IEC permit to Canada: Travelling as a couple and/or with kids

The “one application per person” rule

Your significant other cannot be included on your own IEC permit application and they will not automatically be granted a permit if you get one.

If you both want to travel to Canada as Working Holiday, Young Professional or International Co-op permit holders, each of you must meet the requirements, submit a profile to the pool and hope to receive an ITA.

If you’re not sure what “ITA” and “pool” mean in this context, read our Step-by-step guide to International Experience Canada work permits — International Co-op, Young Professionals and Working Holiday applications.

Common-law partner vs. spouse

In the context of immigration, your significant other could be either:

• A spouse, i.e. a legal marriage partner. It includes both opposite- and same-sex relationships but does not include common-law partnerships.
• A common-law partner, i.e. someone who has been living with you in a conjugal relationship for at least one year. The term refers to opposite-sex and same-sex relationships. Note that if needed (e.g. for an open work permit application), evidence to support the cohabitation may be required, e.g. both names on bills, joint lease, bank account, etc. The onus is on you to prove you have been living as common-law partners for at least one year.

A couple who lives with other roommates or at their parent’s place may not be considered a common-law partnership. Same issue if you lived apart for more than 90 days in a row.

Help, I got an ITA but my significant other didn’t!

To get an IEC permit, you need to meet the basic requirements, submit a profile to the pool and hope to receive an ITA—there’s some luck involved.

So, what if you got lucky and your significant other still hasn’t gotten an ITA?

There are several options:

Wait and see

You could decline your ITA to “buy some time” and see if you both get one during the same round of invitations later on. Declining an ITA has zero impact on your future chances to get an ITA. However, keep in mind that your significant other’s profile could be drawn and not yours… and neither of them could be drawn as well!

For more info, see Accept or decline your Invitation to apply for an IEC Working Holiday permit.

You could also accept your ITA and proceed with submitting your application, crossing fingers for your significant other’s profile to be drawn at any point in the following 12 months. Why 12 months? Because that’s how long you have to travel to Canada and activate your IEC permit, once your application has been approved.

If you don’t travel to Canada within 12 months, you will need to rejoin the pools and start the process from scratch, and you will have to pay the fees again.

Investigate other temporary residence options

The Working Holiday permit is an awesome option to come to Canada with an open work permit, but there are other types of temporary residence permits, for instance closed work or study permits. You may want to check if your significant other could be eligible for either.

If not, the best option is probably the visitor status. Most visitors can stay for up to six months in Canada and you can always apply for an extension. However, it is strictly forbidden to work on a visitor visa, so your significant other will have to convince the immigration officer that they have enough money to support themselves and have enough ties back home to leave Canada when the visitor status expires. Find out if your significant other needs a visa (it depends on their country of citizenship) or just an Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA). Watch for eTA scams!

Consider getting a job that will make them eligible for an open work permit

Your spouse or common-law partner may be eligible for an open work permit if:

• you are studying at a public post-secondary school, such as a college or university or collège d’enseignement général et professionnel (CEGEP) in Quebec (for more info, read Help your spouse or common-law partner work in Canada).
• you are working in an occupation under the National Occupational Classification (NOC) Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) category 0, 1, 2 or 3.

For more info, see our Spouse or common-law partner open work permit 101 and our guide to understanding the NOC TEER system.

The Working Holiday permit is an open work permit and you don’t need to have a job offer before travelling to Canada, so this is usually not a solution you can consider before securing an eligible job in Canada.

Basically:

You could travel to Canada with a Working Holiday permit and your significant other could enter the country as a visitor. Once you meet all the requirements (i.e. secure a NOC TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 job with a minimum six-month contract), your significant other could apply for an open work permit from within Canada, either online or by flagpoling at the border—just exit the country at the US border and re-enter!

You could travel to Canada alone, find an eligible job that meets the requirements, and get the required three pay stubs. Your significant other will then be able to apply for an open work permit. However, note that common-law partners will no longer be considered as such if they live apart for more than 90 days in a row—this doesn’t apply to spouses.

For more info, read IEC Canada – Spouse or common-law partner open work permit 101.