Reciprocal work permit agreements for Canadian and international youth travelers

Canada's International Youth Program encourages young Canadians to travel and work abroad; to acquire the skills, training, and cultural experiences that are so valuable in Canada and in the global marketplace. Canada has coordinated reciprocal work permit arrangements with close to 40 countries in which qualifying Canadians and international youth can visit each others' countries to experience a new culture and different work environment. 

Just this month, Poland became the most recent country to sign a youth mobility agreement with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). The agreement will allow young Canadians and Poles (between 18 and 35) to travel and work in each other's country for a one-year period. 

"The Agreement will serve to actively engage our youth to learn about our respective countries, develop skills for global careers and build networks to ensure an even stronger relationship between Canada and Poland for the future," stated Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs David Emerson.

More than 22,000 young Canadians travel abroad every year through Canada's various youth mobility agreements, and about 36,000 international youth choose to travel and work in Canada. Beyond its reciprocal work permit arrangements, Canada has formal agreements for youths with close to 20 countries, through which four specialized programs are available for Canadians.

The first is the Working Holiday program, which is geared towards non-students visiting participating countries. The program allows them to work in order to finance their travel expenses. Then there is the Young Workers' Exchangeprogram which allows Canadians to acquire professional work experience and training in a foreign culture. The SWAP Working Holiday program (short for Student Work Abroad Program) is geared toward students. Canadian youth traveling to participating countries can receive assistance with finding accommodation and work from SWAP's partner organizations abroad. Finally there is the Co-op Education program which aims to provide students with valuable foreign work experience related to their current academic field of study.

Participating countries may partake in all or some of these programs. The full breakdown is available on the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada website

To apply for one of these programs, Canadian youth must have a valid Canadian passport, a reasonable amount of money, and a pre-purchased round-trip airline ticket. 

By promoting world travel to young Canadians, the government is encouraging international network-building and cultural discovery. Those who participate can gain the skills and work experience to succeed in an increasingly globalized world.



International Experience Canada (IEC) manages Canada’s youth mobility arrangements and agreements with different countries around the world. These arrangements and agreements make it easier for you to obtain a work permit to travel and work in Canada for up to one year.
Work permits under IEC are available to young people aged 18-35* who are from one of the countries that have a bilateral reciprocal youth mobility arrangement or agreement with Canada. Consult the list below for participating countries to see if your country of origin has a bilateral reciprocal youth mobility arrangement or agreement with Canada. Click on the name of your country to be redirected to the corresponding Embassy of Canada website for specific application details.
Can’t find your country in the list? Connect with one of these recognized organizations for other travel and work opportunities in Canada.
Over the age of 35?* Contact Citizenship and Immigration Canada for information on other work permit options.
Country
Territory
Working
Holiday
Young
Professionals
International
Coop
AustraliaYesYesYes
AustriaNoYesYes
BelgiumYesNoNo
ChileYesYesYes
Costa RicaYesYesYes
CroatiaYesYesYes
Czech RepublicYesYesYes
DenmarkYesNoNo
EstoniaYesYesYes
FranceYesYesYes
GermanyYesYesYes
Hong KongYesNoNo
IrelandYesNoNo
ItalyYesNoNo
JapanYesNoNo
Korea, Rep.YesNoNo
LatviaYesYesYes
LithuaniaYesYesYes
MexicoYesYesYes
NetherlandsYesYesNo
New ZealandYesNoNo
NorwayYesYesYes
PolandYesYesYes
SlovakiaYesYesYes
SloveniaYesYesYes
SpainYesYesYes
SwedenYesYesYes
SwitzerlandNoYesYes
TaiwanYesYesYes
UkraineYesYesYes
United KingdomYesNoNo
Are you a Canadian citizen looking to travel and work abroad for up to one year? Find out more about international travel and work abroad options for Canadian citizens.
In some countries the age limit is 18-29, or 30

Financial crisis causes Greeks to move to Canada

March 25 - Greece Independence Day
March 25 - Greece Independence Day (Photo credit: Aster-oid)

June 28 2012 by Paul Jones


With Greece’s economy and its political life in turmoil, more Greek nationals are considering living and working in Canada.

