Young Professional
Everything you need to know about this IEC category
What is the Young Professional?
The Young Professional is a category under the International Experience Canada (IEC) program.
The IEC (International Experience Canada) is a program that provides young people with the opportunity to work temporarily in Canada for up to two years. Nationals from 36 countries that have a bilateral youth mobility agreement with Canada, and who are between 18 and 30 (or 35) years old, are eligible to apply for an IEC work permit.
The IEC program consists of three categories:
- Working Holiday (FAQ here)
- Young Professionals
- International Co-Op
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 count as Canadian experience. 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
Important Note:
While some countries offer a Young Professional category as part of the IEC program, not all of them allow participation in this category if you have already completed a Working Holiday. For instance, countries like Australia and Ireland: You cannot apply for a Young Professional after the Working Holiday. You can check the eligibility for your country > here.
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. Be aware that these organizations charge a fee, which can range from $1,500 to $5,000. For more information on this option, click > here <
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
- The job must be a job in the TEER category 0, 1, 2, 3
- 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
How do I convince my employer to support me with this work permit category?
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 benefits. First tip, don’t use the word ‘sponsoring’, when you talk to them, you could use ‘support’.
- The Young Professional category is LMIA exempt (no LMIA or expensive and lengthy LMIA process necessary).
- It is a closed work permit that ties you to them for 1 year (or 2 years depending on your citizenship).
- This is the fastest, easiest and cheapest way to keep you as their best employee.
- It will only cost the employer a $230 fee.
- The application process is quick and straightforward, because the Young Professional category is preferred and has less competition. It means, an invitation from the pool can come after just a few days (while the pool is open).
- Employer’s work is minimal: The only ‘work’ the employer has to do: register for the employer portal and submit the job offer online which takes 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 is completely free to submit your profile to the IEC pool! You only need to pay the fees after you’ve received an invitation to apply for the work permit. These fees are due in the final step of the work permit application, once you’ve received the invitation and uploaded all the required documents.
Here are the fees you’ll need to pay:
- IEC participation fee: CAD $179.75 (for 2025)
- Biometrics fee: CAD $85
If you’ve already provided biometrics for a previous application, such as the Working Holiday work permit, you won’t need to pay the biometrics fee again.
How do I apply for the Young Professional work permit?
A helping hand on how to apply for the Young Professional category here
The Young Professional work permit application is quite similar to the Working Holiday application process.
- Apply to the Young Professional pool: Start by creating your profile and select “yes” when asked if you have a job offer.
- Wait for an invitation: Once you’re in the pool, wait for an invitation to apply.
- Submit required documents: After receiving the invitation, you’ll need to upload the same documents required for the Working Holiday application, such as the Family Form, police certificates, resume, and 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.
Common 'job' questions for the Young Professional
Can I have another part-time job with the Young Professional work permit?
No, you can’t. The Young Professional work permit is a closed work permit; in other words, you are tied to the employer. The name of your employer and the location will be printed on the work permit, and therefore, you are only authorized to work for that employer in that location.
This type of permit also has restrictions: no other employer can hire you, and you are not allowed to be self-employed.
Does the job offer have to be a full-time job, or can it 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 depending on the hours in the job offer, the government or border officer might want to check whether you have enough financial resources so that you can pay for rent and living expenses with just a part time job.
For example, you can have a Young Professional job with just 15 hours a week, but you should have other means to financially support yourself. Especially nowadays with such high living costs in Canada.
Can the job offer be permanent without end date?
The job offer can indeed be permanent, meaning it doesn’t have a set end date. However, in the employer portal, the employer must still input an end date that aligns with the duration allowed by the IEC program.
For example, if you’re from Germany, the job offer should be for 1 year, as the Young Professional work permit can only be granted for a maximum of one year under that specific program.
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 employers exploit you or take advantage of you!
Additionally, keep in mind that, since you’re tied to one employer and are not allowed to take on other part-time jobs, the position should be sufficient to cover your living expenses. For instance, a part-time job working just 15 hours a week would likely not provide enough income to support yourself.
My employer promoted me to another job in the same company, same location
My employer wants me to switch job duties in the company; it is the same location, and same NOC code
My employer wants me to work in multiple locations
When you activate the Young Professional work permit, the work location will be printed on your permit, and you’ll be tied to that specific location. Once it’s set, you cannot change it.
Therefore, if your employer wants you to work in multiple locations, they must specify this step in the Employer Portal when submitting the job offer.
This is the information from the Employer Portal User Guide:
“Physical job location
Enter the location where the temporary worker will be working. If there are 2 locations, answer “Yes” to “Will the worker perform duties at more than 1 job location?” and complete the second job location section.
