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By Stephanie Ford
Updated 23 seconds ago
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This week’s in-depth coverage of the latest IEC news is made possible by the support of Outpost Recruitment.
You can join our community to receive weekly updates covering invitation activity, key information about the IEC pool, and tips to make your season run smoothly.
Track how the top IEC countries are performing week by week. Dive into detailed draw data, invitation numbers, and country-specific insights by selecting a country below.
UK Working Holiday candidates saw the most invitations in the second round for the 2026 IEC season! At 2,865 invitations, UK working holiday candidates received more invitations than any other program. Last week also saw the UK receive the highest number of invitations as well.
The total number of candidates in the pool dropped from 2,671 last week to 535 this week, due to the large draw.
IRCC forecasts that those currently in the pool for the UK have excellent odds of receiving an invitation next week.
That said, you aren’t guaranteed an invitation in any round — even if odds are excellent for receiving one, or if your quota is not yet full. The best way to improve your odds of receiving an invite is to enter the pool as early as possible.
Australian candidates may still be reeling from the introduction of a quota this year. The quota may actually mean that there will be high competition for spots for Australian working holidaymakers this year — since the quota is much lower than the number of invitations issued to this program in 2025.
This week Australian candidate’s received 599 invitations, less than half of last week’s 1,275.
Still, the pool dropped to 338 profiles, so competition isn’t high just yet.
Irish working holiday makers saw their first round of invitations last week with 1,074 invitations issued.
This week, for the second round, IRCC issued 450 invitations and there are 449 profiles in the IEC pool and 2,735 spots for this program for the year.
IRCC estimates the odds for those in the pool receiving an invitation to be ‘very good’ – though there have been plenty of changes this year, so we may be surprised here.
If you’re an Irish citizen considering a working holiday in Canada in 2026, it’s worth considering entering the pool as early as possible. The earlier you enter, the more draws you’ll participate in.
Unfortunately, New Zealanders hoping to do an IEC working holiday in 2026 will need to wait at least one more week for more information. The quota and the date for the first round of invitations have not yet been released by IRCC for this season.
There are currently 578 profiles in the pool for the 2026 season. For what it’s worth, NZ’s 2025 quota was 2,500 for this program so if that remains in place for 2026, competition may remain low throughout the year. However, we think that the quota may decrease, given that last year’s NZ pool was undersubscribed.
French candidates looking to do a working holiday in Canada in 2026 may have a tough season ahead of them.
IRCC issued 2,292 invitations on January 30, which is the second highest number of invitations overall this week. This is a big increase over the first round last week when 645 working holiday invitations were issued.
Still, there are significantly more candidates in the pool then there are spots available for 2026. IRCC estimates the odds of receiving an invitation to be very low for French working holiday hopefuls.
So, where does that leave you? As French speakers, you do have alternate pathways to live and work in Canada – especially if you choose to live outside Quebec. There are multiple pathways that could offer you a temporary work permit in Canada that are worth considering instead of the working holiday program this year.
Otherwise, it may also be worth looking to see whether you’re eligible for another IEC program – Young Professionals, VIE, or International Co-op.
South Korea’s quota dropped marginally from 2025 but is still the biggest quota we’ve seen for the 2026 IEC season.
IRCC issued 1,705 invitations on January 30, 2026 which is just slightly less than the 1,995 issued on January 23. Looking ahead, South Korean working holiday hopefuls may not experience the same level of high competition for spots that we’re either seeing or expecting to see in many other popular programs (like France or Australia’s working holiday pools).
While this is good news, it doesn’t mean you should delay entering the pool. It’s almost always a good idea to enter as early as possible, especially if you really want to come to Canada in 2026 or early 2027.
Japanese working holiday hopefuls will need to wait at least one more week before we can offer a deeper analysis on the season ahead. Unfortunately, Japan’s quota has not yet been announced and we aren’t sure when the first round of invitations for Japan will take place, just yet. But we keep our community members informed through our weekly IEC newsletter. Join us if you’re keen to learn more about the year ahead, whenever the information is released.
