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

Completing your application — Personal details of applicant

Names tab

• If you answer “No” to the question about use of other names in the past (most candidates will), no further questions will be asked.

• If you did use another name in the past (for instance, if you got married), select “yes” and enter your former last name in the field. You’ll have to specify whether it’s your maiden name, a former name, etc.

Personal description tab

Marital status

Marital status question

• If you select “Never married/Single,” “Widowed,” “Divorced” or “Legally separated,” there is no additional information to provide.

• If you select “Married” or “Common-law,” you must enter information about your spouse. If you are married, you must enter the date of your marriage. If you are in a common-law relationship (common-law marriage), you must enter the date on which you entered into the common-law relationship. This date isn’t when you started living together but the date of the first anniversary of cohabitation. For example, if you moved in together on October 1, 2015, you’ve been in a common-law relationship since October 1, 2016.

Former relationships: Have you been previously married or in a common-law relationship?

You must answer “Yes” or “No” to this question. If you answered “Yes,” provide information regarding your previous spouse or partner and the length of the relationship.

It’s probably not expected to provide additional information if the past relationship lasted 12 months or less as long as you weren’t officially common-law partners and recognized as such by the Government of Canada.

Language details tab

• If your mother tongue is English or French, you will be asked a second question regarding your communication skills in English and/or French. If you select both languages, you’ll be asked which one you are most comfortable with.

• If your mother tongue isn’t English or French, you must select the official language you’re most comfortable with. Applicants whose mother tongue is neither English or French will have to answer other questions.

• You are also asked if your English or French language skills have been assessed by an approved third-party organisation. You don’t have to take an English or French language test to apply for an IEC work permit (Working Holiday, Young Professionals, International Co-op Internship); this question is for data purposes.

Your answers in this section won’t impact your application and your chances of success. There are no language requirements for IEC work permits.

ID documents tab

The passport information you provided when you first submitted your profile to the pool is already listed at the bottom of the page.

If you have a new passport, update the information by filling out the following fields: passport number, country/territory of issue, date of issue and expiry date. Check the box below to make this new passport your “primary passport” (i.e. your main travel document).

NEW question: “National Identity Document”

If you don’t have a National Identity Document, answer “No”. It’s not a problem if you don’t have one.

Immigration history and citizenships

If you lived abroad for more than six months consecutively in the last five years, enter the country/territory and dates. Then click “Save and add.” You’ll see your previous country of residence and period you lived there listed in the table.

Notes:

• If you were a Working Holiday Visa holder, your status was “worker.”

• You’ll probably have to provide a police certificate for any country where you lived for more than six months since the age of 18 (even if you’re not listing them here because you lived there more than five years ago).

• If you lived in one or more specific countries Canada designates as having risk factors for tuberculosis, you may also have to take a medical exam. If you see “YES” in the “Immigration Medical Exam (IME) required” column, then you have to provide proof of medical exam performed by a panel physician approved by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

Additional citizenship(s)

You must specify the additional countries/territories you’re a citizen of. If you do have another citizenship, select the appropriate country and click “Insert row.” Being a citizen of more than one country isn’t a problem when applying for an IEC work permit.

Former visa or permanent residence application for Canada

You have to state whether you’ve ever applied for a visa or permit (temporary or permanent) to Canada. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is asking for this info to see if they already have information on you. This is what you should answer, depending on the situation:

• If you visited Canada as a tourist and didn’t apply for an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) or a visa, you’ve never applied for a temporary visa or a permit. You should answer “No.”

• If you went to Canada with an eTA or tourist visa, a temporary work permit, an internship work permit or a student permit, answer “Yes.”

• If you applied for an IEC work permit (before this current application) and proceeded to the second step of the process, answer “Yes” regardless of whether your application was accepted or denied and regardless of whether you actually travelled to Canada or not.

• If you are applying for permanent residence and you are at the federal application stage of the process, answer “Yes.”

“Unique client identifier” (“UCI”) number

If you were ever issued a temporary work permit, an internship work permit, a student permit or a Canadian visa by IRCC, you have a UCI number and you have to enter it in the designated field. The Government of Canada can retrieve your information and process your application more easily.

There are two UCI number formats: four numbers, a hyphen and four more numbers (Example: 0000-0000) or two numbers, a hyphen, four numbers, a hyphen and four more numbers (Example: 00-0000-0000). You’ll find your UCI number on your former Port of Entry Letter of Introduction or your previous work or study permit, if applicable.

• If you don’t remember your UCI number but still have your work or study permit, enter the number you see on the immigration document.

• If you don’t remember your UCI number and you can’t find your former immigration document (work permit, internship work permit or student permit), leave the field blank.