For example, if you were a student for 4 years in your home country and worked during that time, just list “student” for those 4 years. Instead of listing each short-term job separately, you cover the entire period with one entry.
This is especially helpful if you had multiple jobs during your studies, which is quite common.
How do I list jobs or studies that I did remotely?
When filling out your application, it’s important to enter the actual location where you physically worked or studied, not the location of the company or institution itself.
For example:
- If you’re a remote worker, enter the location where you completed the work, which would typically be your home or the place where you were working from, not the company’s location.
- If you were studying online, enter the location where you took the classes (e.g., your home or any place where you were attending the online courses), not the location of the institution.
Do I also have to list all my travels?
For the IEC application, IRCC does not require a detailed travel history. Instead, the primary focus is on your work history, which includes all your jobs, but also periods of unemployment and any studies you may have completed.
You will only need to provide travel information in a specific application question if you lived in another country for more than six consecutive months. In that case, IRCC wants to know:
- Where you were
- Why you were there
- The dates you entered and left the country
Additional information and tips:
Be honest because IRCC can request travel records from border agencies if needed.
- If you took short holidays or vacations while you were employed, you can safely omit those from your application. They do not need to be reported unless they meet the six-month rule mentioned above.
- However, if you were not working and spent time traveling, IRCC expects you to indicate where you were and what you were doing during those months.
As noted earlier, leaving gaps in your work history will often trigger the most common request: the IMM 5257 Schedule 1 – Travel History form. This form requires you to list all your international travel during the requested period. Unfortunately, the form is time-consuming and a pain, and you should avoid it at all costs by providing a complete and accurate work history.
> You can find more information on the IMM 5257 Schedule 1 form here. <
Education History
This will be a manual entry in the application system
You only list the periods after high school where you received a post-secondary diploma or certificate.
Specifically, this includes any vocational training, university degrees, certification programs, or any other form of higher education you have attended or are currently attending.
If you hold only a high school diploma and have not pursued any further education, you may simply answer “No” to this question. In this case, you will not need to fill out this section.
On the other hand, if you began post-secondary studies but did not complete them, or if you did not receive a degree or diploma, you are not required to include this information in your education history. However, you should still ensure that you list your ‘student’ years under the work history section in order to account for any gaps in your timeline.
CV/résumé
This will be an upload of a document
This CV/résumé is not meant to showcase your skills or land you a job. It’s purely for immigration processing purposes. The goal is to give IRCC a clear overview of what you’ve been doing since you turned 18, whether that includes work, education, unemployment, travel, or anything else.
The CV/résumé is a document that you must upload as part of your application, and it can be in either PDF or Word format.
When creating your CV, it should cover your work history starting from the age of 18. Be sure to list your most recent job first, and continue in reverse chronological order. The information in your resume should match the details you’ve provided in the Work History section.
If you were unemployed, it also must be listed in the CV/résumé.
There’s no specific required format for the resume. In fact, there are many free resume templates available online that you can download and use.
Photo
This will be an upload of a document
Below, you’ll find a screenshot of the official photo requirements for your IEC application. You can check the full photo specifications here for more detailed information.
To ensure the correct dimensions, you can have a professional photographer take your photo. However, you don’t need a professional photo. You can use a “Passport Photo App” on your mobile phone.
Here’s what you’ll need to do:
- First, select the settings for Canada within the app.
- Next, stand in front of a white background (a blank wall works perfectly).
- Then, have someone else take the photo for you (it’s much easier than attempting a selfie!).
- Once the photo is taken, crop it to meet the required dimensions. Many apps will allow you to adjust the photo size directly.
Just make sure your photo meets all the specifications before uploading it!
Family Information Form (IMM 5707)
This will be an upload of a document
The Family Information Form IMM 5707 is part of the required documents, but do not fill it out in advance!
You need to wait before completing this form, as you must always use the latest version. The version could change between the time you apply into the pool and when you receive your invitation.
Once you receive the invitation, you will receive a download link to the most current version of the form, which will be available in the document list of your application.
If you’d like to see what the Family Information Form IMM 5707 looks like, you can download the current version here.
If you encounter any issues with downloading or opening the form (or any PDF), you can find helpful tips and settings here.
Do I need proof of IEC health insurance now?
You don’t need to have health insurance when you apply. However, you must have an IEC health insurance when you travel to Canada to activate your work permit.
In other words, it’s best to wait until you have received the Port of Entry (POE) approval letter and have booked your flight before signing up for the IEC health insurance. For more details on the IEC health insurance requirements, you can find all the necessary information here.
Tip!
Print and keep a copy of all the documents you plan to upload in your application. You’ll need them again when you travel to Canada to activate your work permit. Having them on hand will make the process smoother and save you time later on!
A few more words that will hopefully put your mind at ease
First of all, don’t be intimidated by the list of required documents and information. Although the process may seem overwhelming with all its questions, it’s essentially a combination of your work and travel history, an overview of your life, in other words.
Importantly, the government simply wants to know where you’ve been since the age of 18. They are not concerned with what you were doing during that time.
If a processing officer finds something unclear or incomplete, they will simply request additional documents. There’s no need to worry, this is a normal part of the process.
Moreover, the Canadian government and its processing officers do not judge your personal life or base decisions on it. Whether you’ve worked consistently or spent most of your time unemployed doesn’t matter.
Even if you spent ten years in your parents’ basement playing video games, that’s perfectly fine. What matters is simply that you provide an accurate record of what you’ve been doing and where you’ve been living since you turned 18.
Similarly, your level of education or job experience (whether you’ve just graduated high school, have years of work behind you, or even hold a PhD) is not a deciding factor.
Ultimately, every applicant in the International Experience Canada (IEC) program is treated equally, regardless of their background.