Evaluation of the International Experience Canada Program

Research and Evaluation Branch
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

January 2019

Ci4-190/2019E-PDF
978-0-660-30154-9

Reference Number: E2-2017

Table of Contents

• Acronyms
• Executive Summary
• Evaluation of the IEC Program: Management Response Action Plan
• 1. Introduction
  • 1.1. Purpose of the Evaluation
  • 1.2. Program Profile
    • 1.2.1. Program Design
    • 1.2.2. Program Delivery
    • 1.2.3. Financial and Human Resources
  • 1.3. Characteristics of IEC Youth
    • 1.3.1. Profile of IEC Foreign Youth Participants (2013-2017)
    • 1.3.2. Profile of IEC Canadian Youth Participants
• 2. Methodology
  • 2.1. Questions and Scope
  • 2.2. Data Collection Methods
  • 2.3. Limitations and Considerations
• 3. Relevance
  • 3.1. Continued Need for the IEC Program
  • 3.2. Alignment with Departmental and Government Priorities
• 4. Performance – Program Effectiveness
  • 4.1. Reciprocity
    • 4.1.1. Reciprocity in YMAs and Quotas
    • 4.1.2. Disparity in Reciprocity
    • 4.1.3. Approach to Quota Management
    • 4.1.4. Reciprocal Opportunities
  • 4.2. Motivations to Participate in IEC
    • 4.2.1. Foreign Youth Motivations
  • 4.3. Awareness of IEC
    • 4.3.1. Foreign Youth Awareness
    • 4.3.2. Canadian Youth Awareness
  • 4.4. Cultural and Professional Experiences
    • 4.4.1. Cultural Experiences
    • 4.4.2. Professional Experiences
  • 4.5. Supporting Canada’s International, Economic, and Social Interests
    • 4.5.1. Supporting Canada’s International and Social Interests
    • 4.5.2. Supporting Canada’s Economic Interests
  • 4.6. Program Delivery
    • 4.6.1. Roles and Responsibilities
    • 4.6.2. Communication and Coordination
  • 4.7. Processing Timeliness
  • 4.8. Program Integrity
• 5. Performance – Resource Utilization
  • 5.1. Financial Resource Allocation
  • 5.2. Human Resource Allocation, by Type of Resource (FTE, LES)
  • 5.3. Budgeted and Actual Cost, By Year
  • 5.4. Processing Cost Per IEC Application
• 6. Conclusions and Recommendations
• Annex A: Youth Mobility Agreement Country List
• Annex B: Profile of IEC Foreign Youth Participants
• Annex C: Logic Model for the International Experience Canada Program (August 2017)
• Annex D: Evaluation Questions
• Annex E: IEC Reciprocity – Quotas, Participants and Ratios (2007, 2013 and 2017)
• Annex F: CEEDD
• Annex G: Resource Management Tables and Figures

List of Figures

• Figure 1: Trends in IEC Program Quotas and Number of Canadian and Foreign Youth Participants, 2004 to 2017
• Figure 2: Incidence and Average Employment Earnings of IEC Foreign Youth Participants, 2004 to 2015
• Figure 3: IRCC and OGDs Share of Total IEC Program Costs, FY 2013-14 to 2016-17

List of Tables

• Table 1: IEC Youth Participation - Canadian and Foreign Youth
• Table 2: Lines of Evidence
• Table 3: IEC Reciprocity Ratios (2007, 2013, and 2017)
• Table 4: Sector Distribution of IEC Participants with Employment Earnings, CEEDD
• Table 5: Service Standard Adherence (56 days) for IEC Work Permit Applications Processed, by Year and IEC Stream
• Table 6: Total IEC Program Costs* (IRCC and OGDs), FY 2013-14 to 2016-17
• Table 7: Total IEC Program FTEs (by Sector), FY 2013-14 to 2016-17
• Table 8: IEC Program Costs and Revenues, FY 2013-14 to 2016-17
• Table 9: Costs per Processed Application (Total IRCC and OGD Costs), FY 2013-14 to 2016-17

Acronyms

CBSA

Canada Border Services Agency

CEEDD

Canadian Employee-Employer Dynamics Database

CFP

Call for Proposals

CMM

Cost Management Model

Co-op

International Co-op Internship Program

ESDC

Employment and Social Development Canada

FTE

Full-time Equivalent

FY

Fiscal Year

GAC

Global Affairs Canada

GCMS

Global Case Management System

IEC

International Experience Canada

IMP

International Mobility Program

IRCC

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

IRPA

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

IRPR

Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations

ITA

Invitation to Apply

LMIA

Labour Market Impact Assessment

LOI

Letter of Introduction

MOU

Memorandum of Understanding

OGD

Other Government Department

PCH

Department of Canadian Heritage

RO

Recognized Organization

TR

Temporary Resident/Temporary Residence

WHP

Working Holiday Program

YMA

Youth Mobility Agreement and Arrangements

YPP

Young Professional Program

Executive Summary

The evaluation of the International Experience Canada (IEC) Program was conducted in fulfilment of requirements of the Treasury Board 2016 Policy on Results. The evaluation covered the period since the program’s transfer from Global Affairs Canada (GAC) to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) (FY 2013-14 to FY 2017-18).

Evaluation Findings

Relevance

Overall, there is a continued need for a youth mobility program and the IEC Program has effectively facilitated cultural and employment experiences of participants while also providing important international bilateral benefits at the federal government level.

Further, the evaluation found that the program is aligned with Government of Canada priorities, particularly given the current focus on youth, and also with IRCC’s mandate and priorities, mainly with regard to facilitating the entry of foreign nationals. As the program intersects a number of themes related to immigration, employment, culture, international relations and youth, the IEC also aligns with the mandates of other government departments, including GAC, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), Canadian Heritage (PCH), and the Prime Minister’s Youth Secretariat.

Performance – Effectiveness

Reciprocity

Youth Mobility Agreements (YMA) signed between Canada and partner countries are designed to be reciprocal both in terms of quotas (i.e., the number of program participants) and opportunities offered, as required under Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (paragraph 205(b)) which forms the basis of the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) exemption for open work permits issued through IEC.

Despite reciprocity’s central role in the design of YMAs, reciprocity in program participation has been a major challenge over the last several years, as demonstrated by the significantly greater number of foreign youth participating in the program annually than Canadian youth. Evidence points to some quota management decisions that have contributed to this reciprocal disparity, including attempts made to limit the increase of country-specific quotas and the expansion of YMAs to new countries despite low Canadian participation over the last 10 years. Further, other factors were found to be potentially limiting Canadian participation, such as the onerous program application requirements of other countries and economic conditions abroad (e.g., minimum wages and youth unemployment rates in YMA countries).

Awareness of IEC Program

To increase Canadian awareness of and participation in the program, IEC has conducted various promotional activities mainly focusing on Canadian youth and, more recently, on “youth influencers”. While promotional activities are relatively new, and it will take a few more years before noticing changes in awareness behaviour, Canadian youth awareness of and participation in the program have remained relatively low thus far.

Cultural and Professional Experiences

Findings showed that foreign and Canadian youth have gained various cultural and professional experiences as a result of their participation in the IEC program. The most common cultural experiences identified by foreign and Canadian youth included: visiting cultural sites, participating in cultural activities, and developing friendships. In terms of key cultural benefits gained from IEC program participation, foreign and Canadian youth reported learning about a new country or culture, gaining international experience that contributed to their personal growth, and taking part in explorations and adventures.

Further, both foreign and Canadian youth participants have gained professional experiences during their time abroad as part of the IEC Program. Recent data showed a high incidence of employment among foreign youth participants in Canada and that their average employment earnings have been steadily increasing. Obtaining international career experience and professional development was also identified by many foreign and Canadian youth as a key benefit of their participation.

Supporting Canada’s International, Economic and Social Interests

Overall, the IEC Program is supporting Canada’s social, international and economic interests. From a social perspective, international experiences increase youth awareness and understanding of other cultures and evidence also points to the program being key to supporting Canada’s international interests, acting as a tool in bilateral relations with other countries. Moreover, a small portion of IEC foreign youth who came to Canada under the IEC Program between 2013 and 2017 transitioned to permanent residence, further enriching Canada’s diversity.

From an economic standpoint, the program provides a potential pool of temporary workers and also contributes to the tourism industry in Canada.

