Canada's working holiday for Brits: IEC, the pools and staying on

For young Brits, International Experience Canada (IEC) is the easiest way into Canada: no job offer needed, up to two years, and a second go later.

The short version

• British citizens aged 18 to 35 can take part in IEC twice: first for up to 24 months, then a second time for up to 12 months [1].
• There are three categories: Working Holiday (an open work permit), Young Professionals and International Co-op (Internship) [1][2].
• You need at least CAD 2,500 (about £1,330) and health insurance for your whole stay [1].
• It works by invitation from a pool. When we checked in November 2026, the 2026 pools were closed [3].
• The fees for a Working Holiday come to about CAD 370 (about £196) [5].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = CAD 1.89).

Who can apply

IEC runs on youth mobility agreements between Canada and other countries. The UK deal is one of the more generous ones. To apply for the Working Holiday category, you must [1]:

• be a British citizen from the UK or the Channel Islands (Jersey and Guernsey), with a valid passport for your whole stay. Your work permit can't last longer than your passport, so renew it first if it's running low
• be aged 18 to 35 inclusive
• have at least CAD 2,500 to cover your first expenses
• have health insurance for the whole stay, which you may have to show at the border
• have a return ticket, or enough money to buy one
• not bring dependants

IRCC says you must be between 18 and 35 inclusive [1]. Working holiday sites such as pvtistes.net say what counts is your age when you're invited, not when you land [6], but IRCC doesn't spell that out, so if you're 35, don't hang about.

Two goes, not one

British citizens can take part in IEC twice: a first participation of 24 months in any category, and a second of 12 months in any category [1]. If you did IEC for up to 12 months before 2015, your second go can be up to 24 months [1]. The second participation is a fresh application, so you have to be under the age limit again and go back into the pool [6].

The three categories

For Young Professionals you must have the signed offer or contract before you submit your profile [1]. Some jobs, for example in healthcare or childcare, need a medical exam even on a Working Holiday [2].

How the pools and invitations work

IEC isn't first come, first served. It's closer to a lottery with a cap.

1. Check your eligibility and build a profile in your IRCC account. The questionnaire takes about 10 minutes, and you have 60 days to finish and submit the profile [3].
2. Go into the pool. There's one pool per country and category. You can have only one profile, but it can sit in more than one pool [3].
3. Wait for an invitation to apply (ITA). IRCC sends invitations in regular rounds. It invites people for International Co-op first, then Young Professionals, then Working Holiday [3].
4. Accept within 10 days [6], then submit your work permit application within exactly 20 days of accepting. The deadline is in UTC, not UK time, so don't leave it to the last evening [4].
5. Give biometrics at a visa application centre once asked; IRCC gives you up to 30 days [4].
6. Get your port of entry letter and enter Canada within 12 months [6]. The actual work permit is issued at the border.

How many places are there?

Each country has a yearly quota that resets with each season. For the 2026 season the UK had several thousand Working Holiday places, a few hundred Young Professionals places and only a handful of Co-op places [6]. IRCC publishes the current numbers on its rounds of invitations page; on 6 November 2026 the 2027 UK quotas were still to be announced.

When we checked on 7 November 2026, IRCC said the 2026 pools were closed [3]. If you want to go in 2027, watch for the next season to open and put your profile in early, because profiles are removed at the end of each season and invitations stop once the quota is filled [3].

What it costs

Fees from IRCC's fee list [5]. On top of that come flights, health insurance for up to two years (budget seriously for this, as Canada has no reciprocal health agreement with the UK [7]) and your CAD 2,500 in savings. Toronto rent will eat that faster than you'd like, so read our renting in Toronto guide before you book a flight.

Before you go: the UK side

A two-year working holiday is long enough to change your UK position:

• Tax. If you're away for a full tax year or more, you'll probably become non-resident for UK tax. Tell HMRC with form P85 and read up on the Statutory Residence Test. Our guide to telling HMRC you're leaving walks you through it.
• National Insurance. Gaps in your record cost you State Pension later. From 6 April 2026, new applicants paying voluntary Class 3 contributions from abroad need either 10 continuous years living in the UK or 10 qualifying years [8]. Class 3 costs £18.40 a week in 2026/27 [9]. Many people in their twenties will pass the residence test, but check before you assume.
• Student loan. Repayments don't stop because you've left. Tell the Student Loans Company you're moving abroad.
• Phone and bank. Keep a UK bank account and a way to get security codes, and look at a Canadian account once you arrive.

Staying on: from IEC to permanent residence

Plenty of Brits arrive for a year of skiing and bar work and end up with a mortgage in Leslieville. The usual route looks like this:

1. Get skilled work. Canadian Experience Class needs at least one year of skilled work in Canada (TEER 0 to 3) in the last three years, as our Express Entry guide explains. Bar and shop work usually doesn't count, so a Working Holiday spent on the slopes won't get you there on its own.
2. Get into Express Entry. Canadian work experience gives your CRS score a big lift. Even so, recent Canadian Experience Class draws have needed scores of about 520. Our guide to Express Entry for Brits has the details.
3. Look at Ontario. Ontario's new Workforce Priority stream needs a permanent job offer from an Ontario employer. For skilled jobs, six months of full-time work in that job in the last year counts as experience [10].
4. Use your second IEC go if you need more time, while your PR application goes through.

Time on a work permit also counts towards citizenship later: each day as a temporary resident in your five-year window counts as half a day, up to a maximum of 365 days.

Our community group for Brits in Canada is full of people who did exactly this, and you can join here.

Sources

1. IRCC: IEC eligibility by country and category – United Kingdom (modified 7 August 2026)
2. IRCC: International Experience Canada – about IEC
3. IRCC: Create your IEC profile and get your invitation to apply
4. IRCC: Submit your IEC work permit application
5. IRCC: Fee list (modified 21 September 2026)
6. pvtistes.net: IEC Working Holiday Permit to Canada for Brits (2 March 2026)
7. GOV.UK (FCDO): Living in Canada (updated 11 December 2025)
8. GOV.UK (HMRC policy paper): Voluntary National Insurance contributions abroad from 6 April 2026
9. GOV.UK: Voluntary National Insurance – rates
10. Government of Ontario: Ontario Workforce Priority stream

Keep reading

• Express Entry for Brits: points and provincial nominations
• Your first month in Canada: SIN, phone and credit
• Renting in Toronto
• UK student loans while living abroad