According to a government release, issued Nov. 14, the new agreement “allows youth, aged 18 to 35 years old, to work and travel for up to 12 months, and participate twice in the program, for a total of 24 months.”
“As part of the expansion, two new streams — International Co-op and Young Professionals — will help youth gain professional work experience abroad,” the release explained, noting that Canada and Italy are “long-standing youth mobility partners that support international work and travel experiences.”
The IEC now includes three programs:
- Working Holiday, where participants receive an “open work permit” that allows them to work “anywhere in the host country to support their travels.”
- International Co-op (Internship), where participants receive an “employer-specific work permit” that allows “students to gain targeted experience in their field of study.”
- And Young Professionals, where participants receive an “employer-specific work permit to gain targeted, professional work experience that is within their field of study or career path.”
Sean Fraser, minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, said he’s “very pleased to celebrate this agreement with Italy, which will provide Canadian and Italian youth with more opportunities to live, travel and work abroad for longer than ever before.”
“This will give young people even more opportunity to benefit from the diversity and economic strengths of Italy and Canada, deepening the ties between our two countries,” he added in a statement.
According to the release, the agreement “opens up new opportunities for future work and travel and further builds” on “people-to-people ties while improving labour market access for Canadian and Italian youth.”
Canada, the release noted, has “formal youth mobility arrangements with 36 countries and foreign territories.” And with over 1.5 million Canadians of Italian descent, Canada is “one of the largest Italian communities outside of Italy in the world.”
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