Given that the number of foreign youth participants in the program considerably outnumber their Canadian counterparts (on average 3:1 annually over the last five years), there may be potential for displacement within the Canadian labour market. However, the evaluation did not find conclusive evidence that displacement has occurred, pointing to the need for additional advanced research to assess IEC’s full impact on the Canadian labour market.

Program Delivery and Integrity

There were no major challenges associated with program delivery and overall, roles and responsibilities of program groups within IRCC, as well as between IRCC and other government departments (OGD) are clear and understood. Moreover, communication and coordination between program groups within IRCC and between IRCC and OGDs has been effective. However, the evaluation did find that there is a need to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the Recognized Organizations (ROs) as well as to improve communication between IRCC and ROs, mainly with respect to governance and oversight. As of October 2018, the Department negotiated new MOUs with ROs and assigned new resources to address these issues.

IRCC generally processed IEC applications within prescribed service standards during the period covered by the evaluation. Further, the program has implemented quality assurance mechanisms; no major program integrity issues were identified.

Resource Utilization

IEC Program resources have increased over the recent years, though IRCC’s share of overall program costs has decreased (relative to other government departments) and have been offset by increasing revenues.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The IEC Program is aligned with departmental priorities and has contributed to the achievement of several expected program outcomes, namely the timely entry of foreign youth, providing cultural and professional experiences for participants, and supporting Canada’s international, social and economic interests. However, the evaluation found several areas for improvement in the program:

• the management of reciprocity;
• the limited awareness of the program and its benefits among Canadian youth, affecting program uptake;
• the need to conduct further research into program impacts on the Canadian labour market; and
• the lack of program monitoring and data collection on Canadian youth travelling abroad as part of IEC.

As a result, the following recommendations were developed to address these issues:

Recommendation 1: IRCC should reconfirm and clearly articulate the focus of the IEC Program, specifically in relation to:

• the program mandate and expected outcomes; and
• the policy translation and implementation of the reciprocity principle.

Recommendation 2: IRCC should enhance the promotion of the IEC Program to Canadian youth, with the aim of increasing their awareness of the benefits the program offers, and their participation in the program.

Recommendation 3: To support the monitoring of program outcomes related to Canadian youth going abroad, IRCC should establish effective data collection and management strategies.

Recommendation 4: IRCC should undertake in-depth research to further assess the full impact of the IEC Program on the Canadian labour market.

Evaluation of the International Experience Canada Program - Management Response Action Plan

Recommendations

Recommendation 1

IRCC should reconfirm and clearly articulate the focus of the IEC Program, specifically in relation to:

• The program mandate and expected outcomes; and
• The policy translation and implementation of the reciprocity principle

Response

IRCC agrees with this recommendation.

International Experience Canada has a number of competing bilateral, economic, and cultural objectives that are often, but not always, complementary. Depending on the broader bilateral context and constraints imposed by partner countries, different arrangements prioritize different objectives.

In many instances, an imperfect arrangement is preferable to no arrangement.

Action

• Develop a strategic framework that includes: defining reciprocity; confirming expected results, determining how to balance core program objectives against broader Government of Canada objectives; articulating the overall net benefit for Canada, Canadian youth and other Departmental objectives.
  • Accountability
    • Lead: IEC – Immigration Branch
  • Completion Date: Q2 2019/2020
• Secure approval of strategic framework from senior management.
  • Accountability
    • Lead: IEC – Immigration Branch
  • Completion Date: Q3 2019/2020

Recommendation 2

IRCC should enhance the promotion of the IEC Program to Canadian youth, with the aim of increasing their awareness of the benefits the program offers, and their participation in the program.

Response

IRCC agrees with the recommendation.

While the evaluation confirms that Canadian participation is low in comparison to the number of foreign youth who come to Canada, there has been an increase of Canadian participants in IEC of 16% since the program was transferred to IRCC in 2013.

The Department agrees that the IEC program can enhance its awareness; noting however, that a large part of this promotional and advertising work is restricted to activities allowable within the current program constraints and Government of Canada advertising limitations.

Engagement with Central Agencies, various stakeholder groups, and existing networks will be key to enhancing and expanding promotional reach for the program. Part of the efforts will focus on Canadian youth to ensure they have the information needed to participate in the IEC program.

Much of this work will be based on social marketing and developing actions that will result in a long-term behavioural change and may take several years to unfold and see results.

Action

• Complete an annual review and updating of marketing, promotional and partnership strategies to ensure continued alignment with IEC, IRCC and GoC priorities.
  • Accountability
    • Lead: IEC – Immigration Branch
  • Completion Date: Q1 2019/2020
• Consult with Central Agencies to seek approvals to implement other advertising mechanisms that would target not only youth directly, but their influencers.
  • Accountability
    • Lead: IEC – Immigration Branch
    • Support: Communications Branch
  • Completion Date: Q4 2019/2020
• Develop and implement promotional projects with stakeholder groups (including Recognized Organizations) to leverage existing communication networks.
  • Accountability
    • Lead: IEC – Immigration Branch
    • Support: Communications Branch
  • Completion Date: Q4 2019/2020 and onward
• Develop and implement inclusive promotional strategies, in consultation with key stakeholders, that target Canadian youth in communities of interest (e.g. Indigenous youth, LGBTQ2 youth, youth with disabilities) to ensure that all youth are aware of the opportunities available through IEC.
  • Accountability
    • Lead: IEC – Immigration Branch
    • Support: Communications Branch
  • Completion Date: Q4 2019/2020 and onward

Recommendation 3

To support the monitoring of program outcomes related to Canadian youth going abroad, IRCC should establish effective data collection and management strategies.

Response

IRCC agrees with this recommendation.

The IEC program is positioned well with respect to administrative data on foreign nationals coming to Canada. All aspects of application, decision-making, and day-to-day reporting and tools needed for the effective and efficient running of the program are in place and are used effectively.

However, there is limited and inconsistent data currently available on Canadians who go abroad under reciprocal Youth Mobility Arrangements. Having better information/data on Canadian youth is vital to track the performance and the benefits of the program. Reliable data on Canadian youth is also essential for evidence-based research to inform policy development, country negotiations, promotional activities and future IEC program evaluations.

While some data on Canadian youth who travel abroad under youth mobility arrangements is currently obtained annually through IEC partner countries via data exchange clauses/annexes within country arrangements, challenges persist in obtaining more fulsome data on this group.

Action

• Explore options (including participant registration and surveys) to capture more robust socio-demographic data and contact information on Canadian youth and IEC participants, to generate program relevant results data. All options will take into consideration privacy and legal legislations as well as administrative processes.
  • Accountability
    • Lead: IEC – Immigration Branch
  • Completion Date: Q2 2019/2020
• Develop and launch a survey to Canadian youth participants (through public opinion research, alumni networks and collaboration with top receiving partner countries).
  • Accountability
    • Lead: IEC – Immigration Branch
  • Completion Date: Q4 2019/2020

Recommendation 4

IRCC should undertake in-depth research to further assess the full impact of the IEC Program on the Canadian labour market.

Response

IRCC agrees with this recommendation.

The Department recognizes the need to more fully understand the impact of the IEC program on the Canadian labour market. In order for in-depth research to be undertaken, the Department must ensure the availability of the necessary Labour Market Information (LMI) - data gaps persist, particularly at the local level, which is not unique to the IEC program. The work to improve the LMI is currently underway at IRCC, and will include (i) FTE measures (ii) employment rates and wage information by industry/occupation (iii) regional and international unemployment rates.

The LMI work will be supplemented by additional research into the temporary resident stream to determine the overall impact of IEC participants on the Canadian labour market.

Action

• Complete three research projects focusing on labour market outcomes of youth and IEC participants as outlined in the 2018/19 IEC Research Plan.
  • Accountability
    • Lead: IEC – Immigration Branch
  • Completion Date: Q3 2019/2020
• Develop key indicators for determining labour market impact and develop data collection methods.
  • Accountability
    • Lead: IEC – Immigration Branch
    • Support: SPP and R&E
  • Completion Date: Q4 2019/2020
• Complete a research project to investigate the labour market impact of temporary workers, with a focus on the IEC program.
  • Accountability
    • Lead: R&E
  • Completion Date: Q4 2019/2020 and onward

1. Introduction

1.1. Purpose of the Evaluation

The evaluation of the International Experience Canada (IEC) Program was conducted in fulfilment of requirements of the Treasury Board 2016 Policy on Results. The evaluation was conducted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to assess the program relevance, performance and outcomes of the program. The evaluation examined both the foreign and Canadian youth components of the program and covered the fiscal years (FY) 2013-14 – 2017-18.

