CANADA AND PORTUGAL YOUTH MOBILITY AGREEMENT

Submitted by jayakiran02 on Fri, 11/30/2018 - 23:42

News release

November 30, 2018 – Ottawa, ON – Portugal is the newest country to have an agreement with Canada under the International Experience Canada (IEC) program. This opens further channels of exchange between Canadian and Portuguese youth by providing an opportunity for Portuguese youth to work and travel in Canada, while Canadian youth may work and travel in Portugal.

PORTUGAL

As part of this agreement, foreign nationals from Portugal may also participate in all 3 of IEC’s programs – working holiday, international co-op and young professionals – when the 2019 season opens.

The IEC Program allows youth to gain valuable international work experience and travel abroad. With the addition of Portugal, Canada now has formal Youth Mobility Arrangements with 34 countries and territories where Canadian youth are allowed to work while they travel. Young people from these same countries and territories are also able to come to Canada to work and travel.

  • For foreign youth, there are 3 categories of participation under the IEC program:

    • Working Holiday participants receive open work permits that allow them to work anywhere in the host country, to support their travels.
    • International Co-op participants receive employer-specific work permits that allow students to gain targeted experience in their field of study.
    • Young Professionals participants receive an employer-specific work permit to gain targeted, professional work experience that is within their field of study or chosen career path.