Step-by-step guide to IEC Canada work permits — International Co-op, Young Professionals and Working Holiday applications

Now that you’ve submitted your profile, you have to wait for an Invitation to Apply for a work permit. Remember that Working Holiday category candidates may not receive one—demand exceeds supply, so the system randomly and periodically selects profiles from the pool.

In the meantime, you can start gathering all the required supporting documents you’ll need for the next steps. Here is a list of documents you may need to provide, depending on the work permit category and your personal situation. See more details on these different documents in the next sections.

Supporting documents required for Working Holiday, Young Professionals and International Co-op category candidates

These are the documents required. Click on the link for more details:

• A digital copy of your passport identification pages (pages 2 and 3) as well as copies of all the pages with stamps and visas combined into a single PDF document
• A curriculum vitae (resume)
• Form IMM5707 “Family information”
• A digital photo of yourself

Supporting documents required for International Co-op category candidates only

• Proof of registration at a post-secondary educational institution. The letter, with your name on it, must include registration start and end dates (you must be registered at the time of your application).
• An internship agreement. It must be signed by you, your employer and your training centre and contain the following information: position title, description of the tasks performed by the student, exact start and end dates of the internship, complete internship site address, and the employer’s contact information.

Other documents that could be required

Police certificates

Citizens of France, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland and Japan aren’t required to provide a certificate from their own country. However, they will have to provide a police certificate from any foreign country where they spent six months or more since the age of 18.

Nationals from other countries must provide a police certificate from their country of citizenship. They must also provide a police certificate from any foreign countries where they spent more than six months since the age of 18.

For more information, read How to get a police certificate from each country. You may have to pay applicable fees, depending on the country issuing the police certificate (and it won’t always be cheap!) so it’s best to figure out the exact process as soon as you can.

• If the police certificate from a country where you spent more than six months is issued free of charge, it’s best to apply for it right now. If you must provide a police certificate from your country of citizenship, it must have been issued no more than six months before the submission of your application, so don’t get it too early.

• If there’s a fee, then it’s best to wait until you receive an Invitation to Apply for a work permit. Don’t waste money—remember that Working Holiday category candidates may not receive an invitation, so starting the police certificate process would be pointless. International Co-op and Young Professionals will almost always receive an Invitation to Apply, especially when there are spots left, so you could apply for any required police certificate right after you submit your profile to the pool. Note that the American Identity History Summary Request (issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the FBI) is notoriously slow to process requests. Since it’s “only” around USD8 to apply for it, it’s probably best to start the process as soon as possible.

For more information, you can read Learn more about police certificates. Note that:

• If you need a police certificate from a country or territory and are currently living there, or received the police certificate before leaving, the police certificate must be issued within six months of your application date.

• If you need a police certificate from a country or territory and have lived there in the past, the police certificate must be issued after you last lived in that country or territory.

This is rather convenient when you need a police certificate from a country where you lived in the past. As long as you do not return to that country, your police certificate will be valid no matter when you apply.

Medical examinations

You may be required to undergo a medical exam if:

• you plan to work in a job where it’s important to protect public health(including health services, child care or primary or secondary education)

• you have recently lived or travelled in certain countries or territories for six months or more and there may be a risk of importation of tuberculosis

If applicable, you need to complete a physical exam with a  doctor that has been approved by IRCC (called a panel physician). This type of medical examination can be expensive and fees depend on the doctor. Because of the cost, it’s best to wait until you receive an Invitation to Apply before seeing a panel physician.

This is especially true for Working Holiday work permit candidates—since you’re not guaranteed to get a work permit until you’ve been randomly selected, it’s pointless to pay for a medical exam if you don’t get a spot. Medical exam results are only valid for 12 months and your POE Letter is valid for 12 months as well.

However, if you underwent a medical exam, your POE Letter will be valid until the expiry date of your medical exam or for 12 months, whichever is less. If you take your medical exam too early, you may end up with less than 12 months to land in Canada and activate your work permit. Read on for more information about police certificates and “proof of medical exam.”