Peter Kletas, President of the Hellenic Community of Vancouver, says after Greece imposed drastic austerity measures, he has received many inquiries about immigration to Canada.
He told Canadian radio station News 1130, "In the past month with the strictest austerity measures, we're getting a lot of telephone calls and emails from people in Greece and they're asking about how they  can immigrate to Canada and what the job prospects are like.
Inquiries are coming from people with different backgrounds, he explains.
"We're seeing people with university degrees that are looking to move their family for a better future here in Canada; from labourers to university professors."
Mr Kletas is not the only Greek community leader who has received inquiries from nationals wanting to obtain work visas in Canada. Other Hellenic organizations have also been inundated.
John Yannitos, President of the Hellenic Society of Calgary, told the Metro News newspaper, “A while ago, it was in the dozens [of calls]. Now we’re approaching a hundred-plus inquiries, and that’s just in Calgary.”
This year, Canada plans to admit 250,000 immigrants and to target those who have a good grasp of English or French and have studied at higher education levels.
This is good news for those Greeks who have received a good education subsidised by the state. With more than 1 in 4 Greeks unemployed, rising to 2 in 4 young Greeks, it is no wonder that many are looking to Canada, where the economy has remained relatively strong.
In fact, the financial news service Bloomberg says 53% of university age Greeks plan to emigrate and 17% are already taking active steps to do so. At the same time, the National Technical University of Athens says 4 out of 10 of the current graduating civil engineers are aiming to emigrate.
Former Greek restaurateur George Varvarigos has begun a new career in car sales in Toronto after immigrating from Greece 7 months ago.
He told the Vancouver Sun newspaper, "Everybody works hard for every daily expense... and the bills they have to pay. Nobody is lazy... So they're fighters.
"[Canada] is a better environment with better chances for people who would like to do something in their life, to have a family, to have their job and to get paid for that and to look straight to the future.”
According to John Yannitsos, a few dozen Greek residents are arriving in Calgary every week. The majority are Greek citizens with Canadian relatives, along with some Canadian citizens who had been living in Greece and are now starting to return.
"You can sense the desperation in their voices and in the inquiries. [They say] “can you help us with opportunities? How can we get there? We'll take our chances when we get there.”

Source: http://www.globalvisas.com

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Canada offers peace, cultural diversity to new comers

By Graham Lanktree


More immigrants are landing on Canadian shores than ever before. In 2010, 280,636 new permanent residents, the highest increase of new Canadians in 50 years, joined the country.
Since Canada Day is a time to celebrate all things Canadian, Metro invited a recent new comer to share his first impressions of the country.
“I think this is the most peaceful land,” said Abbas Mokabbery who came to Canada from Iran with his wife and two children in 2008. “Based on my knowledge, Canada was the best place to live and work.”
Settling in Toronto first, it wasn’t long before he and his family left for Ottawa. “I love Ottawa,” he said. “Canada has a very lovely cultural diversity. We go to all the different restaurants whether Indian, Chinese or Arabian.”
“For me, Canada Day creates national pride. People should believe in this land and believe in their flag,” he said. “This is a country with lots of opportunities and bringing immigrants here shares them.”
If Abbas had to offer up one criticism, he said, it would be that immigrants could be better prepared before arriving.
“Learning English is a big barrier for some. There are people who spend nine years in a queue to get here,” he said. “It would be good if they were given training and had to pass some sort of English test.”

