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

Applying for a Working Holiday permit to Canada as a couple

The “one application per person” rule

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

If you both want to travel to Canada as Working Holiday permit holders, each of you must submit a profile to the pool and hope to receive an Invitation to apply.

If “Invitation to apply” and “pool” are Greek to you 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 in 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 Invitation to apply but my significant other didn’t!

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

So what if you got lucky and your significant other still hasn’t gotten an Invitation to apply?

There are several options.

Wait and see

You could decline your Invitation to apply to “buy some time” and see if you both get one during the same round of invitations later on. Declining an Invitation to apply has zero consequence on your future chances to get the Working Holiday Visa. 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!

Fore more info, check “Accept or decline your Invitation to apply for an IEC Working Holiday permit?“.

You could also accept your Invitation to apply and proceed with submitting your application, crossing fingers for your signification 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 land in Canada and activate your Working Holiday permit. If you don’t travel to Canada within 12 months, you lose your Working Holiday permit and the chance to ever apply for a Working Holiday permit to Canada again.

Investigate other temporary residence options

The Working Holiday permit is an awesome option to come to Canada, but there are other types of temporary residence permits, for instance 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 6 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 Authorization (eTA) (and 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 Who can get a work permit as the spouse or common-law partner of a student?).
• you are working in an occupation under the National Occupational Classification (NOC) skill type 0, A or B.

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 your 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 Skill Type Level 0, A or B job with a minimum six-month contract), your significant other could apply for an open work permit from within Canada, either online or 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.