This evaluation focused on the outcomes for IEC youth participants, particularly for foreign nationals. The evaluation also examined program success in raising awareness about the IEC. In addition, recognizing that the IEC Program has not been evaluated since its transfer to IRCC in 2013, one of the areas of focus for the evaluation was to assess the management of the program.

1.2. Program Profile

Since the introduction of the IEC Program in 1951, the Canadian government encouraged travel and exchange programs designed to help Canadian youth understand better their place and role at the international level. As such, the IEC Program promotes and facilitates travel and work exchange opportunities for Canadians and foreign youth by negotiating bilateral, reciprocal agreements and arrangements with other countries. IEC’s current mandate includes activities in the following areas^{Footnote 1}:

• Fostering people-to-people ties and strengthening relationships between Canada and its partner countries;
• Helping build a competitive global workforce that contributes to Canada’s economic success; and,
• Providing youth with the opportunity to broaden their perspective on the world and Canada’s place in it through international travel and work experience.

The IEC Program is part of IRCC’s International Mobility Program (IMP), which issues work permits that are exempt from Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIA). In 2016, 22% of Temporary Workers Program work permits were issued to IEC foreign youth^{Footnote 2}, making the IEC Program the largest component of the IMP.

1.2.1. Program Design

The design of the program is structured around bilateral reciprocal youth mobility agreements and arrangements (YMA), which are negotiated between Canada and foreign countries. The IEC Program facilitates the participation of youth. Currently, Canada has 34 such agreements with foreign countries (see Annex A for the Youth Mobility Agreement Country List). YMAs typically include one or more of the following three categories for participation in the program:

• Working Holiday (WHP): participating youth obtain an open work permit which allows them to work anywhere in the host country.
• Young Professionals (YPP): participating youth obtain an employer-specific work permit if they have a job offer that contributes to their professional development related to their field of study and work for the same employer for the duration of their stay.
• International Co-op Internship (Co-op): participating youth obtain an employer-specific work permit if they are enrolled in a post-secondary institution, have a job offer that is related to their field of study, and work for the same employer for the duration of their stay.

While eligibility requirements may vary somewhat for each agreement, participation in the program is typically open to Canadian and foreign youth aged 18 to 35. Given that IEC YMAs are reciprocal in nature, foreign youth participants in the program are exempt from LMIA requirements, in accordance with Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and Regulations.^{Footnote 3}

IRCC negotiates individual quotas with each YMA country every year and identifies an IEC global quota. The global quota set each year represents the maximum planned number of participants coming to Canada and going abroad. In 2014, IRCC set an objective of welcoming two foreign youth IEC participants to Canada for every Canadian youth IEC participant going abroad (i.e., a 2:1 ratio). For most countries, the quota has remained the same since the program’s transfer to IRCC.

1.2.2. Program Delivery

For Canadian youth participating in IEC, an application must be submitted to the country of interest and follow the appropriate immigration steps. All countries have different processes (online application vs. in-person), and requirements (e.g., police record checks) that are not within the control of the IEC Program.

IRCC controls the delivery of the IEC Program to foreign youth, which is done through an online application. To start the IEC application process, foreign youth are required to create and submit an online profile through an IRCC personal account. Once their profile has been submitted, pools of eligible candidates for each country and each IEC category are created. Candidate selection is done randomly, through a lottery-based system. Selected candidates receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA). If they accept the ITA, candidates are then required to submit a work permit application. If their application is approved, they are issued a Letter of Introduction (LOI), which is presented to a border services officer at the port of entry upon their arrival to Canada.

The IEC Program is run on a cost-recovery basis under a net voting authority, which allows the program to charge a user fee to participants and to spend generated revenues on program-related expenditures. As part of the 2018 IEC season, IEC participants were required to pay a fee of $150 as part of their application. Further, employers are required to pay a $230 compliance fee if they hire a foreign youth under the Young Professional Program or International Co-op Internship categories, and Working Holiday Program participants are required to pay a $100 open work permit fee.

Recognized Organizations

The IEC Program also manages memorandums of understanding (MOU) with third-party Canadian organizations, known as Recognized Organizations (RO), that provide services to facilitate international travel and work opportunities for Canadian and foreign youth under the IEC Program. ROs provide a variety of services, which can include support and advice to youth throughout the application process, assistance with travel arrangements and/or arranging work placements. Typically, ROs will provide their services for a fee, which is set by each organization.

Foreign youth applying via a RO use overall the same application process as other candidates applying via country quotas. The notable difference is that after candidates create and submit an online profile through an IRCC personal account, ROs submit a list of names to IRCC. IRCC will validate the candidates profile and send the candidate an ITA.

As outlined in the signed MOU between ROs and IRCC, ROs are expected to contribute to the following:

• Reciprocal participation between foreign and Canadian youth;
• Increase program awareness and promote international travel, work and career-related opportunities through IEC to diverse groups of Canadians; and
• Equip Canadian youth with the resources for traveling and working abroad under IEC so that these opportunities are accessible to all Canadians.

In 2015, IRCC selected a total of 12 organizations as part of a call for proposal (CFP) process for RO designation. MOUs with selected ROs were signed in early 2016 and expired in the Summer of 2018. As a result, the program launched and recently completed a CFP process, with new MOUs in place for the 2019 IEC season.

1.2.3. Financial and Human Resources

This section provides a brief overview of the resources related to the delivery and support of the IEC Program. A total of 113 full-time equivalents (FTE) were devoted to the IEC Program within IRCC in 2016-17, 76 FTEs were in the Operations Sector while 37 FTEs were in the Strategic and Program Policy Sector or Other Sectors. For the same fiscal year, the total cost (IRCC and other government departments) to deliver the IEC Program was $21.39M and IRCC’s total cost to deliver IEC was $12.79M, while other government departments (OGD) costs were at $8.6M. This cost was partially offset by revenues generated by the program, which reached a total of about $10.02M.

1.3. Characteristics of IEC Youth

Table 1 provides the annual global quota or planned target for both the outgoing and incoming portion of the program and provides the actual number of approved participants. Between 2013 and 2017, there was a total of 94,634 Canadian youth work permit holders and 252,712 foreign youth participants^{Footnote 4} in the IEC Program. The subsequent sections provide a profile of each of those two groups.

Table 1: IEC Youth Participation - Canadian and Foreign Youth

Source: Immigration Branch, August 2018.

1.3.1. Profile of IEC Foreign Youth Participants (2013-2017)

The following characteristics were observed among foreign youth participants:

• Stream: 81% of the foreign youth participants were admitted under the Working Holiday stream, while about 9% were admitted under the Co-op stream, and 6% under the Young Professional stream.
• Frequency of participation: 92% of individuals who came to Canada under the IEC received only one work permit; 8% had more than one IEC experience in Canada. Participants under the Young Professionals stream represented the largest proportion of those who used the program more than once, with over one third (35%) having received more than one work permit under IEC.
• Age: Most (77%) foreign youth admitted to Canada under the IEC were between 21 and 29 years old when they started their IEC experience. Participants under the Young Professionals stream were slightly older, with a greater share (21%) falling under the 30 to 35 age group. Foreign youth participants from the Co-op stream were slightly younger than the other streams, with a greater share in the 18 to 20 age group (19%).
• Gender: Half of IEC foreign youth participants were women. While women accounted for half of all participants under the Working Holiday stream and 53% for the Co-op stream, they only accounted for 40% of those from the Young Professionals stream.
• Citizenship: The top five countries of citizenship for foreign youth admitted under IEC were: France (21%), Australia (15%), Japan (11%), Ireland (9%) and Germany (8%). While countries of citizenship of foreign youth were more diverse for the Working Holiday stream, the majority of participants under the Co-op stream (86%) and the Young Professionals (58%) came from France.
• Knowledge of official languages: The majority of IEC foreign youth participants were able to communicate in one of Canada’s official languages: 71% indicated knowing English only, 22% French only, and 1% both French and English. Reflecting the country composition of the IEC streams, most participants from the Working Holiday stream indicated being able to communicate in English only, while 85% of those under the Co-op stream and 54% of those under the Young Professional stream indicated being able to communicate in French only.

For more information on the profile of IEC foreign youth participants, see Annex B.

