Misbelieves and Mistakes
What you must know in the IEC Canada process
Every season, the IEC Program — including the Working Holiday — sees hundreds of work permit refusals. Many of these refusals happen because of avoidable mistakes during the application process.
This blog post will go over the most common misconceptions, frequent errors, and the main reasons why applications get refused, so you can avoid them.
Common IEC Canada misunderstandings corrected
The IEC pool is not "first come first served".
IRCC usually begins sending invitations a few weeks after the IEC pool opens — typically in January. It doesn’t matter if you submit your profile one minute after the pool opens or a week later. Everyone already in the pool has the same chance of being invited in the first round.
The most important thing is to submit your profile before the first round of invitations. After that, invitations are issued at random, not on a first-come, first-served basis. So as long as your profile is in the pool when draws begin, your chances are the same as every other applicant.
No one is given preference in the IEC pool. The chances of an invitation are the same for all profiles.
Just finished high school? No problem! Your level of education doesn’t affect your eligibility for the IEC program.
Having lots of work experience—or even a PhD—won’t give you any extra chances either.
And if you already have a job lined up in Canada, don’t worry. For the Working Holiday, a job is not required and won’t improve your chances of getting selected.
Jobs only matter if you’re applying under the Young Professional or Co-op Internship categories of the IEC program.
No agency or immigration lawyer can speed up the IEC process.
It doesn’t matter if you apply on your own or pay a lot of money to an agency — your chances are exactly the same. No agency, and not even an immigration lawyer, can guarantee that you’ll receive an invitation or a work permit.
The IEC work permit (including the Working Holiday) is not extendable.
A lot of people — including some immigration lawyers — mistakenly believe that an IEC work permit can be extended. Some may even (illegally) suggest applying for an extension just to stay in Canada longer. This is wrong and misleading, and it can cause serious problems later, especially if you plan to apply for Permanent Residency (PR).
The reality is simple:
You cannot extend an IEC work permit beyond the maximum time allowed under your country’s agreement.
If you’d like to learn more about why IEC permits can’t be extended, check out > this info post <.
There is no maintained status between two IEC participations.
If you are in Canada under an IEC work permit like the Working Holiday, and you apply for another Working Holiday because your country allows this, then you will not have maintained status while you wait for the processing of the new IEC.
This means that once your current work permit expires, you cannot keep working. Doing so would be considered illegal work, which could hurt your chances of getting future work permits or Permanent Residency.
To stay in Canada legally, you must apply for a visitor record if your current work permit is about to expire. While the visitor record is being processed, you are in maintained visitor status, which allows you to stay in the country legally until either a decision is made or you activate a new work permit — whichever comes first.
Remember: you must stop working the day your work permit expires and can only start working again once you activate a new work permit.
A few more words that will hopefully put your mind at ease.
First, don’t be overwhelmed by the list of documents and questions. It may look like a lot, but the application is really just asking about your work and travel history — basically a simple timeline of where you’ve been since you turned 18.
The Canadian government isn’t interested in what you were doing during that time — only where you were. If a processing officer finds something unclear or missing, they’ll just ask you for more information. This is totally normal, so there’s no need to stress.
They’re also not judging your lifestyle. Maybe you’ve had a full-time job, maybe you’ve been unemployed, or maybe you spent years living with your parents playing video games in the basement — all of that is perfectly fine. As long as you can show where you lived, you’ll be okay.
Your education or work experience doesn’t affect your chances either. Whether you finished high school, have years of work under your belt, or even hold a PhD, it doesn’t make a difference here.
In short: everyone applying for International Experience Canada (IEC) is treated equally, no matter their background.
Top 10 mistakes during the Working Holiday application
1. Typos when creating the profile into the pool
Do not rush! Take your time and answer the questions correctly and check for typos before submitting the profile.
Important data like name, birth date, birth country and passport number will be greyed out in the profile and cannot be changed later in the application. According to the official info from IRCC, you have to delete that profile and create a new profile with the correct information.
2. Applying for the incorrect category/entering the wrong pool
It’s easy to get mixed up when applying for the IEC program — there are three different categories: Working Holiday, Young Professionals, and International Co-op. Each one has its own rules, so it’s important to make sure you’re picking the right one for your situation.
Before applying, double-check the requirements. If you apply under the wrong category, your application will be refused.
Example:
Let’s say you want a Working Holiday (open work permit) because you already have a seasonal summer job lined up in Canada. If you answer “yes” when asked whether you have a signed job offer, the system also suggests the Young Professionals pool if your country offers this category.
