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Working Holiday is a program under International Experience Canada that allows young people from certain countries and who are between 18-30 years old or 18-35 years old (depending on the country) to travel and work for a limited time in Canada.
To learn more about this program, read Everything you need to know about Working Holiday Canada.
Once you decide you want to apply for a working holiday, you will need to create your profile.
In this post, I will explain what you need to do to create a profile and be part of the Working Holiday Canada participants group.
Table of contents
Let's go through what you need to do to participate in the working holiday applicant pool.
1. Check that you have a valid passport
The only document you need to have on hand to create your profile is a valid passport with an expiration date that will allow you to live in Canada during your working holiday.
So, if you haven't already obtained a passport, that's your first step.
2. Check if you are eligible
If you have read Everything you need to know about working holiday but are still unsure if you are eligible to apply for this program, follow these instructions.
Go to the official Canada.ca website you will find a page like this:
Then, select your country; this is an example with Chile.
And immediately, a new option will appear with the programs available in that country; select Working Holiday, and then click on Go.
The webpage will take you to a list of requirements similar to these for Chile. Check well if you meet those requirements.
If you fulfill them, you can create a profile.
3. Create an account in Canada.ca
To create an account, you have to go to this page and answer the following questions:
If your profile is eligible for this program, you will see a message at the end that says You are eligible for the following pools like this:
Click continue; you will see a step-by-step like this, and the system will generate a unique code with your information, which will help you retrieve the data you already completed a few steps later, so save that code.
You must create an account if you have never participated in any program.
Click on step 3 like this under Register to get a key.
Next, scroll down to the Don't have an account?
You will see the following and select the Register for GCkey option, where you will create a username and password.
On the next screen, select Sign Up.
The terms and conditions will appear, so be sure to read and accept them if you are aligned.
Next, you will create a username (be sure to take note of this username because all your processing will be communicated within this account).
Then a password
Then there will be space to create recovery questions, answers and hints.
For this, a set of pre-determined questions will be displayed. Choose what works best for you and click continue
Then an optional account recovery option will appear; I would suggest completing this as well because you need to have a plan B in case you need to recover your account.
Click continue and check your email because you will receive a confirmation code.
Then write down the code you received by email and click continue.
A confirmation like this should appear:
Click continue, and you will see Welcome Username
Click continue, and you will see the terms and conditions.
Once you accept the terms and conditions, you will have to start filling in the information according to your passport details; on this first screen, fill in the given name, last name, email address and language.
Next, you will be asked security questions. Keep in mind that every time you enter the platform, you will have to answer one of these questions, so make a note of them and keep them in a safe place:
Click continue, and your account is created with the following fields. All work permits and future applications will appear here:
4. Create and submit your profile on Canada.ca
Once you have created your account, you can create your profile to enter the participant pool.
From your account, you will scroll down and select the Apply to come to Canada option.
You will have two options:
If you have filled out the questionnaire mentioned in item 2, you can use that code to retrieve that information.
If not, you can continue with the option I do not have a personal reference code, which will take you to the same questionnaire.
In this example, we will use the reference code you obtained earlier. You will immediately jump to the end of the questionnaire. Click on continue.
You will then see a list of 4 forms to fill in. Some are partially filled in with the information you have already added.
These are the screens you will find:
Personal details of applicant
Contact information
Work and education details
Application details
Go to Personal details of applicant and click on Continue Form. Fill in your personal details, as shown on your passport.
Click next and fill in your personal description.
Click next, and you will fill in your marital status.
Then the ID documents.
And Immigration history and citizenships. This is pre-filled with the answers you included in the questionnaire.
Then, click on validate and Save and Exit and the Personal details of applicant section will be completed.
The following section is Contact Information; you will need to fill in the language of correspondence, then click Next.
Include your email address, then click on validate, then save and exit
You will see that the section is complete.
Next, check the Work and Education section, this will be filled in, but you can open it to check it out.
Then save and exit.
Finally, the last section is Application Details. This is where you need to indicate that you want to be a participant in the working holiday pool.
Include "yes," then save and exit. You will see all the completed forms.
Click continue; you will see a declaration and an electronic signature.
Please read carefully, then scroll down, select I agree (it will turn blue), fill in your name and answer a security question, then click on sign.
Scroll down again, check the information and click Transmit.
You will see a message saying that you have successfully submitted your application.
A couple of minutes later, you will receive an email stating an update to your account, and inside your account, you will find a letter saying you are part of the pool of participants.
The letter is called IEC Welcome to pool letter and will look like this:
At the same time, once you return to your account, you will see your application under View the applications you submitted.
You do not need to complete everything at once; you can complete some of the information and then come back; in the meantime, your profile will appear under Continue an application you have not submitted.
Now that you have created and submitted your profile, you must wait until you are invited to apply. The selection is random, so you can't do anything else.
If you receive an invitation to apply, you'll receive an email, and then you'll need to log in to your account to check if you received the invitation.
In the meantime, check out How to Apply for Working Holiday, where I explained all the steps you need to follow in case you receive an invitation to apply.
Let me know in the comments below if you have created your profile. Also, if you have doubts or need support in creating your profile, send me a DM on Instagram to help you.