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Bridge programs helping skilled immigrants find jobs in their profession

English: Government Conference Centre (formely...
English: Government Conference Centre (formely Ottawa Union Station), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
By Graham Lanktree

Immigrants with skilled professions who came to Canada used to make due finding a job in their field on their own, but Ontario is making it easier with a new $57 million investment in programs to help them out.
“I had my own company back in Iran,” said Abbas Mokabbery, an IT professional who came to Canada in 2008. “You grow your roots little by little, but coming to Canada was like moving that tree from one garden to a different land.”
One thing that struck him on arriving, he said, was how different the work environment is. “People are very serious about their work. Some people are not so serious about their work in Iran.”
To help himself adjust, Mokabbery enrolled in an Ontario bridge program with the Information and Communications Technology Council where he could get work experience in his field of geomatics gathering and analyzing geographic information.
Announced earlier this week, in 2012 Ottawa will see $2.67 million go to similar bridge programs in the city.
The bridge program, he said, taught him the ins and outs of doing business in Canada. “They taught us about the laws of the office place, how to deal with personnel and understanding if they are satisfied with your work,” he said.
With renewed confidence on leaving the program, Mokabbery set out to start his own business GeoInfoCom.
“Bridge programs are an excellent way of helping new comers integrate in our economy,” said Ottawa Centre MPP, Yasir Naqvi. “It is a real challenge when it comes to professionals where they have to get more Canadian experience, licensing and examinations.”
Coming from Pakistan, both of Naqvi’s parents were trained as lawyers, he said, and without some kind of assistance to help them through, both switched professions and opened their own hotel.
“The least we can do,” he said, “is help new comers do is bridge into their profession and benefit our economy at the same time.”

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News Release — Minister Kenney Hits the Reset Button: Sets the Foundation for New, Faster, More Flexible Immigration System

Canada Gazette (January 26, 1901)
Canada Gazette (January 26, 1901) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Calgary, June 28, 2012 — Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney today announced the latest step in re-designing Canada’s economic immigration system.
Effective July 1st, 2012, Citizenship and Immigration Canada will place a temporary pause on new applications to the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and federal Immigrant Investor Program (IIP).
“We have been making lots of changes to our economic immigration system,” said Minister Kenney. “We will take the next six months to do a lot of the heavy lifting to get us closer to a fast and flexible immigration system.”
The pause will allow CIC to make important changes to its economic immigration programs before accepting more applications. This is an important step in moving towards a faster, more flexible immigration system, while immigration levels are at a historic high.
Since the launch of Canada’s Economic Action Plan 2012, Minister Kenney has announced a series of changes to CIC’s economic immigration programs. They include:
  • eliminating the backlog of old FSWP applications;
  • improving the selection of FSWs;
  • creating a new Federal Skilled Trades Program;
  • modifying the Canadian Experience Class to help transition successful skilled temporary workers to permanent residence;
  • changing business immigration programs to target more active investment in Canadian growth companies and more innovative entrepreneurs; and
  • moving towards a new application management system, to develop a pool of skilled workers who arrive in Canada ready to begin employment.
“This temporary pause on new Federal Skilled Worker applications will allow us to set the program on a new course as we intend to launch revised selection criteria soon,” said Minister Kenney. “The pause has no impact on the number of workers Canada admits into the country, as CIC continues to process applications already received. Current immigration remains at historically high levels.”
Application intake is expected to resume in January 2013, when the proposed FSWPregulatory changes – which will be published in the Canada Gazette in the coming months – are expected to come into force.
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act allows the Minister to issue special instructions to immigration officers to enable the Government of Canada to best attain its immigration goals. Since the 2008 Action Plan for Faster Immigration, four sets of “Ministerial Instructions” have been issued relating to Economic Class applications.
Under this fifth set of Ministerial Instructions, CIC will also introduce a pause on new federal IIP applications. This pause will remain in place until further notice, allowing the Department to make progress on processing its existing inventory.
As Minister Kenney announced earlier in April, CIC will be consulting with provinces, territories and stakeholders on ways to reform the current IIP in order to maximize the economic benefit to Canada. The Department is also consulting on whether to create a new investor program on a short-term basis, to promote growth in the Canadian economy.
The temporary pause on FSWP applications does not apply to candidates with offers of arranged employment or those applying under the PhD eligibility stream. The full set of Ministerial Instructions will be available online in the Canada Gazette tomorrow.

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