International Experience Canada: employer work limits

Summary#

This is a proposal to change the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations so they explicitly cover the International Experience Canada (IEC) program and allow limits on how long a foreign youth can work for a single employer. It is a proposed rule open for public comment for 30 days after publication on March 9, 2024 (so it is not law yet).

What it does#

• Creates a clear regulatory authority to issue work permits under youth mobility agreements and arrangements. That includes agreements with foreign governments, foreign territories, and international or domestic organizations tied to the International Experience Canada program.
• Lets immigration officers put a limit on the duration of work for any one employer on a work permit. This would allow Canada to match limits that partner countries sometimes place on Canadians working abroad.
• Brings these IEC-specific authorities together under a single subsection of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations for clarity.

Examples from the proposal:

• Some partner countries already restrict how long a Canadian can work for the same employer on a Working Holiday (for example, Australia, Hong Kong, and San Marino impose such limits). The change would let Canada apply similar limits to foreign youth when needed.

Who's affected#

• Young people taking part in International Experience Canada work programs, especially those in the Working Holiday category. The program generally covers people aged 18 to 35.
• Canadian employers who hire IEC participants. If a permit limits time with a single employer, employers may face shorter-term hires and more turnover.
• The federal departments that run and enforce the program: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
• Countries negotiating new youth mobility agreements with Canada. Canada says it has 38 partner countries now; 3 currently impose work-duration limits on Canadians, and officials expect discussions with up to 20 more countries, with about 5 possibly raising duration limits.

Numbers mentioned in the proposal:

• In 2019, 76,684 foreign nationals were approved to participate in the IEC program.
• The proposal estimates about 6,250 people per year from some new partners might be affected if those partners require reciprocal limits.

Why it matters#

• It gives Canada a tool to negotiate more symmetrical youth mobility agreements. That means Canadians and foreign youth would more often face similar rules in each other’s countries.
• For a small share of IEC participants, an employer-time limit could make it harder to keep the same job for the whole stay. That could mean more job searching and higher hiring costs for employers.
• The government expects the overall number affected to be small, so wider labour-market impacts should be limited.
• The proposal estimates one-time implementation costs to the federal government of about $12,000 for materials and guidance.