1.3.2. Profile of IEC Canadian Youth Participants

While IRCC has comprehensive information on foreign youth coming to Canada under the IEC Program (as the department is responsible for the processing of foreign youth IEC applications), IRCC has limited information on Canadian youth participants travelling abroad through the program as the programs are administered by foreign governments and Canadians do not apply through the Government of Canada. The only information available on Canadian youth participating in the IEC is the annual number who traveled to each YMA country, which is provided to IRCC on an annual basis.^{Footnote 5}

Between 2013 and 2017, 94,634 Canadians travelled abroad through IEC, representing between 17,000 and 20,000 individuals each year. Most (87%) Canadians either travelled to Australia (40%), the United Kingdom (20%), France (12%), New Zealand (12%) or Germany (3%) through the IEC Program.

2. Methodology

2.1. Questions and Scope

The evaluation scope and approach were determined during the planning phase, in consultation with IRCC branches involved in the design, management and delivery of the IEC Program as well as Global Affairs Canada (GAC). The evaluation assessed issues of relevance and performance and covered the period of FY 2013-14 to 2017-18. The evaluation was also guided by the program logic model, which outlines the expected immediate and intermediate outcomes for the program (see Annex C).

The evaluation was conducted internally by IRCC’s Evaluation Division. The evaluation questions are presented in Annex D.

2.2. Data Collection Methods

Data collection and analysis for this evaluation took place from October 2017 to September 2018 and included multiple lines of evidence that gathered qualitative and quantitative data from a wide range of perspectives, including IRCC, GAC, ROs and IEC participants. The different lines of evidence supporting the evaluation are described in Table 2.

Table 2: Lines of Evidence

Lines of evidence and description

2.3. Limitations and Considerations

Limitations were noted for the evaluation, in particular, surrounding a lack of information about Canadian participants. As the Canadian youth components are administered by foreign governments, IRCC does not have administrative data nor contact information with regards to Canadian participants. About half of the countries, with which Canada has a YMA, have an explicit clause on information sharing, and IRCC has developed model MOUs and treaty which highlights requirements on information sharing that should be applied to all new YMAs being signed. However, information sharing provisions in YMAs are limited to the annual number of Canadian youth who travelled to each YMA country.^{Footnote 6} As such, IRCC does not receive any information from YMA countries about the different experiences of Canadian youth abroad, nor does have a mean to obtain such information. The limited nature of the information IRCC has on Canadian participants hinders the department’s ability to fully assess outcomes of Canadians participating in the program, including type of activities undertaken while abroad, benefits gained and challenges experienced by participants.

As a result, the evaluation was not able to provide a profile of Canadian youth participants, and was not able to conduct a comprehensive survey to assess the diverse cultural and professional experiences of Canadian youth and barriers issues they could have faced.

While it was not possible to survey a representative group of Canadians youth who went abroad as part of the IEC Program, mitigation for this was made in the form of an exploratory survey with New Zealand. The survey was not intended to be representative of the population who went abroad, but to provide some insight into the outcomes and experiences of the Canadian youth who went to New Zealand.

Nevertheless, the overall evaluation design employed numerous qualitative and quantitative methodologies that were complementary and rigorous yielding of results that can be used with confidence.

3. Relevance

3.1. Continued Need for the IEC Program

In 1951, the IEC Program^{Footnote 7} began as a reciprocal short-term labour exchange for 18 to 30 year olds, to respond to the need of helping Canadians better understand their place and role in international society. To do so, a government intervention was required to facilitate the entry and work experience of IEC participants to Canada.

The need for the program was reiterated by key informants. A majority of interviewees across all respondent groups agreed that there is a continued need for Canada to have a youth mobility program to enable youth to travel abroad and gain cultural awareness, professional experience and improved skills. Some interviewees did not perceive a strong need for the program, with a few indicating did not see the need to have agreements with certain countries and a few others noting that in the absence of the IEC Program, youth would find other ways to work while travelling abroad.

While the fostering of close bilateral relations between Canada and other countries has been highlighted by documents and interviewees as an important element of the program, bilateral relations are not specified as an outcome in the IEC Program’s logic model. As such, the reciprocal cultural and employment experiences fill a shorter-term program need, while the fostering of bilateral relations fill a longer-term program need.

3.2. Alignment with Departmental and Government Priorities

Most interviewees agreed that the IEC Program aligns with Government of Canada priorities, as the youth portfolio is an important focus for the current government and Prime Minister, and as such there has been an increased attempt to help young Canadians gain valuable work and life experience.^{Footnote 8}

The IEC Program was transferred to IRCC in 2013 with the intention of aligning the program with government priorities and the labour market demands in Canada, as well as by linking the IEC Program to the other immigration programs. The intention of the transfer was to “strengthen Canada’s strategy to develop its human capital and attract talent.”^{Footnote 9}

In addition, IEC’s current mandate states that the program is to “enhance key bilateral relationships between Canada and other countries and emphasize the importance of improved reciprocity”.^{Footnote 10} IRCC’s contribution to this mandate is through the processing of applications from high-quality participants who fit Canada’s immigration priorities.

Overall, interviewees agreed that the IEC Program is in alignment with IRCC priorities. According to the mandate letter for the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, the department is intended to “lead efforts to facilitate the temporary entry of low risk travelers…”.^{Footnote 11}

As the IEC Program crosses themes of immigration, employment, culture, foreign relations, and youth, the program aligns with other government departments, as evident through the mandate documents of GAC, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), and Canadian Heritage (PCH), as well as the Prime Minister’s Youth Secretariat. A few interviewees noted that while the IEC Program is unique in that it supports both foreign nationals and Canadians, as a program within the Government of Canada, it is appropriately located at IRCC.

4. Performance – Program Effectiveness

4.1. Reciprocity

4.1.1. Reciprocity in YMAs and Quotas

As specified in the Regulations, reciprocity is a central legal requirement of the program. Open work permits are issued under Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (paragraph 205(b)) to a “foreign national who intends to perform work that would create or maintain reciprocal employment of Canadian citizens in other countries”.^{Footnote 12} Work permits issued under IEC are exempt from the requirement for a LMIA.^{Footnote 13}

The IEC Program operates through YMAs with 34 countries. The bilateral agreements and arrangements are established by the Government of Canada with foreign governments. To reflect Regulations requirements, all YMAs have been built to be reciprocal in terms of types of travel opportunities offered, duration of stays, and age groups targeted.

Reciprocity has been a foundational aspect of the IEC Program for many years, with the understanding that there is an exchange of youth between the two countries signatory to a YMA. The exact ratio objective of this exchange has changed over the years, and the current objective is a 2:1 ratio of foreign national youth to Canadian youth, which was set in 2014.

The IEC Program’s reciprocity management is fundamentally guided by IEC’s annual global target, which is monitored through annual country quotas for approved IEC work permit applications. These quotas are negotiated prior to the launching of an IEC season and are allocated both to foreign nationals coming to Canada, as well as for Canadians going abroad. The IEC Program must negotiate quota levels with foreign governments on an annual basis, after receiving ministerial approval for the number of eligible foreign nationals coming to Canada.^{Footnote 14} As seen in the 2017 season, quotas range from relatively low numbers (25 for San Marino) to significant numbers (14,000 for France).

4.1.2. Disparity in Reciprocity

Although the program approached numerical reciprocity in the early 2000s, in recent years, more foreign youth used the IEC Program to travel to Canada than Canadians to travel abroad. Foreign youth participation in IEC more than doubled since 2004 (from 24,202 in 2004 to 68,371 in 2017) while Canadian participation decreased by 11% (from 22,254 in 2004 to 19,857 in 2017), as seen in Figure 1. This disparity had increased from a ratio of 2:1 in 2007 to 3:1 in 2009 but has remained relatively stable since. Although Canadian participation in the program has decreased, country quotas have risen over the years.

However, since the program was transferred to IRCC in 2013, there has been an increase of Canadian participants in the IEC Program of 16%, and similarly, foreign youth participation in IEC has increased by 15%. The disparity in reciprocity has remained at 3:1 since IEC has been with IRCC.

Figure 1: Trends in IEC Program Quotas and Number of Canadian and Foreign Youth Participants, 2004 to 2017

Text version: Figure 1: Trends in IEC Program Quotas and Number of Canadian and Foreign Youth Participants, 2004 to 2017

Year	Quotas	Canadians	Foreign nationals
2004	N/A	22,254	24,202
2005	N/A	23,165	30,910
2006	34,505	22,973	33,566
2007	36,885	19,779	33,652
2008	46,445	18,869	44,442
2009	58,445	18,996	52,145
2010	59,600	17,857	54,785
2011	60,745	17,907	57,664
2012	62,145	17,715	58,094
2013	62,305	17,122	59,347Table note †
2014	67,655	18,699	60,694
2015	67,305	20,119	55,461
2016	67,305	19,371	61,347
2017Table note *	67,330	19,857	68,371

Source: Immigration Branch, July 2018

Note 1: Data on quotas were not available for 2004 and 2005.

