Canada Gazette, Part I, Volume 158, Number 10: Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (International Experience Canada)

March 9, 2024

Statutory authority
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

Sponsoring department
Department of Citizenship and Immigration

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issues

The International Experience Canada Program (the Program) is proposing regulatory amendments to address two issues.

First, of the current authorities in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (the Regulations) that authorize the issuance of work permits, none fully capture the scope of the Program. For example, one section does not reference agreements and arrangements that are the foundation of the Program, and another section only covers international agreements and arrangements, but not agreements and arrangements with domestic entities.

Second, while the Regulations authorize officers to impose work-related conditions on temporary residents, such as the times and periods of work, they do not allow for a limitation on the duration of work per employer. Several countries restrict the duration of work per employer for foreign nationals holding a Working Holiday visa or work permit. When negotiating bilateral agreements, Canada has been unable to impose similar conditions, resulting in youth mobility agreements and arrangements (YMAs) with asymmetrical terms that disadvantage Canadian youth working in those countries. As the Program expands its partnerships, the regulatory authority to limit the duration of work per employer will allow Canada to dissuade countries from imposing conditions, or to impose similar conditions, as needed.

Background

The Program dates back to 1956 when the Canadian government first partnered with France to facilitate youth mobility. The Program was originally overseen by the Department of Employment and Immigration, it was then moved to Global Affairs Canada (GAC) in 1987, and then to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in 2013. Today, the mandate of the Program is to promote and expand international work and travel opportunities for youth by negotiating and managing YMAs with different country and foreign territory partners and recognized organizations to secure social, cultural, bilateral, and economic benefits for Canada. The Program also facilitates the inbound program for the issuance of work permits to eligible foreign youth.

Canada has signed bilateral YMAs with 38 country and foreign territory partners, and memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with 8 recognized organizations to facilitate the issuance of work authorizations for foreign youth aged 18 to 35 for up to 24 months. The YMAs facilitate two-way flows of youth to and from Canada under three work permit categories: Working Holiday, International Co-op, and Young Professionals. The terms and conditions of the YMAs, such as age, the number of work permit categories, duration of stay, and the number of times an individual can participate, vary from partner to partner.

The International Co-op and Young Professional categories provide foreign youth with employer-specific work permits; an offer of employment is required at the time of application and participants are only authorized to work for one employer for the duration of their stay.

The Working Holiday category, which accounts for approximately 90% of inbound participation under the Program, currently provides foreign youth with an open work permit for the duration of their stay. Open work permits allow participants to work for one or multiple employers, in any location in Canada. A job offer is not required at the time of application for the Working Holiday category. However, some partners, such as Australia, San Marino, and Hong Kong, have restricted the duration of work per employer for Canadians holding a Working Holiday visa or work permit.

IRCC is responsible for processing applications and issuing letters of introduction to approved applicants. Foreign nationals who are approved to participate in the Program have 12 months from the date of work permit approval to arrive in Canada, and receive and activate their work permit. Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers are responsible for determining admissibility of foreign nationals and issuing work permits to eligible foreign nationals upon their arrival to Canada.

Objective

The objective of amending the Program’s regulatory authority to issue work permits is to ensure explicit regulatory coverage for all of the Program’s partners, including states, foreign territories, and international and domestic organizations, and all types of work pertaining to the Program and regrouping these authorities under a subsection specific to the Program.

The objective of providing the authority to limit the duration of work per employer is to provide the Program with the ability to negotiate YMAs that have symmetrical terms and conditions for Canadian and foreign youth.

Description

The Regulations would be amended to provide a specific authority to issue a work permit to a foreign national who intends to work under a youth mobility agreement or arrangement between Canada and a foreign government, or between Canada and an international or domestic organization, that would create or maintain reciprocal employment for Canadian citizens in a foreign state or territory.

The Regulations would also be amended to add the duration of work for any one employer to the list of work-related conditions an officer may impose on a temporary resident.

Regulatory development

Consultation

From 2020 to 2022, the Program consulted with the CBSA, GAC, and the Department of Justice, through the development of a consultation paper on the proposed amendments, which resulted in support for the regulatory changes.

Modern treaty obligations and Indigenous engagement and consultation

There are no modern treaty obligations associated with these amendments.

Instrument choice

The Regulations provide the authority to issue work permits to foreign nationals; therefore, no other instruments were considered.

Regulatory analysis

Benefits and costs

The baseline case, against which these regulatory changes must be compared, is a scenario where Canada would continue to not have the authority to reciprocate limitations of duration of work per employer for foreign nationals participating in the Working Holiday category of the Program. The regulatory scenario is one where Canada would have clear authority set limitations on the duration of work per employer for participants in this category of the Program. This would mean, when negotiating agreements in the future, Canada would be able to reciprocate work duration conditions on foreign nationals working in Canada if such conditions were imposed by partner countries on Canadians.

