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Working Holiday Canada News
3,488 IEC invitations were issued in the week of April 19
IRCC continues on the same trajectory following the 3,700 invitations sent last week. The trend remains relatively positive, and the chances of receiving an invitation are still excellent for the vast majority of programs for participating countries except for the working holiday and young professionals programs of Chile, Costa Rica, and the working holiday visas of France, Netherlands, South Korea, and Taiwan. Unfortunately, for citizens of Latvia applying for a working holiday visa, their chance of receiving an invitation has dropped to very low this week
If you live in one of these countries, consider reading our article about alternatives to the working holiday program.
Largest allocations this week
In the week of April 19, the France working holiday program saw again the largest batch of invitations being sent with a total of 1,011. That is almost twice as much as South Korea’s working holiday which saw the second-largest volume of invitations with a total of 550.
If you are part of the lucky ones to receive an invitation to one of the IEC programs this week, make sure you read our guides to get familiar with your next steps:
- How much should you expect IEC to cost overall
- What you need to understand before submitting your biometrics
- How to choose the right health insurance
- Understand police certificates
- How to correctly format and submit your documents
- What you need to know before arriving in Canada
Updated Quotas for High Demand Programs
To adjust for the extremely high demand for the working holiday program, IRCC has also increased the quota for the Working Holiday program for Austria, Belgium, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, and Spain.
The quota for Greece was also adjusted, with space in the Working Holiday and International Co-Op programs reducing to make way for more invitations in the Young Professional category.
Temporary Resident Levels: Changes for IEC
If you’re concerned about the impact of the temporary resident target on the IEC program, we have published an article about how the changes may impact the IEC program.
We cover the following questions:
- I am waiting in the IEC pool, will this announcement reduce my changes of being invited in the coming rounds?
- I am currently in Canada for a working holiday but I need to renew my work permit with an LMIA. Will this be possible?
- Will they reduce the age limit for IEC participation?
- Will more PR options become available for IEC workers?
More About This IEC Season
The IEC 2024 season officially opened on December 11, 2023. International youth from eligible countries have been able to submit profiles to the IEC pool since then. Back in December, the Canadian government announced that the first round of invitations would begin the week of January 8, 2024. Read the full story here.
Quotas & invitations for the 2024 IEC season
Updates for 2024 IEC season
| Pool | Quota | Invitations since last week | Spots available | Spots filled last round | Eligible candidates in pool | Candidate change | Chances of invite in next round |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andorra – WH | 25 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Australia – WH | Unlimited | 242 | 0 | n/a | 166 | -11 | Excellent |
| Australia – YP | Unlimited | 3 | 0 | n/a | 4 | 3 | Excellent |
| Australia – IC | Unlimited | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Austria - WH | 168 | 7 | 40 | 4 | 3 | -3 | Excellent |
| Austria - YP | 10 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | -2 | Excellent |
| Austria - IC | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Belgium - WH | 750 | 35 | 81 | 16 | 24 | 0 | Excellent |
| Chile - WH | 725 | 54 | 26 | 21 | 8,303 | 157 | Very low |
| Chile - YP | 20 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 189 | 3 | Very low |
| Chile - IC | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Costa Rica - WH | 80 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2,058 | 41 | Very low |
| Costa Rica - YP | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 133 | -1 | Very low |
| Costa Rica - IC | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 | Excellent |
| Croatia - WH | 275 | 4 | 250 | 1 | 1 | -2 | Excellent |
| Croatia - YP | 20 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Croatia - IC | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Czech Republic - WH | 1,000 | 24 | 661 | 9 | 15 | -4 | Excellent |
| Czech Republic - YP | 145 | 4 | 34 | 1 | 5 | 1 | Excellent |
| Czech Republic - IC | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Denmark – WH | 350 | 9 | 188 | 4 | 10 | 3 | Excellent |
| Estonia - WH | 110 | 3 | 64 | 1 | 3 | 1 | Excellent |
| Estonia - YP | 10 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Excellent |
