Young Professional - How to apply

Before you apply for the Young Professional category, you already must have

  • a Canadian employer who is willing to support you 
  • with a job in TEER 0, 1, 2, 3 of the NOC.

1. Create a profile into the YP pool

The Young Professional work permit application is not much different than the Working Holiday application. The application must be done via the pool system of the International Experience Program (IEC) program.

To enter the Young Professional pool you can use the same GCKey Account, that you used for the Working Holiday. Log into the GCKey Account and start the questionnaire. 

Answer those questions with those selections.

The result should also list the Young Professional category. 

Continue with all rest of the questions and then enter only the Young Professional pool.  

Answer “yes” to the Young Professional category and “no” to the Working Holiday. 

2. Wait for an invitation and prepare

Time to prepare all documents. If you are at the beginning of the season, here is why it can go very quickly: 

The Young Professional category is less popular than the Working Holiday category, which means less competition in that pool. And it means as long as your country has spots available, and doesn’t have too many applicants, you should receive an invitation pretty fast.

For example if you enter the pool on Saturday, and the next round of invitations is on Tuesday after, you could receive an invitation on Tuesday. Of course this is not a guarantee, because it depends on the number of spots and applicants for your country. 

The numbers of the pools are updated every Friday here. Enter your country and the category to find out your chances of invitations. 

While you wait, you can be proactive and prepare: 

Remember: 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.

3. After you received the invitation

You have 10 days to accept the invitation by clicking “Start Application“. Then a new deadline of 20 days starts, to submit the application with all necessary documents. The document check list is the same as with the Working Holiday.

Additionally, after you received the invitation, the employer must:

  • register in the Employer Portal,
  • create and submit the job offer,
  • pay the $230 employer compliance fee.

Helpful links for the employers: 

> Here is a good link from the government that explains the process for the employers. <<

>> Here is the employer portal enrolment guide and user guide for the employer<< 

Very important! The LMIA exemption code for the IEC program is C21

This is the code the employer has to use when submitting the job offer in the employer portal! 

The employer must also provide you with a paper copy of the job offer,

  • that contains all relevant job info, such as:
    • start date
    • end date
    • employer name and address
    • National Occupational Classification (NOC) code related to the job
    • your pay and deductions
    • your duties
    • the conditions of employment, like your hours of work
  • that is signed by both you and the employer
  • that you must bring along with all other documents for the activation of the work permit. 

After the employer paid the fee:

After they paid the fee in the employer portal, and submitted the job offer, the employer will get an offer of employment number in their “Employment queue” 

This number begins with “A” followed by 7 numbers. 

Enter this number in the ‘offer of employment number’ field in your application. In the same application screen you must also provide further information:

  • the four-digit National Occupational Classification (NOC) code,
  • job title,
  • employer name,
  • location of employment,
  • employment start date,
  • employment end date 

This information should all be on the paper job offer that the employer gave you. They should match. Only after you provided all information, you can continue in the application, pay the fees, and submit everything.

My contract is permanent; it has no end date; can I use it?

Yes, it’s possible to use a contract without a specified end date. However, when submitting the job offer through the Employer Portal, the employer is required to enter an end date in the system.

In this case, they should indicate the duration allowed under the bilateral agreement between your country and Canada. For example, German citizens are eligible for a 1-year Young Professional work permit, while UK citizens can receive a 2-year work permit.

What if my employer cannot get the employment number in time?

Just like with the Working Holiday application, once you accept the invitation, you’ll have 20 days to submit all required documents. This timeframe should be enough for your employer to complete their part of the process.

Registering for the Employer Portal and submitting a job offer typically takes less than 30 minutes. Once the fee is paid, the employment number is generated almost immediately and will appear in their “Employment Queue.”

Unfortunately, if the employment number is not received within the 20-day period, you won’t be able to continue. As a result, you’ll need to decline the invitation, which puts you back into the pool to wait for another invitation.

What if my employer has an issue with the employer portal?

Sometimes, employers may experience system issues or have questions about the enrolment process. In such cases, they can contact support by sending an email specifically designated for employers.

This is the instruction, I quote, from IRCC to the employers: 

If you’re having technical problems, email us. In your email, include:

  • Your information:
    • your full name
    • Canada Revenue Agency business number
    • business operating name
  • A description of the issue
  • Screen shot/s showing the full browser window of:
    • the page from which you are having difficulties
    • any error message you received

Your email will be processed within 5 business days. If the problem can’t be fixed in that time, we’ll let you know the next steps to take.

4. Wait for the approval (POE letter)

Congratulations—you’ve made it to the final stage! From here, all you need to do is wait. If the processing officer needs anything else from you, they’ll reach out through your GCKey account.

One common request at this stage is an updated police certificate. Many applicants aren’t aware that they might need to provide a new one from their home country, even if they submitted one in a previous application. 

Officially, the application can take up to 8 weeks to process. However, based on past experience, processing times for the Young Professional category are often much faster.

If you meet the following conditions, then your application may be approved in just a few days.

  • All documents are complete and correctly submitted.
  • Mothing is missing.
  • Your resume and work history are clear and without gaps. and
  • You’ve already provided biometrics for a previous application.

5. Activate the work permit

After you receive your (POE) approval you have one year to activate your work permit.

If you are already in Canada, which is very common with this IEC category, there are two possible options to activate your IEC work permit. 

  • Option 1: Activate your IEC work permit online from inside Canada
  • Option 2: Leave Canada and re-enter from a country other than the US

Both options are explained here. 

You can find a lot of questions and answers to the Young Professional category here 

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