If you’re in a hurry, it’s easy to accidentally enter that pool. The requirements for the Young Professional category are very different from the Working Holiday and you might not even be eligible for it.
If you get an invitation from the Young Professionals pool but you actually want a Working Holiday, here’s what you need to do:
- Decline the invitation.
- Delete your current profile.
- Create a new profile.
- Answer “no” to the question about having a job offer.
- Re-enter the Working Holiday pool.
- Wait for a new invitation for the Working Holiday category.
Following these steps ensures you stay in the correct pool and avoid issues with your application.
3. Missing the deadlines
After you received the invitation, you have 10 days to accept the invitation by clicking the “Start Application” link. From then on you have additional 20 days to upload all required documents and submit the application.
The IRCC system is very faulty. Do not wait until the last day to accept the invitation or submit the application.
Also, the system time is in coordinated universal time (UTC). This is different than your local time.
For example, you accept your invitation at 11:25 a.m. UTC, you must submit your application before 11:25 a.m. UTC 20 days later.
To be on the safe side, accept your invitation latest on day 8 of 10 and submit the application latest on day 18 of 20.
If you receive a refusal because you missed one of the deadlines, it is not the end of the world. You can create a new profile and enter the pool again as long as the pool is still open.
4. Not reading the letters that are received in the GCKey account
Everything begins with your Invitation to Apply (ITA) letter.
This letter includes several important links with instructions you must follow for your Working Holiday application. If you skip or ignore them, you could easily miss key steps — and that may lead to your work permit being refused.
Below is an example of what an Invitation to Apply letter looks like.
5. Not going back to the 18th birthday with the work history and resume
Unfortunately, this is a known system issue. The application form asks for your work history from the past 10 years, but IRCC doesn’t consider that some applicants may be older — meaning those 10 years don’t cover their full history.
In reality, IRCC expects you to list all work experience back to your 18th birthday. If you don’t include everything up to that point, they’ll ask you to submit an extra travel history form travel history form (IMM 5257 Schedule 1) which will delay your application.
6. Leaving gaps in the work history and resume
It is very, very important to fill out the work history without any gaps.
If you went to school or studied at a college/university, travelled or were unemployed, list everything and month by month. The selection in the application will then be “Student” and “Unemployed“. There is no “Travelling” as a choice in the drop-down list.
If there are gaps in the work history or in the CV/résumé, the processing agent will request a travel history form (IMM 5257 Schedule 1) to be filled out. This is a very annoying form that will delay the application. You definitely want to avoid that.
7. Not 'submitting' requested documents after upload
Until the biometrics step, the application process is fully automated. After you submit your biometrics, a human processing officer will review your application. If something is missing, like a police certificate, the officer will request the additional document.
A common mistake happens here: you upload the requested document but don’t submit it properly. You might then wait, thinking it’s done, only to receive a refusal because you missed the deadline. It’s like writing a letter but never actually posting it — the officer never received your document.
To avoid this, after uploading a document, make sure to click ‘Next’ and follow all the steps until the system lists the document as ‘Replacement Provided’. Only then will it be properly submitted for review.
8. Relying on outdated information and AI
Some applicants make the mistake of relying on outdated advice or unofficial sources, like blogs, which can lead to confusion about the application process.
A common pitfall today is using AI platforms, like ChatGPT, for immigration guidance. While these tools can offer helpful tips, they rely on outdated information. Immigration rules change frequently, and AI can only access data that might be months or even years old — which can lead to mistakes.
The safest approach is to always check the official IRCC website for the most current and accurate information.
9. Not reading the program requirement for certain countries
Residency requirements
**Important for Italy**: If you’re an Italian citizen, you’ll also need to provide a residence certificate (certificato di residenza) to prove you live in Italy. The certificate must be translated into English or French by a certified translator (it cannot be translated by you). You must then merge the original + translation into one file and upload this file into the “Optional documents” spot at the bottom of the Document Checklist page in your GCKey account.
Discontinuance requirements
Many IEC participants fall in love with Canada or even hope to immigrate, so they want to extend their stay and take advantage of other options under the IEC program. After all, IEC is one of the easiest, cheapest, and fastest ways to work in Canada — whether it’s another Working Holiday or a different category like Young Professional.
However, some countries have a discontinuance requirement. This means there must be a break between the expiry of your first IEC work permit and the date you can apply for a second one. You can only submit your new application after a certain period. Here are the required breaks:
- Croatia: 3 months
- Latvia: 1 year
- Lithuania: 3 months
- Poland: 6 months
- Slovakia: 3 months
- Spain: 3 months
10. Confusion about the eTA
A common mistake applicants make is not reading the Port of Entry (POE) approval letter carefully after receiving it. Many people think they need to apply separately for an electronic Travel Authorization (eTA). Over the years, IEC participants have repeatedly asked in the IEC support groups, “Do I need an eTA to travel to Canada?”
