Young Professional - Another IEC category

What is the Young Professional?

The Young Professional is a category under the International Experience Canada (IEC) program.

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:

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 will be printed on the work permit. 

In this category:

  • you need an employer who can support you
  • you can only work for that one employer
  • the job offered must be a skilled job in TEER category 0, 1, 2, 3 
  • the job must contribute to your professional development

A job in TEER category 4 is allowed if you can provide a post-secondary diploma, certificate or degree, that proves that the job offer is in your field of study. 

If you intend to apply for permanent residency later, a job in TEER 4 will not give you any points in the Canadian Experience Class. Only TEER 0-3 jobs will count.

Which countries are offering the Young Professional category?

Australia, Austria, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom

What if my country does not offer the Young Professional category?

If your country does not offer the Young Professional category, you could use one of the Recognized organizations that offer this option. They will cost a fee which can be between $1,500 – $5,000.  > Here < more info on this option. 

What are the requirements for participating in the Young Professional category?

To participate in the Young Professional category, you must:

  • be a citizen of the country you are applying for 
  • have a valid passport for the duration of your stay in Canada
  • be between 18 and 30 or 35 years (inclusive)
  • have a signed letter of offer or contract of employment in Canada
  • have at least $2,500 in funds
  • have health insurance for the duration of the intended stay
  • have a return ticket or instead prove that you have the financial means to buy a return ticket at the end of your stay in Canada
  • have a credit card for the fees

The age requirement and length of work permit are set in each country's agreement

To find out the requirements of your country of citizenship

Many employers don’t want to get involved with this option, and usually reject the idea. They fear that “sponsoring” means a sponsoring through the very lengthy and complicated LMIA process which costs them thousands of dollars. The good news for the employers: It is not. 

You can easily convince them with following positive factors. First off, don’t use the word ‘sponsoring’, you could use ‘support’. 

  1. The Young Professional category is LMIA exempt (no LMIA is needed). 
  2. It is a closed work permit that ties you to them for 1 year (or 2 years depending on your citizenship). 
  3. This is the best, easiest and cheapest way how they can keep you as their best employee. 
  4. It will only cost the employer a $230 compliance fee. 
  5. The application process is fairly simple and very speedy, because the Young Professional category is preferred. It means, an invitation from the pool can come after just a few days (when the pool is open). 
  6. The only ‘work’ the employer has to do: register for the employer portal and submit the job offer. It is done in less than 30 minutes.      

>> 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<< 

How much does it cost me to participate in the Young Professional category?

It costs nothing to submit the profile to the IEC pool. Only after you have received an invitation you can apply for the work permit. These fees below will only be paid in the last step of the work permit application after you have received an invitation and uploaded all the documents.

  • All IEC participants must pay the IEC participation fee of CAD $179.75 (for 2025)
  • The fee for the biometrics: CAD $85

The biometrics fee does not have to be paid again, if you already gave biometrics for a previous application, like the Working Holiday work permit application.

Do I have to be in my home country to apply for the Young Professional category?

No, you can apply from anywhere in the world, where you have access to Internet. However, there are a handful of countries that have a residency requirement, which means they must provide a mailing address from their home country: 

Czech Republic, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden

** NEW 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 done by you). 

You must upload the original + translation of the certificate in the “Optional documents” spot at the bottom of the Document Checklist page in your GCKey account. Because there is just one spot, you have to merge all files into one PDF. This can be done with > PDF Merge < 

Can I apply for the Young Professional work permit right after the Working Holiday work permit?

In general yes, but some countries that offer the Young Professional category have a discontinuance requirement, which means they must have a break between the expiry of the first IEC work permit and the application of the second IEC work permit.

  • Croatia: three-month break 
  • Latvia: one year break 
  • Lithuania: three-month break 
  • Poland: six-month break
  • Slovakia: three-month break
  • Spain: three-month break
You can find the requirements of your country > here <. Enter your country and choose “Young Professional”

Is the application process different than the Working Holiday category?

The Young Professional work permit application is not much different than the Working Holiday application. 