Impacts to foreign workers and Canadian employers

In most cases, work duration per employer is not expected to play a role when negotiating new YMAs. Canada would only impose these limits on foreign nationals when a country wishes to impose work duration limitations on Canadians working abroad under the YMAs. The amendments would apply only to new countries with whom Canada enters into bilateral YMAs with and only to those who impose similar restrictions on Canadians. Currently, only 3 of the 38 Program partner countries (8%), impose these restrictions on Canadians, and this ratio is expected to remain low. Specifically, Hong Kong stipulates a maximum of three months per employer, and Australia and San Marino stipulate a maximum of six months per employer. In the next five years, Canada is expected to discuss possible YMAs with as many as 20 countries. It is estimated that 5 of them may raise restrictions related to the duration of work per employer in the negotiations.

In 2019, the number of foreign nationals approved to participate in the Program was 76 684. It is expected that approximately 6 250 foreign nationals from the above-mentioned five countries would participate in the Working Holiday category per year and could be impacted by the regulatory amendments. This small number of foreign nationals may face difficulties in securing work due to the work duration limitations, but it is important to note that this only applies if their country of origin imposes these limitations on Canadian counterparts. The hope is that by having this authority, other countries will be less inclined to impose these limitations on Canadians.

Employers seeking to hire foreign nationals who have this limitation on their open work permits will need to be prepared for shorter terms of employment. This could increase hiring costs. However, due to the small number of foreign workers that would be impacted by these amendments, and that not all participants would work for the entire duration of their work permit for the same employer, the impacts on potential employers are expected to be minimal.

Costs to the Government of Canada

Most of the costs to Government consist of one-time transition costs such as preparing communication products, updating program delivery instructions and other administrative material. These are expected to occur in the year of implementation and are estimated at $12,000.

Ongoing costs to Government are expected to be minimal and would reflect the additional cost of responding to questions from immigration representatives.

Benefits

The regulatory change to limit the duration of work per employer would benefit Canada as it provides the Program with the ability to negotiate YMAs that have symmetrical terms and conditions for both Canadian and foreign youth. The amendment would help ensure that Canadians have similar opportunities afforded to them when working in partner countries vis-à-vis foreign nationals working in Canada under the Program. The amendment would help Canada in negotiations, as the Program expands and diversifies its partnerships.

Amending the Program’s regulatory authority to issue work permits would ensure a better fit for the Program’s authority in the Regulations, as the new text would reference youth mobility agreements and arrangements; provide regulatory coverage for all of the Program’s partners; and provide explicit regulatory coverage for all types of work pertaining to the Program.

Small business lens

Analysis under the small business lens concluded that the proposed Regulations will not impact Canadian small businesses.

One-for-one rule

The one-for-one rule does not apply as there is no incremental change in the administrative burden on business and no regulatory titles are repealed or introduced.

Regulatory cooperation and alignment

This proposal is not related to a work plan or commitment under a formal regulatory cooperation forum.

Strategic environmental assessment

According to the Cabinet Directive on Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals, a preliminary environmental scan was completed for this proposal, which concluded no significant environmental effects will likely occur.

Gender-based analysis plus

No gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) impacts have been identified for this proposal.

Implementation, compliance and enforcement, and service standards

Implementation

The regulatory changes would come into force upon registration. The Program has consulted with various partner institutions, namely IRCC’s Immigration Program Guidance Branch, Centralized Network, Communications, and Integrity Risk Management Branch, and CBSA, to ensure a coordinated and effective approach to implementation.

During negotiations of new YMAs, Program officials would work with officials from new state and foreign territory partners to determine if a work permit restriction is required and would include the restriction in the text of the YMA. IRCC would work on program delivery instructions and standard operating procedures to ensure the restriction is effectively communicated to processing staff. Program staff would also work with Communications to ensure the restriction appears on any relevant partner web pages. The work restriction would be communicated to CBSA officers using operational bulletins and an enforcement manual. The Program would work with partner institutions to prepare the necessary products well in advance of a new YMA coming into force to ensure effective and timely implementation.

Compliance and enforcement

CBSA and IRCC are jointly responsible for compliance and enforcement of work permit conditions, including the proposed restriction limiting the duration of work per employer under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (the Act).