Note 2: As data sources and date of data extraction vary, numbers may differ slightly.

4.1.3. Approach to Quota Management

While the quota management is an annual process, some quota management decisions contributed to greater disparity. Despite lower Canadian youth uptake, the global quotas were not adjusted downward and new YMAs were added, thereby hindering the department’s ability to reach its reciprocity objective of 2:1.^{Footnote 15} The following are examples of such quota management decisions:

• Non-reduction of country-specific quota: While internal documentation has shown that there has been one attempt at reducing the quotas to meet reciprocity levels, no recent quota reduction measure has been undertaken. In 2007, IRCC was not meeting the quotas in 14 out of 17 YMAs in place at the time, but country quotas had significantly increased for 9 of these YMAs by 2017 (see Table 3). For example, the quota with Japan was established at 5,000 in 2007 and increased to 6,500 by 2017. This increase took place even though only 539 Canadians went to Japan in 2007 and never increased beyond this number. Quotas were reduced for four countries (Austria, Denmark, Norway, and Switzerland). Despite those discrepancies, the status quo approach to quota management has been adopted in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
• Expansion of YMAs to new countries: Two additional YMAs were negotiated in 2017 and 2018 – San Marino and Portugal. While the addition of these two countries have not increased the global IEC quota, they have increased the pool of potential foreign youth applicants in the program, risking increased disparity between the Canadian and foreign national participation uptake. In addition, the Department is undertaking additional negotiations with additional countries, which can increase the disparity even more.

Interviewees raised concerns about numerical reciprocity not being met as a few indicated that it is difficult to argue that non-reciprocal agreements are in the national interest when the arrangements do not favour Canadians. Other interviewees indicated that without reciprocity, IEC is simply a facilitative labour market access program for foreign nationals. However, the documentation reviewed suggests that the program must find the appropriate balance between the management of numerical reciprocity (i.e., developing new YMAs and reducing quotas with certain countries) and the fostering of international bilateral relations. This was described as a complex task, especially given that outcomes related to bilateral relations are hard to assess.

Table 3: IEC Reciprocity Ratios (2007, 2013, and 2017)

2007

2013

2017

Source: Immigration Branch, July 2018.

Note 1: 2017 data for Costa Rica and Switzerland was not available.

Note 2: N/A - Reciprocity ratios could not be calculated as no Canadians went to those countries through the IEC Program.

Note 3: The YMAs with Mexico and Ukraine are currently on hold.

4.1.4. Opportunities

Although all YMAs have been built to be as reciprocal as possible in terms of types of travel opportunities offered, duration of stays, and age groups, there are still some challenges in ensuring reciprocal opportunities for Canadian youth to participate to the IEC Program. These challenges include immigration process of other countries not being as facilitative as the Canadian system (e.g., required in person applications, language of application other than English or French, higher participation fees), and economic factors (e.g., foreign country youth unemployment rate and wages). These challenges have also contributed to the disparity in program participation.

Application and processing requirements of foreign countries

• Requirement for in-person visits: 20 out of 34 require an in-person visit at an embassy or consular office in Canada prior to departure. These offices are most commonly located in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, and can be a barrier to those who live in the prairies or eastern Canada as the travel to an embassy/consular office would be an additional cost.
• Some countries, Czech Republic and Costa Rica for example, require that applications be made in languages that are not English or French. While reasonable requirements on the part of the foreign countries, this limits Canadian participants to only those who speak the language of the country.
• Some countries require higher fees to be paid in order to participate. While Canada offers a similar system, the fees for some countries can be financial barriers to Canadian participants as youth generally have limited funds. For example, participation and application fees for Ireland can be approximately $600CAD compared to $150CAD for Irish participants.

Economic conditions of foreign countries

• Youth unemployment rates in OECD countries, Canada included, have traditionally been higher than the average unemployment rate.^{Footnote 16} While Canada’s youth unemployment rate has hovered around 13% since 2013, other YMA countries have experienced higher youth unemployment rates including Belgium (20%) France (24%), Italy (37%), Spain (44%), Greece (47%).^{Footnote 17} High youth unemployment rates in foreign countries may result in increased interest among foreign youth to travel to Canada, while making working abroad less appealing for Canadians.
• Recognizing that the purchasing power may be different across countries, minimum wages in foreign countries are not always comparable and can have an impact on youth participation. For example, while Ireland has a comparable minimum wage to Canada (9.3 USD in 2017), countries like Estonia (4.3 USD), and Chile (3.0 USD) may deter Canadian youth from intending to work in these countries.^{Footnote 18}

4.2. Motivations to Participate in IEC

4.2.1. Foreign Youth Motivations

The survey of foreign youth participants found that respondents’ main motivations for participating in the IEC were: pursuing travel experiences that contribute to personal growth (68%), exploration and adventure (66%) and to learn about a new country (65%). To a lesser extent, survey respondents also indicated obtaining international career experience or professional development (46%) and learning or improving a secondary language (37%) as motivations to their experience. Motivations to participate also varied to some extent by stream, with more Co-op and Young Professionals indicating obtaining international career experience or professional development as a motivation for their trip (81% and 64% respectively), compared to the Working Holiday stream (41%). On the other hand, a higher proportion of the Working Holiday stream participants indicated exploration and adventure (69%) as a motivation compared to the other streams (53%).

Similarly, Canadian youth who travelled to New Zealand under the IEC Program participated in a working holiday experience, and most frequently cited exploration and adventure (79%), pursuing travel experiences that contributes to personal growth (70%), and to learn about a new country or culture (55%) as a motivation to their travel.

These survey results align with documents reviewed, which point to various motivations for youth travelling abroad. According to tourism studies and academics, millennial travelers tend to seek out social and experiential travel activities that will lead to personal growth. Also, tourism studies indicated that millennial travelers’ most important motivations are to interact with local people and experience everyday life in another country.^{Footnote 19} Key motivations for participation in working holiday programs noted by academics can also include improving language abilities, cultural reasons and wanting to ‘escape’ pressure at home or at work.^{Footnote 20}

4.3. Awareness of IEC

4.3.1. Foreign Youth Awareness

Despite limited outreach activities abroad, the IEC Program has been successful in attracting foreign youth to Canada. As demonstrated in Section 4.1.2, foreign youth coming to Canada largely outnumber the Canadian youth travelling abroad via IEC. Each year about 50,000 to 60,000 foreign youth travel to Canada under the IEC, while Canadian youth participation has been around 20,000 annually.

Interviewees indicated that only a few promotional activities targeting foreign youth were conducted as there is a minimal need for outreach to this group. Outreach activities that are taking place to increase awareness and attract foreign youth include IRCC’s website, social media and ROs.

In addition to IRCC’s website where prospective applicants can find information, IRCC provides information through various social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. These promotional activities correspond with the sources used by foreign youth to get information about the program. Foreign youth survey respondents most often identified Government of Canada websites (96%), IEC social media (49%) and ROs (30%) as sources they used to obtain information on the IEC Program.

Between January 2015 and May 2018, there were 8.97 million views of the IEC webpages dedicated to foreign youth wanting to come to Canada. Over this period, IEC’s presence on social media increased.^{Footnote 21}

In addition to IRCC’s efforts, ROs also conduct promotional activities. Nearly all RO survey respondents (92%) reported that their organization conducts promotional activities to raise awareness of IEC and all ROs reported that they provided information about the program on their website. When asked which groups they targeted through their promotional activities, just over half of ROs (55%) indicated that they targeted foreign youth.

4.3.2. Canadian Youth Awareness

Interviewees and documents reviewed point to extensive IRCC engagement and promotional efforts aimed at increasing Canadian youth awareness of the IEC Program. Examples include^{Footnote 22}:

• Participation in conferences, fairs, and information sessions for youth and youth influencers;
• Engagement/consultations with stakeholders, resulting in information sharing exercises, research and consultations, pilot projects, and other initiatives;
• Development and implementation of marketing, advertising and outreach initiatives (including promotional products), following the program rebranding in 2017;
• Membership in influential working groups and advisory committees; and
• Social media outreach activities.

