The Languages Canada Consortium comprises of eight institutions with locations across the country, offering holiday programs that combine language, work and travel for international and Canadian participants aged 18 to 35. 

“LC Consortium members are very excited to be part of this initiative which allows them to connect with international youth who are looking for both an educational and an employment experience in Canada. 

“Consortium members are building partnerships with employers so as to be able to provide targeted language training to international youth to best equip them for Canada’s employment market,” LC manager of special initiatives Valerie Kilgour, told The PIE.

The government-run IEC program allows international youth to study English or French in Canada for 12 weeks while learning about Canada’s geography, people and cultures, prior to starting work. 

Participants come to Canada on open work permits that don’t require a study permit or provincial attestation letter and are not impacted by the federal study visa cap announced in January.  

The program is open to young people from Canada’s Youth Mobility Agreement partner countries, where the general pool can fill up very quickly causing youth to wait another year without a guarantee of participation, said Kilgour.  

“By working with an RO, international youth are guaranteed an Invitation to Apply within a week of receiving a confirmation letter from the LC Consortium school. Eligible international youth will receive their open work permit just a short time after that,” she added. 

“International youth are guaranteed an Invitation to Apply within a week of receiving a confirmation letter”

There are currently a total of eight Recognised Organisations that support participants in the application stage and throughout the program.

Approximately 90,000 international youth come into Canada through the IEC every year, deepening people-to-people ties between Canada and partner countries and filling labour gaps including seasonal work opportunities in the tourism and hospitality industries, according to the IRCC.  

Interested international youth can connect directly with one of the LC Consortium members to receive a confirmation letter and Invitation to apply, and, if eligible, will be granted an open work permit “within a couple of months”, according to Kilgour.  

Earlier this year, minister Miller rejected Languages Canada’s proposal that language schools should be exempt from the federal government’s cap on international study permits announced in January 2024.  

On February 6, 2024, the organisation issued a release encouraging students to continue to choose Canada, highlighting that those coming on temporary resident visas or ETA tourist visas are not subject to the cap and will benefit from faster visa processing.