In addition to the existing compliance and enforcement regime, the proposed compliance strategy would use messaging to ensure participants are aware of the work permit restrictions and to promote compliance. Messaging would also highlight the potential consequences of non-compliance, including impacts on future applications or entry into Canada. Various products such as the YMA, country-specific program delivery instructions, external client-facing products such as the relevant country web pages for the Program, push-notification emails to approved applicants, and the work permit would also clearly communicate the restriction and ensure transparency with clients and stakeholders.

Contact

For public enquiries, please contact

Clark Goodman
Director
International Experience Canada
Citizenship Branch
Department of Citizenship and Immigration
180 Kent Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 0B6
Email: IRCC.IECNHQ-ACEIC.IRCC@cic.gc.ca

PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT

Notice is given that the Governor in Council proposes to make the annexed Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (International Experience Canada) under subsection 5(1) and paragraphs 26(1)(b) and (d) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act footnote a.

Interested persons may make representations concerning the proposed Regulations within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. They are strongly encouraged to use the online commenting feature that is available on the Canada Gazette website but if they use email, mail or any other means, the representations should cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be sent to Clark Goodman, Director, International Experience Canada, Citizenship Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration, 180 Kent Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 0B6 (email: IRCC.IECNHQ-ACEIC.IRCC@cic.gc.ca).

Ottawa, March 1, 2024

Wendy Nixon
Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council

Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (International Experience Canada)

Amendments

1 Paragraph 185(b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations footnote 1 is amended by adding the following after subparagraph (ii):

2 (1) The marginal note to section 204 of the Regulations is replaced by “Agreements or arrangements”.

(2) Section 204 of the Regulations is amended by striking out “or” at the end of paragraph (b), by adding “or” at the end of paragraph (c) and by adding the following after paragraph (c):

Coming into Force

3 These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

Terms of use and Privacy notice

Terms of use

It is your responsibility to ensure that the comments you provide do not:

  • contain personal information
  • contain protected or classified information of the Government of Canada
  • express or incite discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, sexual orientation or against any other group protected under the Canadian Human Rights Act or the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
  • contain hateful, defamatory, or obscene language
  • contain threatening, violent, intimidating or harassing language
  • contain language contrary to any federal, provincial or territorial laws of Canada
  • constitute impersonation, advertising or spam
  • encourage or incite any criminal activity
  • contain external links
  • contain a language other than English or French
  • otherwise violate this notice

The federal institution managing the proposed regulatory change retains the right to review and remove personal information, hate speech, or other information deemed inappropriate for public posting as listed above.

Confidential Business Information should only be posted in the specific Confidential Business Information text box. In general, Confidential Business Information includes information that (i) is not publicly available, (ii) is treated in a confidential manner by the person to whose business the information relates, and (iii) has actual or potential economic value to the person or their competitors because it is not publicly available and whose disclosure would result in financial loss to the person or a material gain to their competitors. Comments that you provide in the Confidential Business Information section that satisfy this description will not be made publicly available. The federal institution managing the proposed regulatory change retains the right to post the comment publicly if it is not deemed to be Confidential Business Information.

Your comments will be posted on the Canada Gazette website for public review. However, you have the right to submit your comments anonymously. If you choose to remain anonymous, your comments will be made public and attributed to an anonymous individual. No other information about you will be made publicly available.

Comments will remain posted on the Canada Gazette website for at least 10 years.

Please note that public email is not secure, if the attachment you wish to send contains sensitive information, please contact the departmental email to discuss ways in which you can transmit sensitive information.

Privacy notice

The information you provide is collected under the authority of the Financial Administration Act, the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act, the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement Implementation Act,and applicable regulators’ enabling statutes for the purpose of collecting comments related to the proposed regulatory changes. Your comments and documents are collected for the purpose of increasing transparency in the regulatory process and making Government more accessible to Canadians.

Personal information submitted is collected, used, disclosed, retained, and protected from unauthorized persons and/or agencies pursuant to the provisions of the Privacy Act and the Privacy Regulations. Individual names that are submitted will not be posted online but will be kept for contact if needed. The names of organizations that submit comments will be posted online.

Submitted information, including personal information, will be accessible to Public Services and Procurement Canada, who is responsible for the Canada Gazette webpage, and the federal institution managing the proposed regulatory change.

You have the right of access to and correction of your personal information. To seek access or correction of your personal information, contact the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office of the federal institution managing the proposed regulatory change.

You have the right to file a complaint to the Privacy Commission of Canada regarding any federal institution’s handling of your personal information.

The personal information provided is included in Personal Information Bank PSU 938 Outreach Activities. Individuals requesting access to their personal information under the Privacy Act should submit their request to the appropriate regulator with sufficient information for that federal institution to retrieve their personal information. For individuals who choose to submit comments anonymously, requests for their information may not be reasonably retrievable by the government institution.