Name: IEC participation only counts if you land in Canada
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As of January 9, 2023, if your International Experience Canada (IEC) application was approved but you didn’t go to Canada it does not count as a participation, according to the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)’s website.

IEC candidates only get a certain number of participations, depending on their country. Now, a participation only counts if you arrive in Canada and receive your work permit.

In the past, getting a port of entry (POE) letter of introduction counted as a participation. However, Canada changed the definition of a participation to help people who could not come to Canada before their POE letter expired.

If you applied before January 9, 2023 and have not used all your participations (i.e. activated your IEC work permit in Canada) you can create a new profile if you are still eligible.

Basically, if you had your POE letter and you were unable to come to Canada during the pandemic (or earlier) you may be able to apply for IEC again. In order to apply again, you must still meet the eligibility requirements of your country, and have not already used your participation by coming to Canada and receiving your work permit.

Citizens of countries are able to participate more than once, but not all. Refer to the table below to see the rules for your country.

How to work in Canada in 2023

International Experience Canada (IEC) opened for the year on January 9. International youth between the ages of 18-35 (depending on your country) can now submit their profiles to the IEC pool of candidates for a chance to work in Canada.

There are three IEC programs:

Working Holiday: participants get an open work permit to work anywhere in Canada, no job offer required.
International Co-op (Internship): student participants receive an employer-specific work permit that allows them to gain targeted experience in their field of study. This program requires a valid job offer.
Young Professionals: participants get an employer-specific work permit to gain targeted, professional work experience in their field of study or career path. A valid job offer is required.

There are 36 participating IEC countries.