| Estonia - IC | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Finland - WH | Unlimited | 4 | 0 | n/a | 4 | 0 | Excellent |
| Finland - YP | Unlimited | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0 | -1 | Excellent |
| Finland - IC | Unlimited | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| France - WH | 7,000 | 1,011 | 647 | 586 | 16,980 | -530 | Very low |
| France - YP | 2,200 | 62 | 1,302 | 39 | 61 | 8 | Excellent |
| France - VIE | 1,000 | 1 | 824 | 1 | 69 | 3 | Excellent |
| France - IC | 3,800 | 72 | 1,995 | 36 | 70 | 13 | Excellent |
| Germany – WH | 4,490 | 115 | 2,614 | 61 | 106 | 20 | Excellent |
| Germany – YP | 350 | 5 | 192 | 0 | 12 | 7 | Excellent |
| Germany – IC | 160 | 1 | 113 | 1 | 4 | 3 | Excellent |
| Greece - WH | 160 | 4 | 58 | 3 | 3 | 0 | Excellent |
| Greece - YP | 38 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | -2 | Excellent |
| Greece - IC | 2 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Hong Kong - WH | 200 | 15 | 36 | 5 | 9 | -1 | Excellent |
| Iceland - WH | 120 | 1 | 112 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Excellent |
| Ireland – WH | 10,500 | 106 | 8,266 | 38 | 87 | 6 | Excellent |
| Ireland – YP | 150 | 9 | 121 | 2 | 10 | 5 | Excellent |
| Ireland – IC | 50 | 0 | 34 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Italy - WH | 1,750 | 66 | 791 | 20 | 52 | -4 | Excellent |
| Japan - WH | 6,500 | 166 | 2,656 | 124 | 167 | 35 | Excellent |
| Latvia - WH | 45 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 11 | -3 | Very Low |
| Latvia - YP | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Latvia - IC | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Lithuania - WH | 188 | 10 | 53 | 3 | 8 | -1 | Excellent |
| Lithuania - YP | 10 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 2 | 2 | Excellent |
| Lithuania - IC | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Luxembourg - WH | 80 | 1 | 66 | 2 | 0 | -1 | Excellent |
| Luxembourg - YP | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Luxembourg - IC | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Netherlands - WH | 500 | 11 | 2 | 10 | 110 | 12 | Very low |
| Netherlands - YP | 100 | 9 | 15 | 4 | 10 | 1 | Excellent |
| New Zealand – WH | 2,500 | 54 | 1,505 | 27 | 40 | -6 | Excellent |
| Norway - WH | 135 | 9 | 85 | 5 | 5 | -3 | Excellent |
| Norway - YP | 15 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 0 | -2 | Excellent |
| Norway - IC | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Poland - WH | 635 | 15 | 374 | 12 | 8 | -5 | Excellent |
| Poland - YP | 110 | 2 | 95 | 1 | 2 | -1 | Excellent |
| Poland - IC | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Portugal - WH | 1,750 | 45 | 1,377 | 10 | 16 | -1 | Excellent |
| Portugal - YP | 200 | 0 | 191 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Excellent |
| Portugal - IC | 50 | 0 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| San Marino - WH | 25 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Slovakia - WH | 315 | 11 | 123 | 5 | 6 | -3 | Excellent |
| Slovakia - YP | 30 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | Excellent |
| Slovakia - IC | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Slovenia - WH | 80 | 1 | 62 | 0 | 2 | 2 | Excellent |
| Slovenia - YP | 15 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Slovenia - IC | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| South Korea - WH | 10,000 | 550 | 368 | 230 | 1,164 | -130 | Low |
| South Korea - YP | 1,500 | 15 | 1,329 | 7 | 12 | 0 | Excellent |
| South Korea - IC | 500 | 2 | 499 | 0 | 2 | -1 | Excellent |
| Spain – WH | 875 | 62 | 164 | 18 | 39 | -14 | Excellent |
| Spain – YP | 70 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 5 | -2 | Excellent |
| Spain — IECX Vives | 50 | 0 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Spain – IC | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Sweden - WH | 580 | 14 | 446 | 10 | 12 | 3 | Excellent |
| Sweden - YP | 100 | 2 | 87 | 2 | 1 | -1 | Excellent |
| Sweden - IC | 20 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Switzerland - YP | 200 | 15 | 88 | 10 | 2 | -10 | Excellent |
| Switzerland - IC | 50 | -1 | 35 | -1 | 1 | 1 | Excellent |
| Taiwan - WH | 940 | 125 | 129 | 3 | 2,240 | -17 | Very Low |
| Taiwan - YP | 50 | 7 | 9 | -5 | 9 | 5 | Excellent |
| Taiwan - IC | 100 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Excellent |
| UK – WH | 9,000 | 453 | 2,808 | 185 | 314 | -30 | Excellent |
| UK - YP | 900 | 15 | 740 | -2 | 28 | 11 | Excellent |
| UK - IC | 100 | 2 | 94 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Excellent |
Get the latest IEC news straight to your inbox! To receive alerts and updates about the 2024 IEC Working Holiday Canada season, make sure you sign up for the Moving2Canada newsletter.
How to move to Canada through IEC: VIDEO
Rachel walks us through how to come to Canada through IEC in 2024.
IEC 2024 fees announced
Canada has announced that the IEC fees for all participants in the IEC 2024 season is $172 CAD.
