Canada offers over 10,000 working holiday visas to Irish in major expansion of scheme

The Canadian government is to invite 70 per cent more Irish people to work in the country under a new agreement signed with their Dublin counterparts.

The new deal means 10,700 International Experience Canada working holiday visas will be available to Irish workers under the age of 35.

The visas allow Irish workers and their children to live and work in the country for up to two years. The new total is up dramatically from 6,350 last year reports the Irish Times.

The IEC visa program started as a cultural exchange between the two countries but has become increasingly work-focused in recent years according to the paper.

The report adds that Canada is looking to Ireland’s highly-skilled but underemployed workforce to fill acute labour shortages in its economy.

The first deal signed between the Irish and Canadian governments in 2003 allowed just 100 young people to travel in each direction.

Read more: irishcentral.com