Citizens of these countries can get priority access to Canadian work permits on repeat

Early-career workers from 28 countries can get easier access to Canadian work permits more than once.

Citizens aged 18-35, or 18-30, depending on the participating country, can obtain work permits under the International Experience Canada (IEC) program, enabling some to work in Canada for a total of up to two or three years.

Schedule a Free IEC Work Permit Consultation

Getting a work permit through the IEC requires only a fraction of the time and effort typically needed to obtain other major Canadian work permits.

Countries that allow multiple participations in IEC include those across Europe, South America, Oceania, and East Asia.

See the table below for the list of countries, the upper age limit for each country, the maximum number of participations, and an asterisk if there are specific conditions required to participate more than once:

Participating country	Upper age limit	Maximum number of participations
Australia	35	2*
Austria	35	3*
Chile	35	2
Costa Rica	35	2*
Croatia	35	2*
Czech Republic	35	2*
Estonia	35	2*
Finland	35	3*
France	35	2*
Germany	35	2*
Greece	35	2*
Iceland	30	2
Ireland	35	2*
Italy	35	2
Japan	30	2
Latvia	35	2*
Lithuania	35	2*
Netherlands	30	2*
Norway	35	2*
Poland	35	2*
San Marino	35	2
Slovakia	35	2*
Slovenia	35	2*
Republic of Korea	35	2
Spain	35	2*
Sweden	30	2*
Switzerland	35	2*
United Kingdom	35	2

A work permit for a single participation is generally issued for a maximum of 12 or 24 months, depending on the participant’s country of citizenship.

Several countries require a gap, such as a three-month period, between first and second participation.

For many countries, the second participation must be in a different category of IEC work permit than the first.

Qualifying for International Experience Canada

There are three distinct work permit types available under IEC: Working Holiday, Young Professionals, and International Co-op (Internship).

The Working Holiday permit is an open work permit (OWP), meaning that a holder’s work authorization is not tied to a particular employer or position. OWP holders can work for most employers in most industries in Canada, and are free to change employers at will throughout the entire period of their work permit.

The Young Professionals work permit is tied to a specific employer and position. The position must generally be one that requires some level of post-secondary education or training, which aligns with the participant’s background.

The International Co-op (Internship) is for students enrolled at post-secondary institutions outside Canada. To qualify, a student must have a job offer from a Canadian employer for a work placement required for the completion of the student’s study program.

Foreign nationals from participating countries will have access to anywhere from one to three of these work permit types, depending on their country of citizenship.

In addition to meeting the age requirement and the requirements for the specific type of IEC work permit they apply for, a citizen of a participating country must purchase health insurance coverage for the duration of their stay, and meet a modest financial support requirement ($2,500 CAD plus travel expenses).

They must also meet Canada’s general entry requirements—for example, they cannot be considered inadmissible on account of having a criminal history, having one or more serious medical conditions, or posing a threat to national security.

Applying for International Experience Canada

For citizens of participating countries, it’s often easy to meet the requirements for an IEC work permit, but getting a permit isn’t guaranteed.

Canada allots an annual quota of IEC work permits to each participating country.

Due to the ease of meeting the requirements, demand for permits among citizens of a participating country often exceeds the available supply.

To provide equal opportunity for participation in such cases, the IEC operates on a lottery system.

To be considered for an IEC permit, foreign nationals must create and submit a candidate profile, which is entered into the appropriate pool.

Their chances of success in obtaining an IEC work permit will vary depending on the citizenship of the participant, the type of work permit they are seeking, and the number of competing permit seekers at that time.

Participants can look up their odds of success on the International Experience Canada website, which calculates their likelihood of being selected in the next round based on the number of participant profiles versus the available spots.

When a foreign national receives an invitation by lottery, they have up to 10 days to accept the invitation, and up to 20 days to submit their complete work permit application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

IEC work permit applications must be submitted online.

IEC operates on an annual basis, with pools typically opening in January/February, and selection rounds taking place until a country’s per-category quota is met, or until the 2026 season closes.

As of May 2025, Canada made a change allowing repeat IEC participants to have their work permits mailed to Canadian addresses.

Prior to that change, leaving and returning to Canada was required.

There are eight countries within IEC that allow only a single participation per citizen: Andorra, Belgium, Denmark, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Portugal, and Taiwan.

Schedule a Free IEC Work Permit Consultation