The answer is yes; you do need an eTA to travel to Canada. But in the IEC program, the eTA is already included in your POE letter — so there’s no need to apply for it separately. Just make sure you carry your printed POE with you when you travel.
You can find your valid eTA number on page 1 of the POE letter.
Common mistakes at the activation of the work permit
Number 1 mistake: Not buying enough health insurance
This is one of the most common — and painful — mistakes IEC participants make. Hundreds of travellers have regretted it when arriving at Canadian airports or land borders to activate their work permit.
Here’s what often happens: some believe they can buy IEC health insurance for just a few months, planning to extend it later and use that to extend their work permit. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works.
For example, Australia offers a 2-year IEC work permit. Some travellers, planning to stay only for one ski season, purchased just 5 months of IEC health insurance. When they arrived at the border, the immigration officer issued a work permit for only 5 months, matching the length of the insurance.
The result? Big regret. That shortened work permit cannot be extended, even if they later decide to stay longer. Instead of enjoying the full 2 years, they could only work for one season.
Lesson: always get health insurance for the full duration of your IEC work permit to avoid cutting your stay short.
It is the official IEC requirement from the Canadian government:
For the International Experience Canada (which includes the Working Holiday) you must have health insurance for the entire duration of your stay in Canada. So if your country allows a 2-year work permit, you must have a 2-year health insurance policy at the time you activate the work permit at the border.
> Check health insurance options here <
If your insurance policy is valid for less, you will get a work permit that expires at the same time as your health insurance. Then you will not be able to extend your work permit later.
The best IEC health insurance for European and UK citizens
recommended by other IEC participants who used them
If you are not from Europe, check out > BestQuote
Another common example, that many IEC participants report (and you might feel the same way), involves the uncertainty of being far from home for the first time. Many worry they won’t enjoy Canada, or fear they might get homesick. So, they plan to “try it out” for a few months before committing to a longer stay.
Because of this, many travellers purchase IEC health insurance for just a few months, thinking they can extend it later if they decide to stay longer. However, this approach often ends up with tears.
When these travellers arrive at the border with only short-term health insurance, for example 3 months, the IEC rules take over. Border officers issue the work permit for exactly the same length as the insurance. That means they receive a 3-month work permit, with no option to extend it later.
In the end, the decision is no longer theirs. Instead of having the flexibility to stay longer, they are limited to working and living in Canada for just those initial few months. Or they have to look into other work permit options to stay longer.
Mistake number 2: Not having the proper health insurance
Many IEC participants already in Canada on another work permit assume that their provincial health insurance is enough to activate their second IEC permit. It’s not.
IRCC clearly states:
“Having a valid provincial health card is not enough. Repatriation is not covered by provincial health insurance.”
It means, even if a provincial plan like OHIP in Ontario or MSP in British Columbia covers you, it does not meet the IEC insurance requirement, because it doesn’t cover repatriation — a return to your home country due to illness, injury, or death.
Furthermore, if you are no longer in your home country, you’ll need a travel insurance policy that allows you to purchase coverage while already abroad. One popular option for UK and European citizens is the > True Traveller for UK and European citizens < which is designed specifically for this purpose.
Also, many people assume that provincial health care in Canada covers everything, but that’s a common misconception.
For example, ambulance services are not free. I personally had to pay $385 out of pocket for an ambulance ride in Alberta, because it isn’t covered by Alberta Health.
If you have an accident or medical emergency, your private IEC health insurance — the one required for your Working Holiday — will cover things like ambulance rides, hospital stays, and other emergency care that provincial plans might not.
Another major gap in provincial coverage is dental care. No provincial plan covers dental procedures, but many IEC health insurance policies include emergency dental coverage up to a certain limit, depending on the policy.
Mistake number 3: Not checking the work permit for mistakes
No matter how eager you are to leave the immigration office, it’s crucial to check all the details on your work permit before walking away. If anything is wrong, have the border agent correct it on the spot. Fixing mistakes later is a major hassle and requires a paper application, which can take a long time to process.
Here’s what to check on your Working Holiday work permit:
- Expiry date – make sure it matches the allowed time for your country.
- Passport number – it should match the passport you’re using.
- Medical restrictions – if you did a medical exam, there should be no medical restrictions listed.
- Employer – it should say “open”.
- Location – it should also say “open”.
Double-checking these details now can save you a lot of stress later.