The fees you pay for IEC differ depending on which program you are using to come to Canada. Working Holiday candidates must pay a $100 CAD fee. Young Professionals and International Co-op candidates do not have to pay additional fees, but their employers must pay a $230 CAD employer compliance fee.
Those who need to give biometrics will also need to pay the $85 CAD biometric fee when you pay the IEC fee.
The IEC fee, open work permit holder fee, and employer compliance fees are refundable if you withdraw your work permit application before you receive your Port of Entry (POE) letter of introduction, or your employer withdraws their offer of employment before your work permit is issued. You will also receive a refund if your work permit application is refused.
Read more: How much does it cost to move to Canada through IEC?
In order to come to Canada on an IEC work permit, such as the Working Holiday Visa, you need to get health insurance for the duration of your stay.
Every year, we hear stories of people who make major errors when it comes to insurance for their IEC adventure in Canada, leading to shorter-than-expect work permit durations and unnecessary medical bills. That’s why we released a video on all things health insurance. Check it out!
The 2024 IEC season
The 2024 International Experience Canada (IEC) season opened on January 8, 2024.
Since Dec. 11, 2023, eligible candidates are able to complete these steps:
- Submit a profile: Submit a profile through your IRCC account in order to be considered for an invitation. If you submitted a profile in previous years, you can use the same account, but you have to create a new profile.
- Receive an invitation: In order to apply for a work permit, first you have to be invited. Invitations are issued each week through a randomized lottery system. The earlier you’re in the pool, the more invitation rounds you’ll be considered for.
- Submit a work permit application: If you receive an invitation, you then have 10 days to accept or decline the invitation. If you accept, you have 20 days from that moment to prepare and submit your application.
Invitation rounds typically begin in the weeks following the season opening.
Once quotas for each country are announced, they will be posted on this page along with regular updates on spots remaining and chances of receiving an invitation.
What to do to prepare yourself for IEC?
If you’re hoping to snag an invitation through IEC, the best thing to do is plan ahead. You can start by checking your eligibility for IEC — take our free Canadian Immigration Quiz to see if you’re eligible.
First, make sure you’re eligible for one of the three IEC programs: the Working Holiday program (the most popular option), Young Professionals, and International Co-op.
If you meet the eligibility for one of the programs, the next step is to submit yourself to the pools. Submitting your profile as early as possible will guarantee that you’re considered for all invitation rounds. Invitations are issued randomly, so you want to be in the pools as early as possible.
You can also begin preparing yourself for the work permit application you’ll have to submit if you receive an invitation.
For free personalized guidance, make sure to sign up for a Moving2Canada account. Your account gives you access to tons of resources, including checklists with step-by-step instructions for your immigration process, job openings from Canadian employers looking to hire IEC participants, and much more!
Your personalized guide to IEC!
Finding a job for the 2024 IEC season
Many IEC Working Holiday participants may want to start looking for jobs in Canada before they arrive. Thankfully, we have partnered with several Canadian employers who are looking to hire 2024 IEC participants.
Check out the Moving2Canada Jobs Board.
Young Guns Container Crew
If you’re looking for a physically demanding job with a great crew, we recommend taking a look at our partner, Young Guns Container Crew. They’re hiring labourers to help unload shipping containers in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, and Cornwall, Ontario (among others!). They love IECers and can offer you a job before you arrive. Apply here — or get more information by watching this video:
Skyscapes Balcony and Patio Flooring
If you’re physically fit and looking to live in Toronto or the GTA, consider applying to work at our partner Skyscapes. They pay well, and offer team-wide profit sharing. They also have a track record of securing LMIAs for valuable team members, so it’s a good fit for those authorized to work in Canada on an IEC or other open temporary work permit.
Skyscapes is hiring general labourers and construction workers who are authorized to work in Canada or who will be soon. Learn more and apply here.
What is the IEC program?
The IEC program allows international youth from more than 30 countries aged 18 to 35 (or in some cases, 18 to 30) to live and work in Canada for up to 24 months.
Further help with your Working Holiday Canada application
Please explore our many resources to help you plan your application. Research is crucial as you plan for success on your Working Holiday Canada permit.
Other IEC Working Holiday Canada Resources
IEC Health Insurance
- Health insurance is a mandatory requirement for IEC — compare prices for IEC health insurance options with a free quote comparison from BestQuote
Articles
- Read our FAQ guide for IEC permits
- Find out which documents you need for your IEC application
- Learn about 5 avoidable mistakes IEC applicants make
- Visit our full IEC portal for more articles
- Where to buy your health insurance for Canada (note: this is a mandatory IEC requirement).
- What are your alternatives when you can’t immigrate through IEC?
Employment tips
- For construction and engineering jobs, visit our Outpost Recruitment agency
- How to adapt to the resume format in Canada (or ‘CV’)
Start your IEC working holiday with a free Moving2Canada account
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