If there are more than 2 locations, you can complete the first job location section and list all other locations in the “Main duties of the job” field. This information, if provided, will be considered during a compliance inspection—even if the work permit document failed to indicate the multiple job locations.”
Here is another screenshot from the Canadian government, with the information.
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
- you have been fired or laid off
You can’t change your employer because you:
- found a better job with better pay at another employer
- would like to work in a different location
- do not like your job or employer
The important 4 steps how to change employers here
What if I lose my job and I don't have a new employer?
If you’re laid off and don’t have a new employer, your options for staying in Canada are limited. Without a job offer, you can only stay in Canada as a visitor. Fortunately, you don’t need to apply for anything extra. With your Young Professional (YP) work permit you can stay in the country until it expires. However, while you’re staying as a visitor, you’re not allowed to work.
In the meantime, you could explore other options, such as other work permits, applying for permanent residency or looking into provincial programs, if you meet certain criteria. It’s a good idea to speak with an immigration expert to understand all your options.
Common questions for the application process
My job is in TEER 4; what is a post-secondary degree?
As mentioned above, all TEER 4 jobs for the YP require a post-secondary diploma, certificate or degree. It means, you must include proof of post-secondary education in the job field you are going to work. In general and in simple words, it means you studied at a university or college after you finished high-school. Examples of degrees are
- a diploma or certificate from a college
- a Bachelor’s, Master’s or Doctoral degree from a university
However, for the Young Professional category, an apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma could also be acceptable as post-secondary education if it proves a connection to your job in TEER 4.
If the diploma or certificate is not in English or French, you must translate it and upload original + translation into the optional ‘client information‘ spot after you received your invitation.
Can I use the Young Professional work permit right after the Working Holiday?
In general yes, and that’s what most IEC participants do. However, it is important to note, that there are two rules in the IEC program, that prevent some citizenship countries from applying or applying right away while still on the Working Holiday.
1. Countries, that offer multiple categories don’t allow a Young Professional participation after the Working Holiday.
“As an xx citizen, you may participate in the Working Holiday category only once. If you meet the eligibility criteria, you may participate in IEC one more time through the International Co-op (Internship) category.”
2. Some countries that offer the Young Professional category have a discontinuance requirement.
It means they must have a break between the expiry of the first IEC work permit and the application of the second IEC work permit. You can find the requirements of your country > here <. Enter your country and choose “Young Professional”
- Croatia: three-month break
- Latvia: one year break
- Lithuania: three-month break
- Poland: six-month break
- Slovakia: three-month break
- Spain: three-month break
Do I have to be in my home country to apply for the Young Professional?
Here’s the good news: You can apply from anywhere in the world, as long as you have access to the Internet!
However, there are a few countries that have a residency requirement. This means that applicants from these countries must provide a mailing address from their home country in order to apply for the IEC program. Those countries are:
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 <
I gave biometrics in the Working Holiday process; do I need to give them again?
Great news! Biometrics are valid for up to 10 years and can be used for all future temporary resident applications.
During the application process, when you answer “yes” to the question about whether you’ve provided biometrics, they will automatically be linked to your profile after submission. To confirm if your biometrics are still valid, you can easily check the status > here <.
Can I re-use my police certificates I provided in the Working Holiday application??
This will depend. Here the general rules:
➡️ First check: Is the police certificate under 6 months old? > You can use it.
➡️ Second check: Is the police certificate over 6 months old? See below graph.
Police certificates are valid indefinitely and can only be re-used, if:
- they were issued after you left that country and
- you have never been back to that country (not even for a few days to visit).
This graph below applies to the time when you apply for the IEC work permit.
After you received the POE (approval) you do not need an updated police certificate. Take the old one you uploaded in the application when you activate the work permit.
Do I need a police certificate from Canada?
Even if you’ve spent more than six months in a row in Canada, you don’t need to provide a police certificate because IRCC will do the Canadian background check themselves.
However, the processing officer may request a police certificate later in the application process, and in that case, you will need to provide it.
I have to renew my passport; what is the procedure?
Very important! You will only receive a work permit until the expiry of your passport. For example, if your passport expires in 8 months, you will only get an 8-month work permit instead of the full 12 or 24 months.
Therefore, it is crucial that you have a passport that is valid for the entire duration you plan to stay and work in Canada.
If your passport is set to expire during your second planned IEC participation:
Option 1:
- Renew your passport before applying, and use the new passport for your application.
- Using a new passport helps avoid the need to update documents or apply for extensions later.
- This also ensures that your POE, and your eTA, are correctly linked to your new passport.
Option 2:
- Apply using your current (old) passport.
- Once you receive your approval (POE), renew your passport before you travel to Canada to activate your work permit.