We’ll be publishing a full, data-driven analysis of the 2026 IEC Working Holiday program for Germany once the first rounds of invitation data are released.
Check back soon for detailed draw breakdowns, invitation trends, quota updates, and insights into what the numbers mean for applicants from Germany.
Or, if you’d rather get an email when updates happen – we keep our community members informed through our weekly IEC newsletter. Join us if you’re keen to learn more about the year ahead for German working holiday candidates once that information is released.
Italian working holiday hopefuls saw the second round of invitations on January 30, with 250 invitations issued. The first round of invitations on was on January 23, with 650 invited. There are now just 174 applications currently in the pool.
Italy’s quota dipped slightly for 2026 (down to 1,850 from 1,915 in 2025). But the good news is: we don’t expect competition to be too high – unless many more Italian citizens are interested in a working holiday in Canada this year compared to last year.
IRCC’s latest IEC update, published on January 30, confirms that since the previous update on January 23, 10,001 invitations were issued across several countries.
This brings the overall total to 22,694 invitations issued since invitations began on January 19, meaning quotas are filling fast.
The United Kingdom’s Working Holiday program has stayed at the top, with 2,865 invitations issued last week, bringing their total to 5,994 (out of a 9,330 quota). Other large invitation totals include Korea’s Working Holiday 1,702 (total invitations 3,697), France’s Working Holiday 2,292 (total invitations 2,937), Australia’s Working Holiday 599 (total invitations 1,874), and Ireland’s Working Holiday 450 (total invitations 1,524).
United Kingdom Working Holiday – 2,865 Korea’s Working Holiday – 1,702 France Working Holiday – 2,292 Australia Working Holiday – 599 Ireland Working Holiday – 450
As of the latest IEC update, the following pool-open countries have not yet received any invitations this season, despite candidates already being in the pools.
IRCC has also now announced the chances of receiving an invitation in the next round for many countries.
At the moment, nearly all IEC programs show “Excellent” chances of receiving an invitation. The exceptions are the following programs, which currently have lower chances:
As of January 30, 2026, there were 31,464 candidates in the IEC pools. That’s down from 35,567 in the January 23 update (and 43,005 in the January 16 update) – a smaller drop than the previous week, largely because fewer invitations were issued and more candidates entered the pools. It could also indicate the initial rush to enter the pools has slowed.
The programs with the highest number of candidates in the pool, as of January 30, 2026 are:
The biggest drops this week were seen in the United Kingdom, France, and Korea Working Holiday pools. The UK pool experienced the sharpest decline, dropping by 2,136 candidates, followed by Korea, which fell by 1,171 candidates, and France, which decreased by 1,071 candidates. These reductions likely reflect continued invitation rounds and profile removals as candidates accept invitations or exit the pools.
Remember: IEC is not a first-come, first-served program, entering the pool early allows you to participate in more invitation rounds, increasing your chances of receiving an invitation. So, don’t let the number of people in the pool already put you off submitting your profile. If anything, it’s more important than ever to get into the IEC pool early.
Here’s what we don’t know, based on this update:
Final quotas for every country and category.
Exact start dates for invitation rounds in some countries and categories.
Quotas are still being released in waves. While invitations began rolling out during the week of January 19, several countries with open pools are still waiting for their first invitation rounds.
Updates for 2026 IEC season
Here’s the data from the most recent IRCC update. To check your country’s odds for receiving an invitation, check out our IEC tracker.
Keen to see how the round sizes have been trending over time? Here are all the details:
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 2026 IEC participants.
Check out the Moving2Canada Jobs Board and join our IEC Talent Pool.
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:
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.
Join 170,000+ adventurers and get insider tips, visa updates, and job resources to make the most of your International Experience Canada (IEC) adventure.
We partner with trusted brands like Outpost Recruitment, who share our commitment to supporting newcomers. This allows us to provide valuable resources and information to you and thousands of others – completely free.
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