Visas

Non-Canadian citizens must have a visa to enter Canada. The principal visa options when choosing to work in Canada include:

• Working Holiday Category
• Young Professionals Category
• Recognised Organisations Category

 

Eligibility Criteria for the Working Holiday Category

The Working Holiday category is designed for Irish citizens, who intend to travel in Canada and who wish to find temporary paid employment to help pay for their stay (maximum 24 months).

To be eligible for the Working Holiday category you must:

• be a citizen of Ireland
• be between the ages of 18 and 35 inclusive at the time your application is received
• hold an Irish passport that remains valid throughout the period of stay in Canada. When the work permit is issued in Canada, it will not be longer than the validity of the passport
• be in possession of a departure ticket leaving Canada at the end of your authorized period of stay or sufficient financial resources to purchase such a ticket
• have the equivalent of $2,500 CAD to help cover expenses at the beginning of your stay, for the first 3 months of the stay
• accept to purchase, prior to entering Canada, insurance for medical and health-care, including hospitalization and repatriation, for the duration of your stay – you may have to present evidence of this insurance when you enter Canada
• pay a participation fee and
• not have participated in the IEC Working Holiday or Young Professional category before

For further information, see http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/ireland-irlande/index.aspx?lang=eng

 

Eligibility Criteria for the Young Professionals Category

The Young Professionals category is designed for Irish citizens, particularly graduates of post-secondary educational institutions in Ireland, who wish to further their careers by gaining work experience under a pre-arranged contract of employment in Canada (maximum 24 months).

To be eligible for the Young Professionals category, you must:

• be a citizen of Ireland
• be between the ages of 18 and 35 inclusive at the time your application is received
• hold an Irish passport that remains valid throughout the period of stay in Canada. When the work permit is issued in Canada, it will not be longer than the validity of the passport
• be in possession of a departure ticket leaving Canada at the end of your authorized period of stay or sufficient financial resources to purchase such a ticket
• have the equivalent of $2,500 CAD to help cover expenses at the beginning of your stay, for the first 3 months of the stay
• accept to purchase, prior to entering Canada, insurance for medical and health-care, including hospitalization and repatriation, for the duration of your stay – you may have to present evidence of this insurance when you enter Canada
• pay a participation fee
• have received a signed letter of offer or contract of employment in Canada that is related to your field of professional expertise (degree and/or work experience) and that supports your career development; and
• not have participated in the IEC Working Holiday or Young Professional’s category before

For further information, see http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/ireland-irlande/index.aspx?lang=eng

 

Recognized Organizations (employer-specific)

The work permit under the employer-specific category will indicate the name of your employer, location and duration of your pre-arranged employment, work placement or internship. This means that you can work only for the employer as indicated on your work permit for the duration of the employment contract submitted with your application. The application will be outside of the annual IEC country quota.

 

Express Entry

In January 2015, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will launch a new electronic system called Express Entry to manage applications for permanent residence in certain economic programs. Express Entry will allow the CIC to assess and select skilled immigrants under the following federal economic immigration programs:

• the Federal Skilled Worker Program
• the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and
• the Canadian Experience Class

The Express Entry system involves two steps:

Step 1 - Potential candidates will complete an online Express Entry profile where they will provide information on their skills, work experience, language ability, education, etc. Those who meet the criteria of one of the federal economic immigration programs subject to Express Entry will be placed in a pool of candidates. Candidates will be ranked against others in the pool and only the highest-ranked candidates and those will qualifying offers of arranged employment or provincial / territorial nominations, will be invited to apply for permanent residence.

Step 2 - CIC will invite certain candidates to apply for permanent residence and process their electronic applications within 6 months. Candidates will receive an invitation to Apply for permanent residence if they rank among the top in the pool, based on their skills and experience. Candidates who have a valid job offer froma Canadian employer (suject to the Labour Market Impact Assessment process at that time) or have been nominated by a province or territory will be given high scores in the ranking system.