Working Holiday Permit in Quebec: International Experience Canada

International Experience Canada (IEC) is a Government of Canada program that lets young people from partner countries travel and work in Canada. It has three categories: Working Holiday, Young Professionals and International Co-op (Internship). The “PVT” everyone talks about is the Working Holiday category.

What sets it apart: it gives you an open work permit. You do not need a job offer before you leave, and you can change employers whenever you want. It is the option designed for working to help pay for your trip.

Depending on your country, a participation lasts up to 12 or 24 months. It is a temporary permit.

Everything depends on the agreement between your country and Canada. The program is for people aged 18 to 35, or 18 to 30 in some countries, and IRCC publishes the list of partner countries and territories on its IEC home page.

Conditions vary from one country to another: age, length, number of participations, categories offered. Read your country’s entry on the eligibility by country and category page. For example, Switzerland is listed only for Young Professionals and International Co-op, not for Working Holiday.

For France and Belgium, both entries also require at least CAN$2,500, health insurance for your whole stay, a return ticket or the money to buy one, and not being accompanied by dependants. The table below sums up what differs.

IEC works in seasons. During a season, IRCC regularly invites candidates drawn from each pool — there is one per country and per category. IRCC calls these the rounds of invitations.

When we checked, the pools for the 2026 season were closed. If you have already received an invitation, you can still submit your application. If not, your profile is removed; you will be able to create a new one when the pools reopen for the 2027 season, with the same account.

IRCC does not announce a reopening date on these pages. Keep an eye on the rounds of invitations page: it shows the calendar for each country and is normally updated on Fridays.

Here is the path, in order. Deadlines are short once you are invited: get your documents ready while you wait.

• Profile: in your IRCC secure account, answer the eligibility questionnaire, then fill out your profile. You have 60 days to submit it. Submitting a profile is not yet applying for a permit.
• Pools: you can put your profile in several pools of your country. If you are eligible for more than one category, invitations go out first for International Co-op, then Young Professionals, then Working Holiday.
• Invitation: the invitation to apply (ITA) arrives in your account and by email. You have 10 days to accept it.
• Application: from the moment you accept, you have exactly 20 days to submit the complete application online. The deadline is given in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), not your local time.
• Biometrics: if IRCC asks for them, you have 30 days to give your fingerprints and photo, in person.
• Decision: the service standard is 56 days for a complete application. If it is approved, you receive a port of entry letter of introduction, valid for one year.
• Arrival: the border services officer decides, at the airport or land border, and issues the permit. The letter does not guarantee entry.

Documents to prepare: a police certificate from each country where you lived for at least six months in a row since age 18, a CV, your passport, a digital photo and the Family Information form (IMM 5707). A medical exam is added if you recently lived in or travelled to certain countries, or if you want to work in health care, primary or secondary education, or with children or seniors.

Fees are paid online, in your account, when you apply for the permit. For the Working Holiday category, IRCC’s fee list shows:

• IEC fee: $184.75;
• open work permit holder fee: $100;
• biometrics, if required: $85 per person.

These amounts can change: check the list on the day you pay. The IEC fee and the open work permit fee are refunded if you withdraw your application before you receive the letter of introduction, or if it is refused. Once you have the letter, withdrawing is generally no longer possible.

Wait until your application is approved before you buy your plane ticket, take out health insurance, book housing or leave your job or studies: that is IRCC’s advice.

Your insurance must cover medical care, hospitalization and repatriation, for your whole stay. If it is shorter, your permit will expire the same day as your insurance, and you will not be able to extend it later.

A Quebec specificity: if your country has an agreement with Quebec, you may be covered by the Quebec Health Insurance Plan. But that plan does not cover repatriation: you then need additional insurance that does. For registration, see the guide on the RAMQ.

At the border, keep within reach your passport, the letter of introduction, proof of insurance, a return ticket or the money to buy one, and proof of funds: a bank statement dated no more than one week before you leave, showing at least CAN$2,500.

Before leaving the port of entry, read your permit again: name, expiry date and, for Working Holiday, the words “open” for the employer and “unknown” for the work location. If you travel with a large amount of cash, also read our guide on how much money to bring to Canada.

As long as your open permit is valid, there are no restrictions on how long you work in a job or how many hours you work. It will not, however, be valid beyond the expiry date of your passport, your biometrics or your insurance.

Without a medical exam, IRCC can add medical restrictions to your permit: you then cannot hold a job that requires that exam.

What about the CAQ (Quebec Acceptance Certificate)? The Quebec government lists International Experience Canada among the examples of Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) exemptions of the International Mobility Program. It states that this program allows hiring without the worker having to obtain a CAQ (page in French only). Its page on situations where you do not need a CAQ points the same way.

To get paid, apply for your Social Insurance Number as soon as you arrive.

Young Professionals: you have a job offer in Canada that contributes to your professional development. The permit is tied to that employer, and the employer pays an employer compliance fee of CAN$230.

International Co-op (Internship): you are enrolled in a post-secondary institution outside Canada, and the internship is required to complete your studies.

You can apply on your own or go through a recognized organization; it is neither an employer nor an immigration representative. For advice on your own file, see our guide lawyer or immigration consultant.

You can only get one IEC permit per season, and each country limits the number of participations. For a French citizen, one more participation remains possible in International Co-op, if you are eligible for it.

To stay longer, you need another status. For temporary work, see the guide on the work permit in Quebec. For permanent residence, Quebec selects first: see the Skilled Worker Selection Program and the Quebec Selection Certificate.

The Québec Experience Program (PEQ) lists holders of a working holiday permit among the statuses accepted in its Temporary Workers stream (page in French only), with its own conditions (work experience, French) and limited intake periods. Nothing there is automatic: check the official page before counting on it.

Check each step as you go: your progress is saved if you are signed in.

The questions that come up most often about the working holiday permit in Quebec.

These related guides may be useful:

• The work permit in Quebec — the other temporary permits, if you want to stay after your working holiday.
• The Social Insurance Number — to request as soon as you arrive so you can get paid.
• The RAMQ — if your country has a health insurance agreement with Quebec.
• The Skilled Worker Selection Program — Quebec’s main permanent selection path.

For official and up-to-date information:

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
• Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration (MIFI)