- If you are flying to Canada, you will need to apply for a new Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) linked to your new passport, even if you already had one for the old passport. You can apply for a new eTA >> here.
- At the time of entry into Canada, show both your old passport (or a copy of it) and your new passport to the border officer.
Option 3 (not recommendable):
- Apply using your current (old) passport.
- Activate the work permit with the old passport.
- The border officer will issue a work permit that’s shorter than the maximum time.
- Once in Canada, apply for an extension of the work permit to get the maximum allowed time.
Why is this not recommendable?
- Applying for an extension means extra paperwork because you must apply on paper to extend the work permit.
- You must send the application via snail mail; you cannot apply online.
- Some employers may be hesitant to hire if your work permit is too short. This can limit your job options.
When is this recommendable?
Here are a few situations where this option might be advisable because you need a fast process/approval. In all of those cases, apply with the old passport:
- The IEC season is about to close.
- Very few spots are left in your country’s IEC pool.
- Your work permit is about to expire and you don’t want to stop working for too long while you wait for a new approval.
- You are close to the maximum age limit for IEC. It means waiting for a new passport could make you ineligible by the time it’s processed.
Heads up for the YP category
If your passport does not have enough validity to cover the full duration of the Young Professional work permit, the process becomes a bit more complicated and will cost more fees.
Yes, you can extend the work permit to the maximum allowed time under the agreement with your country after you get the new passport.
But here comes the hurdle:
Before you can submit your extension application, your employer must submit a brand-new offer of employment through the Employer Portal. Along with this, they must pay the $230 employer compliance fee again, even if the job details remain unchanged from the original offer.
After completing these steps, your employer will receive a new employment number. This number is crucial, as it must be included in your work permit extension application. Without it, your application cannot be processed.
I am working in a job that requires a medical exam; do I need to retake it?
If you are planning to work in child care, health care, or elderly care, it is important to be aware that you will need to retake the medical exam, even if you have done one recently. This is because the medical exam is only valid for 12 months.
There is an exception for the medical exam if you apply from within Canada:
- You applied, or are applying, for either permanent residence or temporary residence.
- You already live in Canada.
- You completed your previous IME in the last 5 years.
- Your previous IME indicated a low risk or no risk to public health or public safety.
However, recent experiences have shown the work permit will still be issued with restrictions.
If you need a work permit without any restrictions right from the activation and cannot afford to wait for a new, amended permit (because the border officers issued this with restrictions), I strongly recommend completing a new medical exam at least 4 to 6 weeks before activating your work permit.
The reason behind this (and possible hiccup):
An IEC work permit is a special work permit that is considered an application „from outside Canada“ regardless of whether you are physically inside or outside the country. As a result, IRCC may not allow you to reuse the medical exam from a previous application for the IEC stream.
If you received a work permit with restrictions at the port of entry, here you can find out how to remove them.
My employer changed their mind; can I re-apply for the Young Professional work permit?
It depends on the stage of your application.
If you’ve received an invitation but your employer hasn’t submitted the job offer in the Employer Portal yet, you can simply decline the invitation and delete your profile. Afterward, you can reapply once you’ve found a new employer.
However, if your employer has already submitted the job offer, they can withdraw it through the Employer Portal.
Instructions on how to withdraw the job offer here.
Then you have to withdraw your application by using the web form.
- If you received the POE (approval), then the POE will become invalid.
- As soon as you see the work permit ‘refusal’ in the GCKey account, you can apply again into the pool
- You can do this only after you found a new employer who wants to support you.
- However, if you’ve already activated your work permit, the job offer cannot be withdrawn anymore. In this case, you’ll need to explore the option for an employer change. For more details and instructions on how to proceed, you can find additional information and instructions here.
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 you activate the work permit, you must have a health insurance that must be valid for the entire length of your intended stay in Canada (the length of the work permit). 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. This is, because 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.
If you are already in Canada, you could compare the prices and coverage from Best Quote > here <.
The best IEC health insurance for European and UK citizens
recommended by other IEC participants who used them
I am already in Canada. Can I activate the work permit at the US land border via flagpoling?
No. The Canadian government ended flagpoling on December 24, 2024. The announcement can be found > here <. Due to this change, a short visit to the USA is not an option either, because this is how the government defines ‘flagpoling’:
“Flagpoling occurs when foreign nationals who hold temporary resident status in Canada, leave Canada and, after a visit to the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon, re-enter to access immigration services at a port of entry.”
As crazy as it sounds, many travellers have a short trip to Mexico and back. Or they use the opportunity to visit their family at home and then activate the work permit on the way back to Canada.
⚠️NEW! You can get the work permit sent to you via mail, if you meet all 3 requirements mentioned here.