Survey to Chamber Membership
The International Experience Canada (IEC) program is a bilateral youth employment agreement Canada has with over 30 countries that allows young individuals the opportunity to visit and work in Canada. This program includes the popular "Working Holiday Visa" program that has been used by foreign workers in Whistler for years. It is one of the most used programs by young adults (18-30) from other countries seeking jobs in Whistler. Recently, the Conservative government noted a concern with the few number of Canadians that go abroad to pursue youth employment opportunities relative to the number of youth from other countries that come to Canada. Media reports note that changes to this valuable program may be forthcoming in 2016, including scale backs on some of the caps with certain countries.
The Whistler Chamber of Commerce is interested in gathering data from the local business community to better understand the extent to which the Whistler market depends on the Working Holiday Visa, and to quantify the impact on the local labour market should reforms be introduced which limit, or close, access to international markets where Whistler has historically drawn international workers. Based on available information, the government has confirmed that no changes will be introduced to the IEC program in 2015; however, reforms could be introduced as early as 2016 – which makes the timing of obtaining local market data critical.
Your participation in this survey is very important and we’re hoping to hear from all Chamber members so we can develop and present an accurate picture of how IEC program changes might affect our destination. For more information about the IEC program, visit cic.gc.ca.
The Whistler Chamber of Commerce is interested in gathering data from the local business community to better understand the extent to which the Whistler market depends on the Working Holiday Visa, and to quantify the impact on the local labour market should reforms be introduced which limit, or close, access to international markets where Whistler has historically drawn international workers. Based on available information, the government has confirmed that no changes will be introduced to the IEC program in 2015; however, reforms could be introduced as early as 2016 – which makes the timing of obtaining local market data critical.
Your participation in this survey is very important and we’re hoping to hear from all Chamber members so we can develop and present an accurate picture of how IEC program changes might affect our destination. For more information about the IEC program, visit cic.gc.ca.
Please note, "TFW" stands for "Temporary Foreign Worker" and "LMIA" stands for "Labour Market Impact Assessment".