While previous IEC promotional efforts have primarily focused on Canadian youth, recent promotional activities, as identified in the program’s 2016 stakeholder engagement strategy, have been expanded to include “influencers”^{Footnote 23}. Given these promotional activities are relatively new, it will take a few more years before noticing changes in awareness behaviour as a result of the various promotional efforts.

Canadian youth who want to work and travel abroad with IEC can also find information about the program on IEC’s website. Between January 2015 and May 2018, there have been 460,813 views for IEC’s website for Canadians, representing 5% of IEC’s total page views during this period. However, although IEC has been actively promoting the program to foreign youth, through social media for many years, IEC only started recently to promote the program for Canadians going abroad through the social media. For example, a Facebook account for Canadians going abroad was created in August 2017.

In addition to IRCC’s promotion, all RO survey respondents indicated that their promotional efforts focus on Canadian youth.

Promotional Challenges

The most common challenge highlighted by key informants was promoting the program to Canadians and increasing Canadian participation. Some barriers to promotion were described by interviewees. For example, a few interviewees indicated that the program’s funding mechanism prevents them from proceeding with different communications and promotions activities to advertise the program.

It was also highlighted that the restrictions of using government products, which are not always what is available for partners (e.g., Dropbox for files with partners, Skype calls, etc.), government advertising restrictions, and an inability to do different types of promotions (e.g., webinars) are barriers to promoting the IEC Program effectively.

Despite IRCC’s and other program stakeholders’ promotional efforts, awareness of the program among Canadian youth remains low, as suggested by the lower number of Canadians using the program to travel abroad.

Further, a public opinion research survey conducted with Canadian youth (PCO Youth survey, n=632) highlighted that 12% of Canadian survey respondents who were between 18 and 35 years of age indicated being extremely or very aware, and 27% moderately or somewhat aware of the IEC Program, while 59% indicated they were not at all aware of the program. Awareness, however, gradually increased with age; 28% of those aged between 18 and 20 reported being at least somewhat aware of the program, while 63% of those aged between 31 and 35 did so.

4.4. Cultural and Professional Experiences

This sub-section examines the extent to which IEC participants gained diverse cultural and professional experiences through their participation in the program.

4.4.1. Cultural Experiences

Foreign youth survey respondents indicated obtaining various types of cultural experiences. Almost all (98%) reported visiting some cultural sites in Canada. More specifically, a majority of respondents cited that visiting national and provincial parks (86%), museums (73%) and monuments (71%). Nearly all respondents (91%) also indicated participating in cultural events, with three-quarters attending musical events (74%) and attending sporting events (73%).

In the same way, Canadians who obtained a working holiday experience in New Zealand indicated having visited national parks (97%), a museum (84%), and monuments (79%). The majority also participated in at least one type of cultural activity (86%), either a musical event (67%), a sporting event (58%), a theatrical event (40%) or another type of cultural event (10%).

In addition, the majority of IEC participants developed ties to the country to which they travelled as part of their IEC experience. The majority of foreign youth survey respondents (91%) indicated having developed friendships with Canadians while they were in Canada and 98% of Canadians said they made friends with non-Canadians while they were in New Zealand. To a lesser extent, foreign youth respondents also indicated having developed social networks (65%) with Canadians, while a greater proportion of Canadians (83%) mentioned having developed social networks with non-Canadians. Only 1% of foreign and Canadian youth respondents reported not having formed friendships or networks while they were in abroad as part of their IEC experience.

When asked about the key benefits they gained from their IEC experience in Canada, the three main benefits identified by foreign youth were: learning about a new country or culture (86%), having an international experience that contributed to their personal growth (81%) and explorations and adventures (79%). However, perceived benefits varied by IEC stream. A greater proportion of foreign youth respondents from the Working Holiday stream identified exploration and adventures as a key benefit of their IEC participation (81%), compared to respondents from the Co-op and Young Professionals streams (70% and 69% respectively). The same key benefits were also identified by Canadians who travelled to New Zealand, although in different proportion; 94% of Canadian youth identified exploration and adventure as a key benefit, 90% learning about a new country or culture, and 88% having an international experience that contributed to their personal growth.

Overall, most foreign youth survey respondents (83%) indicated having learned a lot about Canada during their IEC experience. Similarly, 93% of Canadians who obtained a working holiday experience in New Zealand indicated having learned a lot about this country.

4.4.2. Professional Experiences

Professional Experiences of Foreign Youth

A significant portion of IEC participants work during their stay in Canada. CEEDD data indicates that incidence of employment among IEC foreign youth participants remained stable at around 60% between 2004 and 2015, while their average employment earnings have steadily increased year over year from an average of $5,200 in 2004 to $15,300 in 2015 (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Incidence and Average Employment Earnings of IEC Foreign Youth Participants, 2004 to 2015

Text version: Figure 2: Incidence and Average Employment Earnings of IEC Foreign Youth Participants, 2004 to 2015

Year	Incidence of employment earnings	Average employment earnings
2004	61.17	5,200
2005	59.14	6,700
2006	62.16	7,700
2007	64.34	8,800
2008	62.41	9,500
2009	58.83	10,200
2010	57.63	10,900
2011	57.79	12,400
2012	59.76	13,300
2013	61.66	13,800
2014	63.78	15,300
2015	64.13	15,300

Source: CEEDD, 2015

Compared to IRCC’s other temporary foreign worker programs, there are only three which have a higher incidence of employment than IEC foreign youth participants as reported by employers through T4s (Agricultural Workers, Caregiver and Post-Graduate employment programs). However, average employment earnings for the IEC are lower than that of all Temporary Resident (TR) programs, with the exception of Temporary Residency Permits, suggesting that IEC foreign youth working in Canada may be occupying lower skilled and/or entry-level positions, and that many of them are working mainly to support their travel or work for shorter periods of time during the year (see Annex F for more details on results from the CEEDD analysis).

When asked directly to youth, nearly all foreign youth survey respondents self-reported working during their IEC experience (90%), which is a significantly greater proportion^{Footnote 24} than the one declared by employers^{Footnote 25} in the CEEDD. When comparing IEC streams, less than two thirds of foreign youth respondents under the Co-op stream indicated working during their IEC experience (63%). This is a much smaller proportion compared to respondents under the Working Holiday (93%) and the Young Professionals (98%) streams.

Of those who were working, a little over a quarter (27%) of foreign youth survey respondents who worked during their IEC experience had made arrangements for employment prior to coming to Canada, though this varied by stream (Co-op: 94%; Young Professionals: 49%; and Working Holiday: 19%).

Of those who were employed, most foreign youth survey respondents (82%) reported receiving financial compensation.^{Footnote 26} While the majority of respondents under the Young Professionals (90%) and the Working Holiday (84%) streams received financial compensation for their work, those under the Co-op stream were split with 42% indicating that they did not receive financial or in-kind compensation and 40% indicating they received financial compensation. Of the foreign youth survey respondents who were not compensated for their work, most (79%) indicated that they participated in an unpaid internship.

Among the sectors in which foreign youth were working, the most commonly reported were: accommodation and food services (30%), professional, scientific and technical services (12%), and retail trade (8%).

About three quarters (76%) of respondents indicated working in Canada for at least 6 months, and a majority (80%) indicated working full-time (i.e., 30 hours a week or more). The largest proportion of respondents reporting full-time employment was found among those from the Young Professionals stream (94%), followed by respondents from the Co-op (86%) and Working Holiday (78%) streams.

Professional Experiences of Canadian Youth

Similar to what was reported by foreign youth, the majority (90%) of Canadians who had a working holiday experience in New Zealand reported working during their stay, with 20% of those who worked having made employment arrangements prior going abroad. Most also indicated working full-time (71%) and almost all (99%) Canadians who worked reported having been compensated for their work, either through financial compensation only (74%); both financial and in-kind compensation (18%); or in-kind compensation only (7%). Most often Canadians worked in: accommodation and food services (34%); agriculture, forestry and fishing (17%); and arts, entertainment and recreation (6%).

Professional Benefits Gained by IEC Youth Participants

Foreign youth survey respondents indicated that they benefited from the professional experience gained through the program. Over half (57%) of respondents identified obtaining international career experience or professional development as a key benefit of their participation in IEC. A higher proportion of respondents who came to Canada under the Co-op (83%) and Young Professionals (77%) streams reported this as a benefit, compared to the Working Holiday stream (52%). In addition, about 70% of survey respondents agreed that the IEC Program will help them in their future employment and about two thirds (67%) of respondents who had completed their IEC experience and who were working at the time of the survey agreed that the IEC Program helped them in their current employment situation.