  • You apply into the Young Professional pool.
  • During the profile creation you say ‘yes’ to the question if you have a job offer.
  • Wait for an invitation.
  • After you received the invitation, upload all required documents which are the same as with the Working Holiday application (Family Form, police certificates, resume, photo)

Now here comes the difference

  • After you received the invitation, the employer must:
    • register in the Employer Portal,
    • create and submit the job offer,
    • very important: they must choose LMIA exemption code C21,
    • pay the $230 employer compliance fee.
    • Then after the payment they receive an offer of employment number in their “Employment queue” that begins with “A” followed by 7 numbers
  • You have to enter this A number in your own work permit application. 
  • Only then you can complete and submit the Young Professional work permit application. 
  • You pay the fees and submit the application.

I gave biometrics in the Working Holiday process, do I need to give them again?

Good news. No. Biometrics are valid for 10 years. In the application process you answer ‘yes’ to the question if you gave biometrics. They will automatically be assigned to your profile. You can check > here < if your biometrics are still valid. 

Do I need a police certificate from Canada?

Even if you spent more than 6 months in a row in Canada, you do not need a police certificate. IRCC does the Canadian checks themselves. The processing officer might request a police certificate later, then you need to provide it.  

Can I use the police certificate I provided in the Working Holiday application?

  • Yes, you can use the same, if it is not older than 6 months at the time of the Young Professional application.
  • No, you need a new police certificate, if it is older than 6 months.
    • Exception: If the police certificate was issued AFTER you left the country and never been back (not even for a short visit or vacation) you can use the same certificate because it is valid indefinitely. 

Does the job offer have to be a full-time job, or can it also be a part-time job?

There is no requirement that the job must be a full-time job. However, it is the only job you are allowed to have and therefore the government will check whether you have enough financial resources so that you can pay for rent and living expenses with a part time job.

Is there a minimum pay for the Young Professional what you have to get paid?

No, there is no official requirement for the offered wage, but it should be at least the minimum wage of the respective province. Since the job is classified in a skilled category (e.g. manager or supervisor), you should also receive a higher wage than that of a normal employee. Don’t let yourself be taken advantage of!

Note, that since you’re tied to one employer and you can’t have other part-time jobs, which means the job under the Young Professional work permit should cover your living expenses. For example with a part-time job of 10 hours a week, this would not be possible.

Can I have another part-time job with the Young Professional work permit?

No. The Young Professional work permit is a closed work permit tied to the employer and location. The name of the employer will be mentioned on the work permit and no other employer is allowed to hire you. 

Do I need an IEC health insurance again to activate the Young Professional work permit?

Yes, you need the same documents for activation as for the Working Holiday work permit because the Young Professional work permit is a work permit under the IEC (International Experience Canada). 

When activating the work permit at the border, you must have a health insurance that must be valid for the entire length of your intended stay in Canada. Be aware, if you are already in Canada, you need an ‘already travelling’ policy. 

Your IEC health insurance must cover:

  • medical care
  • hospitalization and
  • repatriation (returning you to your country in the event of severe illness, injury or death)

If you have provincial health care, it is not sufficient for the Young Professional work permit. Repatriation is not covered by provincial health insurance.

If your insurance policy is valid for less than your expected stay, you will be issued a work permit that expires at the same time as your insurance.

If this happens, you will not be able to extend your work permit at a later date. For example, if you only have a health insurance for 3 months, you will get a work permit for 3 months. A later extension of the work permit is not possible.

The best IEC health insurance for European and UK citizens

recommended by other IEC participants who used them

Can I change employers with the Young Professional work permit?

Under the Young Professionals category, you have a work permit, that is tied to the employer. Therefore you can only change your employer if you have a valid reason.

Examples of valid reasons to change your employer include:

  • you were working for a company that has closed
  • you’re not receiving the wages you were promised
  • your working conditions are not safe or as promised, or
  • you have been fired or laid off

You can’t change your employer because:

  • you’ve been offered better wages by a different employer
  • you would like to work in a different location, or
  • you do not like your job or employer