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International Experience Canada (IEC)

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International Experience Canada (IEC) is a reciprocal program that gives youth the opportunity to travel and work in Canada for up to 3 years. Young adults aged 18 to 35 can participate in the program under the following categories: Working Holiday ( open work permit ) Young Professional (employer-specific "closed" work permit for jobs contributing to professional development) International co-op (employer-specific work permit for student internship terms) Who Can Apply Citizens of partner countries may be able to apply to one or more of these three categories. Citizens of other countries may still be able to apply to the IEC program through a Recognized Organization  (RO).  The number of participations and length of work permit depend on the applicant's country of citizenship. While some countries allow repeat participations in the same or a different category, others are limited to one participation. The length of work permit under the IEC program can vary from 6 mont

Eligibility for Open Work Permits

Immigration minister Sean Fraser has announced new temporary measures to expand the eligibility for open work permits (OWP) in order to address labour shortages in Canada. Implemented in 3 phases, family members of workers coming to Canada will be eligible to apply for their own work permits. Time to look at these options in more detail! Terminology Foreign nationals, who are neither citizens nor permanent residents of Canada, require a valid work permit to legally work in Canada. There are generally two options to obtain a work permit: the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), wherein the Canadian employer applies for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) in order to hire a foreign worker, and the International Mobility Program (IMP), which covers various exemptions that let employers hire a foreign worker without an LMIA. LMIA-based work permits and most LMIA-exempt work permits are employer specific. This means that the foreign national can only work for the employer named on