Although to a lesser extent than foreign youth participants, almost half of Canadian youth indicated obtaining international career experience or professional development (47%) as a key benefit of their working holiday experience in New Zealand, and about 60% of those who were working at the time of the survey agreed that their working holiday experience abroad helped them in their current employment situation. About two thirds (64%) also felt that their working holiday experience would help them in their future employment.

4.5. Supporting Canada’s International, Economic, and Social Interests

This section examines the program’s ultimate outcome, including a discussion on IEC activities and outputs that support Canada’s international, economic, and social interests.

4.5.1. Supporting Canada’s International and Social Interests

Most interviewees noted that the IEC Program is supporting Canada’s social interests. They indicated that exposure to different cultures was the main avenue through which IEC supports Canada’s social interests. It was also noted that being immersed in a culture (living and working) has a significant benefit as it goes beyond just being a tourist. As such, interviewees indicated that by having youth develop an understanding of international issues and Canada’s place in the world, it allows them to think globally, which supports Canada’s social interests as a result. This was also supported by document review, where Horn et al.^{Footnote 27} indicated, in their study, that international experiences lead to higher intercultural competence than domestic experience.

Some interviewees suggested that Canada’s social interests are not only supported by Canadian youth travelling abroad, but also by having foreign youth travelling to Canada under the IEC and interacting with Canadians, further exposing Canadians to other cultures. A few interviewees also indicated that Canadians serve as ambassadors for Canada when they go abroad.

Research demonstrates that youth with global experience have higher adaptability skills, better planning abilities, and are more assertive, decisive and persistent relative to individuals with no global experience.^{Footnote 28} While these findings relate to international experiences more generally, IEC provides youth with the opportunity to obtain global experiences, likely leading to these benefits for program participants.

Furthermore, adding to the benefits of Canadian youth travelling abroad through IEC, document and administrative data analysis show that IEC applicants are well educated, young, speak either English, French, or both (as well as a third language in many cases), thus making them an ideal target to recruit for permanent residency. Overall, administrative data indicates that 7% of IEC foreign youth who came to Canada under the IEC Program between 2013 and 2017 have permanently immigrated to Canada, further enriching Canada’s diversity.

In addition to supporting Canada’s social interests, many interviewees indicated that the IEC Program also supports Canada’s international interests as the program is used as a diplomatic tool or a mechanism for international relations. As such, the program can be leveraged in bilateral relations with other countries. Documents reviewed have indicated that people-to-people ties and bilateral relations are outputs of the program, which can lead to economic spin-offs by building trade and economic bridges in the future.

4.5.2. Supporting Canada’s Economic Interests

In 2017, there was a potential pool of almost 70,000 foreign workers made available to Canadian labour market through the IEC. In addition, some IEC foreign youth are working in sectors and provinces that have traditionally experienced labour shortages according to CEEDD and survey data. A 2018 Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) survey indicated that labour shortages are most serious in Atlantic Canada, British Columbia and Ontario and that sectors facing the strongest difficulties include manufacturing, retail trade and construction. Somewhat aligning with where shortages were identified, the provinces most visited by foreign youth survey respondents were Ontario (59%) and British Columbia (57%). In addition, a 2010 to 2015 CEEDD trend analysis indicated that about 20% of IEC foreign youth participants who worked in Canada during their IEC stay have done so in manufacturing, retail trade and construction (see Table 4).

Table 4: Sector Distribution of IEC Participants with Employment Earnings, CEEDD

Source: CEEDD, 2015.

Note: While there is a lag with CEEDD that limits seeing the extent to which current sectors of employment of IEC participants match current shortages, sectors of employment of IEC participants have been relatively stable between 2010 and 2015, suggesting that it likely reflects current trends.

Looking at the larger potential economic impact, some interviewees indicated that the IEC Program also contributes to tourism, either through former IEC participants coming back to Canada to visit, or parents/families/friends of IEC participants coming to visit while youth are still in Canada.

Some interviewees also indicated that IEC supported Canada’s economic interests as the program facilitates opportunities for Canadian youth to gain international work experience. The belief is that Canadian youth travelling abroad can support Canada’s economic interest by acquiring valuable work experience.

Related to the concept of reciprocity that was discussed in section 4.1, the program is intended to ensure equal opportunities for Canadians and foreign youth to experience living and working abroad. Ideally, the reciprocal nature of the program would eliminate the risk of displacement in the Canadian labour market as there would be one Canadian youth employed or seeking employment abroad for every foreign youth coming to Canada. This disconnect between diplomatic objectives and labour supply objectives was also identified in the previous evaluation of the program that was conducted by GAC in 2010.

However, there is an imbalance in the number of foreign youth entering Canada under the IEC compared to outgoing Canadian youth (approximately 70,000 vs. 20,000 Canadians in 2017). CEEDD data indicates that the number of IEC participants hired by Canadian employers grew from 12,990 in 2004 to 62,085 in 2015. Comparatively, about 20,000 Canadians participated in the IEC in 2015. Even if all Canadians were to work abroad during their IEC experience, there is an imbalance as more IEC foreign youth are working in Canada than there are IEC Canadian youth abroad.

Given that the potential for displacement is also influenced by economic conditions (i.e., labour shortages and unemployment rate of receiving countries) to fully assess the extent to which the program affects the labour market in Canada would require in-depth research.

4.6. Program Delivery

4.6.1. Roles and Responsibilities

When asked about roles and responsibilities within IRCC, almost all key informants indicated that they were clear between the IRCC Branches responsible for policy development and for the delivery of IEC.

In addition, representatives from IRCC generally noted that roles and responsibilities were clear between IRCC and OGDs in relation to IEC, identifying GAC as the main partner. This view was also shared by GAC interviewees, with all representatives from GAC indicating that roles and responsibilities are clear between their department and IRCC in relation to IEC.

However, the majority of IRCC and external interviewees were not able to provide comments on the roles and responsibilities of ROs, because they had a lack of awareness of ROs more generally and of their roles and responsibilities as part of IEC more specifically.

Key informants indicated that many ROs conduct promotional and marketing activities, have established alumni networks and have connections with education institutions. In terms of the appropriateness of ROs’ current roles and responsibilities, representatives from ROs and a few internal IRCC staff noted that the program could benefit from increased engagement of ROs in promoting the program, particularly to Canadian youth.

4.6.2. Communication and Coordination

When asked to comment on the effectiveness of communication and coordination for the management of the IEC, key informants provided generally positive views.

Moreover, representatives from IRCC provided generally positive views on the communication and coordination aspects of the management of IEC with OGDs, including CBSA and GAC. This was also confirmed by GAC representatives who indicated that IEC is in regular contact with their department to mutually share information and updates on activities.

Communication and coordination was not raised as an issue by foreign governments. All representatives from foreign governments indicated that they only ever interacted with IRCC on issues related to IEC and were not aware of OGDs’ roles and responsibilities in relation to the program.

A few IRCC staff and all the ROs underlined the need to improve communication and coordination between IRCC and ROs. It was specifically mentioned that the program lacks a formalized mechanism for consultation between IRCC and ROs, noting that communication currently occurs on an ad hoc basis. A few key informants indicated that establishing an ongoing consultation process would (e.g., through annual or biannual meetings) be beneficial, as it would facilitate the timelier sharing of relevant program information between IRCC and ROs.

Further, ROs expressed concerns with regards to the timeliness of communication and information dissemination from IRCC, particularly with regards to the following: updates on changes to program processes and requirements; information on changes to immigration policies more broadly and their potential impacts on IEC applicants; and responses to urgent inquiries relating to client applications.

A new CFP for ROs was undertaken by the Department, and as of October 2018, IRCC negotiated new MOUs with ROs and has assigned new resources to the RO file which are expected to address these issues.

4.7. Processing Timeliness

As per the service level agreement established under the User Fees Act, 100% of IEC work permit applications have to be finalized within 56 days.^{Footnote 29} Treasury Board however permits some flexibility with regards to this requirement, allowing for a 10% margin on the number of applications that do not meet established standards. Administrative data on IEC work permit applications indicates that applications are, for the most part, processed within service standards. For four of the five years covered, 90% of applications were processed in less than 50 days, with 2017 showing the quickest processing time. In 2015, however, processing times were lengthier, with 90% of cases being finalized within 66 days or where 78% of applications were processed within service standards (see Table 5).

