What is the Working Holiday Canada?

The Working Holiday is a category under the International Experience Canada (IEC) program. In the Work and Traveller world, it is incorrectly referred to as ‘IEC Visa‘. The Canadian government never calls it IEC Visa because IEC is a broad term.

IEC (International Experience Canada) is a program that offers young people the opportunity to work temporarily in Canada for up to 2 years. Nationals of 36 countries with a bilateral youth mobility agreement with Canada who are between 18 and 30 or 35 years old are eligible for an IEC work permit.

The IEC program consists of  three categories:

Working Holiday:
Participants in this program receive an “open work permit”.

In this category:

  • you don’t need an employer
  • you can choose in which places in Canada you want to work
  • can work for more than one employer in Canada

Young Professionals
Participants in this program receive a “closed work permit” or officially called “employer-specific work permit”. The name of the employer and location is printed on the work permit.

In this category:

  • you need an employer
  • you can only work for one employer
  • the job offered must be a skilled job in TEER category 0, 1, 2, 3
  • an unskilled job in TEER 4 is allowed if you have studied in the field and can provide a degree in that job.
  • the job must contribute to your professional development

International Co-op (Internship)
Participants in this program receive a “closed work permit” or officially called an “employer-specific work permit”. The name of the employer and location is printed on the work permit.

In this category:

  • you need an employer
  • you can only work for one employer
  • you must be enrolled as a student in a post-secondary educational institution (in your home country) for the duration of the internship in Canada
  • the internship must be part of the academic curriculum, and directly linked to your field of studies

This info blog will focus on the most popular category: The Working Holiday category.

Which countries are participating in the International Experience Program?

In the illustration below you can find the 36 participating countries and the age limit for each. 

The age requirement and length of work permit are set in each country's agreement and not all countries offer all three programs. Check out your country here to find out what categories are available to you.

Here is the list of all countries
Click here for the FAQ before the application process
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