Can I extend my Working Holiday work permit?
Scenario 1:
No - Absolutely not
An IEC work permit cannot be extended beyond the maximum allowed time in the agreement of a country.
A Working Holiday work permit is part of the International Experience Canada (IEC) program and is a special work permit. Each country that takes part in the IEC program has its own agreement with Canada. These agreements set the maximum length of a work permit. To check how long you can stay, select your country >> here <<
For example, citizens of Australia and Ireland can stay for up to 24 months. They cannot extend the work permit beyond that time. Even if an immigration lawyer tells you something different, that advice is wrong. Many lawyers do not know the special rules of the IEC work permit.
I’d like to share the official rules from the Government of Canada. If your lawyer or consultant gives you different advice, send them the official link so they can learn the correct information.
As a rule, no work permit extensions are authorized under the International Experience Canada (IEC) Program.
The validity period for an IEC work permit may not exceed the maximum length of stay authorized under the bilateral agreement or arrangement.
Official government Source
The validity period for an IEC work permit may not exceed the maximum length of stay authorized under the agreement/arrangement
Official government Source
Categories of work with validity periods that may not be exceeded: International Experience Canada programs
Paragraph R205(b), exemption code C21:The work permit cannot extend past the period specified in the country agreement.
Official government Source
A word of caution:
Because many immigration consultants and lawyers are unfamiliar with the rules and specific requirements of the IEC work permit, they often advise clients to submit a fake extension application. However, this is illegal advice and should be reported to the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants.
As a result, the processing agent will 100% refuse any such fake work permit application. Simply put, there is no such thing as a “blank” open work permit.
Generally speaking, every work permit application must be tied to a specific program or pathway, such as the LMIA work permit category, an LMIA-exempt category, or a permanent residency stream. If it were truly possible to apply for a blank open work permit without meeting any criteria, many temporary workers would do so. However, this is not the case.
If you deliberately try to bypass the rules by submitting a fake extension, you are intentionally submitting a false and incomplete application. Consequently, this could lead to serious consequences. Once you receive the refusal letter, you will be out of status, retroactively from the date your original work permit expired.
If the extension application is rejected (incomplete), it is as if the application was never submitted, and the applicant is in status until their existing temporary resident status expires.
Official government Source
Don't risk your future in Canada
If you follow unlawful advice from an immigration consultant or lawyer and continue working after your Working Holiday permit expires, you are engaging in illegal work. This can seriously affect your chances of approval for future applications, whether for another work permit or permanent residency.
Moreover, if you plan to use this unauthorized work experience to support your permanent residency application, it will not count, because it was gained while working illegally.
Keep in mind that all work permit refusals must be disclosed in every future application. Depending on the reason for the refusal and how long you remained in Canada without status, your future application could be denied. You may also receive a letter instructing you to leave the country.
Under no circumstances should you risk falling out of status in Canada. The government provides clear, publicly available information on how to maintain legal status. You must either apply for another work permit that you are eligible for or submit an application for a visitor record to stay in Canada legally.
Looking ahead to 2025 – 2027, the Canadian government has plans to reduce the number of temporary workers and permanent residency applications. One way they may do this is by refusing applications due to illegal work, overstaying, or misrepresentation, making it even more important to follow the rules.
Did you know that five countries share immigration data under the Five Eyes Alliance?
Those are: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It means an overstay in any of those countries must be reported in immigration applications like temporary work permit, study permit or permanent residency. Those countries know exactly where you were and how long you spent time in a country.
As soon as you check in for a flight, your passport is scanned. As soon as you enter a country, (any country not just the ones mentioned), your passport is scanned. Just because there are no stamps, it doesn’t mean there is no immigration data (entry and exit).
Scenario 2:
Yes, under certain circumstances
In three situations, a work permit can be extended to the maximum allowed length under the agreement with your country. Never beyond that allowed time.
The three scenarios:
- Mistake: When the immigration officer made a mistake during activation and issued the work permit for a shorter time than you are allowed under your country. This is the most common mistake that you should try to fix on the spot with the officer.
- Passport: Your passport was not valid for long enough when the work permit was activated and therefore a shorter work permit was issued to match the validity of the passport.
- Young Professional: If the employer created a shorter job offer and therefore a shorter work permit was issued.
If you are in one of the above three situations, > here < is the info on how to extend the work permit.
Scenario 3:
Health Insurance was too short
The extension of the work permit is absolutely not possible.
If your work permit was issued for a shorter period, because your health insurance only covered part of your stay, then that’s final. In this case, you cannot apply for a work permit extension.
This is because the IEC program has a clear rule: you must have health insurance that covers the entire length of your intended stay in Canada when you activate your work permit.
As a result, if you only purchase health insurance for a shorter time (for example, three months), immigration officers will issue your work permit only for that period. There is no option to extend it later.
Therefore, work permit applications that don’t meet this requirement are automatically refused.
Quote from this official government source >here< under Scenario 3:
- IRCC does not allow the client to submit an application to extend the period of their participation to reach the full maximum duration allowed under the bilateral agreement or arrangement.
- The applicant failed to obtain travel insurance that fully covers their anticipated stay, as stipulated in their letter of introduction; therefore, their work permit application is automatically refused.
- The IEC participant cannot increase the validity period of their work permit. If they receive a work permit with a shorter validity period due to the length of their insurance coverage, they are not eligible to apply to increase the validity period of their work permit at a later date.
Also, before you submitted the application you had to electronically sign a disclosure with the information about the health insurance. There is no excuse with "I didn't know".
Another Working Holiday
A completely new IEC application via the IEC pools is not considered an ‘extension’, it is a new work permit.
A few of the IEC countries allow a second Working Holiday participation. Enter your country >> here << to read the requirements. Italy, United Kingdom, Croatia and Chile are among those few countries.
Also, another participation with a Recognized Organization is possible which is considered a new application as well. It is not an extension.
See > here < what other options you have to get another Working Holiday.
One important thing though:
There is no maintained status between two IEC participations. (See screenshot from the government.)
If your current work permit expires while you wait for the new IEC application processing, you must change to visitor status by applying for the visitor record online. The visitor record costs $100 and you can apply from the same GCKey account.
While waiting for the visitor record you can stay in Canada legally, but must stop working. You can only start working again after you activated the new work permit.
A second Working Holiday for UK citizens
The new UK agreement is not a work permit ‘extension’. It is a completely new application.
A lot of UK participants use the wrong term “extension” for the newly implemented UK agreement about a second participation.
- “I am applying to extend my UK participation“
- “I have a question about my UK extension“.
- “How can I extend my UK work permit by 12 months?”
- “How can I apply for my IEC work permit extension?”
The term “extension” often circulates in IEC support groups and causes confusion among applicants.
However, when UK participants mention an extension, they usually mean they want to apply for a new participation in the IEC program. So, in reality, this is not an extension. It is a completely new application, where they must enter the IEC pool and meet all the requirements again.
The rules and application information about the new UK agreement can be found > here <.