Country	International Experience Canada Category	Age eligibility	Type of work permit	Maximum validity	Participation frequency in International Experience Canada	Medical Exam needed?
Andorra	Working Holiday	18-30	Open	12 months	One participation	No
Australia	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	24 months	Two participations maximum in IEC. A participation of 24 months in either Working Holiday or Young Professionals; a second participation of 12 months in International Co-op. These two participations can be carried out in the order of the applicant's choice. Exception: If you participated in IEC one or more times before 2015, you might be eligible for a final participation of up to 24 months in the category of your choice.	No
	Young Professionals (Graduates)	18-35	Employer-specific	24 months		No
	International Co-op	18-35	Employer-specific	24 months (unless it is the applicant's second participation since 2015, in which case, 12 months)		No
Austria	Working Holiday	18-30	Open	12 months	Applicants are allowed 3 participations in total. No repeat categories are allowed.	No
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
	International Co-op	18-35	Employer-specific Internship or work placement must be in forestry, agriculture, or tourism	6 months	Must be a resident of Austria and must be registered as a student in forestry, agriculture or tourism or have graduated in 1 of those fields within the past 12 months.	No
Belgium	Working Holiday	18-30	Open	12 months	One participation	No
Chile	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	12 months	Two participations – Repeat category is permitted	No
	Young Professionals (Supplementary graduate training)	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
	International Co-op (Young worker exchange program)	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
Costa Rica	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	12 months	Two International Experience Canada participations. Repeat category is not permitted	No
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
Croatia	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	12 months	Two International Experience Canada participations. Repeat category is permitted.	No
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
Czech Republic	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	12 months	Two participations. Repeat category is not permitted	No
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
Denmark (Danish citizens who reside in Greenland and the Faroe Islands are also eligible)	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	12 months	One participation	No
Estonia	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	12 months	Two International Experience Canada participations. Repeat category is not permitted	No
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
Finland	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	12 months	One participation	TBA
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months
France	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	24 months	Maximum of two participations. A participation of 24 months in either Working Holiday or Young Professionals or Young Professionals (VIE); a second participation of 12 months in International Co-op. Applicant can choose the order of these two participations. Exception: French citizens who participated prior to the 2015 quota year are eligible for one final participation in the category of their choosing. An applicant is considered to have participated prior to 2015 if their application(s) was submitted to any quota year prior to the launch of the 2015 quota year which took place on February 21, 2015. Those who have participated in IEC more than once before 2015 are no longer eligible.	No
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	24 months		No
	Young Professionals - VIE	18-35	Employer-specific	24 months		No
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months	Enrolment in a training centre in France is acceptable.	No
Germany	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	12 months	Two times. Repeat category is not permitted.	No
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
Greece	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	12 months	Two International Experience Canada participations. Repeat category is not permitted	No
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
Hong Kong	Working Holiday	18-30	Open	12 months	One participation	Yes
Iceland	Working Holiday	18-30	Open	24 months	12-month participation can be renewed one for a total of two participations	TBA
Ireland	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	24 months	To avail of two International Experience Canada participations, one must be under the International Co-op (Internship) category.	No
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	24 months		No
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
Italy	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	24 months (Total of two permits combined.)	Two participations under any category	No
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	24 months (Total of two permits combined.)		No
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	24 months (Total of two permits combined.)		No
Japan	Working Holiday	18-30	Open	12 months	One participation	No
Latvia	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	12 months	Two participations. Repeat category is not permitted	Yes
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		Yes
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		Yes
Lithuania	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	12 months	Two participations. Repeat category is not permitted	Yes
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		Yes
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		Yes
Luxembourg	Working Holiday	18-30	Open	12 months	Awaiting details.	No
	Young Professionals	18-30	Employer-specific	12 months		No
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-30	Employer-specific	12 months		No
Mexico	The youth mobility agreement between Canada and Mexico is currently under review. As a result Invitations to Apply for an International Experience Canada permit are not being sent at this time.					No
Netherlands	Working Holiday	18-30	Open	12 months	Two participations. Repeat category is not permitted	No
Netherlands	Young Professionals	18-30	Employer-specific	12 months	Two participations. Repeat category is not permitted	No
New Zealand	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	23 months	One participation (if you participated in IEC before April 2, 2015, you are no longer eligible to apply)	No
Norway	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	12 months	Two participations. Repeat category is not permitted	No
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
Poland	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	12 months	Two participations. Repeat category is not permitted	No
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
Portugal	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	24 months	One participation	No
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	24 months		No
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	24 months		No
San Marino	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	12 months	Two participations	No
Slovakia	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	12 months	Two participations. Repeat category is not permitted	No
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
Slovenia	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	12 months	Two participations. Repeat category is not permitted	No
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
South Korea	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	24 months	Two participations.	Yes
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	24 months		Yes
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	24 months		Yes
Spain	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	12 months	Two participations. Repeat category is not permitted	No
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		No
Sweden	Working Holiday	18-30	Open	12 months	Two participations. Repeat category is not permitted	No
	Young Professionals	18-30	Employer-specific	12 months		No
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-30	Employer-specific	12 months		No
Switzerland	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	18 months (Total duration of the two permits combined cannot exceed 18 months)	Two participations. Repeat category is permitted if the sum of the two participations is within the 18-month total limit.	No
Switzerland	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific			No
Taiwan	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	12 months	One participation	Yes
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		Yes
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	12 months		Yes
Ukraine	The youth mobility agreement between Canada and Ukraine is currently under review. As a result Invitations to Apply for an International Experience Canada permit are not being sent at this time.					Yes
United Kingdom	Working Holiday	18-35	Open	36 months	Two participations	No
	Young Professionals	18-35	Employer-specific	36 months	Two participations	No
	International Co-op (Internship)	18-35	Employer-specific	36 months	Two participations	No

If you would like to learn more about how to prepare for the 2023 IEC season, check out Moving2Canada’s comprehensive IEC guide.

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About the author

Shelby Thevenot

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Canadian Immigration Writer

Shelby is a journalist, freelance writer, and expert news analyst with more than five years of experience in writing about Canadian immigration.

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IEC participations now only count if you arrive in Canada

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As of January 9, 2023, if your International Experience Canada (IEC) application was approved but you didn’t go to Canada it does not count as a participation, according to the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)’s website.

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How to work in Canada in 2023

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IEC participations now only count if you arrive in Canada

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Share article

As of January 9, 2023, if your International Experience Canada (IEC) application was approved but you didn’t go to Canada it does not count as a participation, according to the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)’s website.

Find the best immigration program for you

Get your questions answered by an expert

How to work in Canada in 2023

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