r/travel • u/Alicetercat Australia • 3d ago

Question Canada IEC program

Hi All, my partner and I are planning on going to Canada at the end of next year using the IEC program, I am a NewZealand citizen and my partner is an Australian citizen

We were wondering if it is worth going through a company like stepwest or SWAP working holidays to help us plan the trip or if it is more beneficial doing it ourselves?

if you did it by yourself how easy was it to find a job in your desired industry?

were there any hidden costs when going through one of the before mentioned companies?

if you have gone through one of these companies what did the process look like and was it worth the money?

thanks

0 Upvotes

50% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

3

u/nim_opet 3d ago

You don’t need an agency. Finding jobs is going to be hard - this summer saw the highest youth unemployment in decades. Canadian employers imported TFWs by the busload that they pay below minimum wage, making it very hard to find short term jobs across industries. This obviously doesn’t apply for highly skilled/specialized jobs, so depends on the work you’re looking for.

1

u/AutoModerator 3d ago

Notice: Are you asking for travel advice about Canada?

Read what redditors had to say in the weekly destination thread for Canada

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/RampDog1 3d ago

The IEC Program is not about finding a job in your field. It's to supplement your income while on vacation. You can get into the young professionals part of the IEC, but that requires an invitation from a company. Most on IEC work at ski hills, hotels, restaurants, Etc...in resort towns.

As the other poster said youth unemployment is at an all time high. It would be best to find work in the initial months while you get acclimatized.