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By Rebecca Major
Updated 1 day ago
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Need help understanding IEC police certificate? These documents are often required during your work permit application under the International Experience Canada program. This guide covers when you need them, how to get them, and common pitfalls to avoid.
The 2026 IEC season officially opened on December 19, 2025. You can now create your profile and enter the pools. Apply early to improve your chances. Sign up to get the latest IEC updates and quota announcements.
A police certificate is a document issued by a government that details a person’s criminal record or states that a person has no criminal offences. Police certificates go by a few different names: police clearance certificates, good conduct certificates, and judicial record extracts are common names, but some countries may use a different name.
IRCC uses police certificates to verify criminal admissibility to Canada. Since this is a required document for the International Experience Canada (IEC) program, if you do have a criminal record, it could affect your application.
Police certificates will be requested as part of your International Experience Canada (IEC) work permit application process, as part of the last steps.
Police certificates are required after receiving an Invitation to Apply under IEC. Applicants have 20 days after accepting their invitation to submit a complete work permit application, including at least one police certificate.
You have to include a scanned copy of the original document submitted electronically as part of the work permit application. Please note that you will only have one field in which to upload all your required police certificates, so if you have to submit multiple certificates, you will have to stitch (merge) the scanned files together into a single document.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)usually requests police certificates for any country in which you stayed for six consecutive months. Police certificates are not required for anywhere you lived before the age of 18.
The process for getting a police certificate varies from country to country. To determine the requirements for your country, simply consult the IRCC webpage. The following countries have special instructions you should check closely regarding police certificates:
If your police certificate for your IEC application is not in English or French, you will need to provide a translated version to IRCC. We trust the Translation Agency of Canada for official document translations for Canadian immigration. Our community gets 5% off translations with the Translation Agency of Canada.
If the certificate is for the country where you’re currently living, it must have been issued within the past six months. If it’s for any other country, then it must have been issued after the date that you last lived in the country for six consecutive months.
It’s common that applicants cannot get their certificates before their work permit deadline. Thankfully, there is a simple process to follow if you can’t get your certificate before the deadline.
If you can’t get your police certificate in time, you are allowed to submit proof that you have applied for the certificate as a placeholder. After reviewing your file, the immigration officer will contact you, allowing you to submit your outstanding certificate(s) at a later date. In order to be accepted, you must submit one of the following types of proof:
Get detailed instructions on police certificates here
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