Table 5: Service Standard Adherence (56 days) for IEC Work Permit Applications Processed, by Year and IEC Stream

Number of days to process 90% of cases

Percentage of cases processed within service standards

Source: CICEDW (MBR) as of April 27, 2018

Note: “Other” includes IEC applications that were not flagged as Co-op, Working Holiday, or Young Professionals.

Interviewees indicated the challenges in meeting the business standards is attributed to changes in the application system i.e., transition from Kompass^{Footnote 30} to GCMS in FY 2015-16 for processing IEC applications.

Interviewees noted that issues impacting application processing tend to be country specific (e.g., police record requirements that vary across countries).

Foreign youth survey respondents were generally satisfied with the different components of the IEC online application process^{Footnote 31}, with satisfaction rates for each component being equal to or exceeding 85%. The lowest satisfaction rates were related to processing times (76% being satisfied or very satisfied) and the application process overall (83% being satisfied or very satisfied).

Foreign youth who reported using an RO to facilitate their IEC travel also provided positive perspectives on the aspects of the application process that involved ROs. Of those who had an opinion, nearly all respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with the process for providing information to the RO (91%) and for submitting the Confirmation Letter to IRCC from the RO (92%).

4.8. Program Integrity

The IEC Program has quality assurance mechanisms in place. Within IRCC’s team responsible for processing applications, a quality assurance team was established to conduct quality monitoring of applications that are closed (both the approved and refused cases). Overall, 10% of applications finalized are reviewed through this process, while 100% of applications processed by new employees are monitored for quality control. In addition, the application assessment process is designed to ensure that a file is reviewed by different officers, each responsible for one part of the application assessment. As such, the process for assessing applications includes quality assurance mechanisms as some aspects of the file may be reviewed multiple times by different officers.

Few program integrity issues have been identified, and interviewees highlighted that most of the issues they are aware of, if any, have been anecdotal. For example, a few interviewees highlighted unpaid internships as a potential program integrity issue. In terms of integrity issues involving program participants, interviewees noted that although IEC requires participants to have insurance, some participants may buy insurance when applying to IEC, but then cancel it when they arrive in Canada.

A potential program misuse has also been identified with regards to Au Pair. Companies are advertising^{Footnote 32} the IEC program, namely the Working Holiday stream, to recruit potential clients as a mechanism for coming to Canada. Given the LMIA exemptions and the limited employer follow-ups, this places the program at risk of being used for other intentions.

5. Performance – Resource Utilization

5.1. Financial Resource Allocation

As shown in Table 7 of Annex G, IRCC’s total cost to deliver IEC Program increased by approximately 41%, from $9.1 million in FY 2013-14 to $12.8 million in FY 2016-17. In terms of specific IRCC costs, Operations Sector costs to deliver the program more than doubled, increasing from $3.3 million to $6.9 million during this period. In terms of OGD costs, CBSA costs associated with IEC increased significantly during this period, nearly quadrupling from $1.7 million to $5.9 million.

The significant increase in CBSA costs associated with IEC between FYs 2014-15 and 2015-16 is mainly attributable to:

• An increase in costs related to the issuance of work permits at ports of entry, which increased from $1.3 million in FY 2014-15 to $1.9 million in FY 2015-16; and
• The addition of costs related to the issuance of Allowed to Leave Canada forms and Section 44 reports at port of entry, which totalled $1.9 million in FY 2015-16.

While CBSA’s share of IEC-related costs nearly doubled during the period covered, (from approximately 15% in FY 2013-14 to 27% in 2016-17), IRCC’s share shrank by approximately 18% (from 78% in FY 2013-14 to 60% in FY 2016-17) (see Figure 3 of Annex G for more details).

5.2. Human Resource Allocation, by Type of Resource (FTE, LES)

IRCC’s FTEs assigned to the program nearly doubled during the period covered, increasing from approximately 68 FTEs in FY 2013-14 to 113 FTEs in FY 2016-17. FTEs from IRCC’s Operations Sector assigned to support IEC increased significantly during this period, more than doubling from approximately 32 FTEs to 76 FTEs for the same fiscal years (see Table 7 in Annex G for more details).

5.3. Budgeted and Actual Cost, By Year

During the period covered, IRCC’s total costs of $43.5 million for the delivery and support of IEC were partially offset by revenues generated by the program, which reached a total of approximately $30.8 million. Data is shown in Table 8 of Annex G.

5.4. Processing Cost Per IEC Application

When considering the volume of applications and the total costs to deliver the program, the cost per processed IEC application increased from $178 per application in FY 2013-14 to $248 in FY 2016-17, with an average cost per decision of $235^{Footnote 33} for the period covered (data is shown in Table 9 of Annex G). The average cost per processed application was higher than the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program ($202) excluding IEC.

6. Conclusions and Recommendations

Overall, the IEC Program is supporting Canada’s international, economic and social interests. The IEC Program has been successful at facilitating the entry of foreign youth as well as providing a mechanism for Canadian youth to go abroad.

Youth are able to work temporarily, experience a new culture, and explore a foreign country. As result of the IEC program, youth are gaining a variety of cultural experiences and learning about the country to which they travelled. In addition, youth, both Canadian and foreign, are reporting gaining professional experiences abroad and indicating that it has been or will be helpful in their careers. Another key contribution of the program is the strengthening of Canada’s relationships with partner countries, which is made possible through the youth mobility agreements.

While the IEC Program is functioning well, there are four key areas where the program can be strengthened.

Reconfirm the focus of the IEC Program

The IEC program has multiple components and diverse program outcomes – namely professional, cultural experiences, reciprocity, international, and processing related outcomes. Finding the appropriate balance between the management of numerical reciprocity (i.e., developing new YMAs and reducing quotas with certain countries) and the fostering of international bilateral relations is a complex task. While the benefit that YMAs can provide to Canada can be multiple, if participation between two countries is not equal/near equal, reciprocity is not being achieved. As reciprocity is the foundational element of the program through the Regulations, the Department would benefit from reviewing the purpose of reciprocity within the context of IEC, and if it remains a foundational element, given the benefits achieved through positive bilateral relations. As a result, the IEC program would benefit from reconfirming its focus in order to achieve the outcomes that were set for the program.

Further develop promotional efforts

Given the low program awareness among Canadian youth, the growing disparities between Canadian and foreign youth participation, and most importantly the great benefits Canadian youth are reporting from their IEC experience, the department should seize the opportunity to market and promote the IEC Program to Canadians.

Program Monitoring

Being able to monitor the program effectively and tell the IEC results story relies on mutual data sharing between Canada and YMA countries. Currently, data regarding the number of Canadians going abroad is not always being shared, and it is sometimes not timely or reliable. This limits the ability to fully understand the results for one portion of the program.

Mechanisms enabling the collection of outcomes information is currently lacking for the Canadian youth going abroad. While recognizing the privacy concerns that partner countries may have with sharing personal information on Canadian youth travelling to their country with IRCC, the department should explore ways to collect outcomes information with Canadian youth via foreign countries. As such, the Department should maximize its current YMAs with the view of enhancing and supporting data collection on Canadian youth.

Impact on the Workforce

While some information was obtained regarding foreign youth employment in Canada, to fully understand the direct impact of the IEC Program on the Canadian labour market requires further research.

Since the IEC program is the largest component of the International Mobility Program and Temporary Foreign Worker programs, it supplies significant numbers of foreign youth who may temporarily access the Canadian labour market without a labour market impact assessment. While the program has its reciprocal elements which aim to offset any potential displacement caused by foreign youth on the labour market, more research needs to be done to determine the extent to which the IEC program has an impact on the Canadian labour market, including its impact on the different sectors of the economy.

Annex A: Youth Mobility Agreement Country List

Countries with YMAs, as of October 2018.

• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Chile
• Costa Rica
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hong Kong
• Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Mexico
• The Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• San Marino
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• South Korea
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Taiwan
• Ukraine
• United Kingdom

Annex B: Profile of IEC Foreign Youth Participants

Annex C: Logic Model for the International Experience Canada Program (August 2017)

Text version: Annex C: Logic Model for the International Experience Canada Program (August 2017)

Annex C illustrates the logic model for the International Experience Canada Program at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which serves as a visual representation of the activities, outputs and intended outcomes of the Program.

Program Activities

There are three main program activities expected to lead to outputs for the International Experience Canada Program.

Program Activity 1

Program Design and Development includes the following sub-activities:

• Design policy approaches and develop policy and program framework
• Conduct research to support policy framework
• Administer, manage and monitor vote net program funding and activities based on policy approaches
• Monitor program performance and compliance

Program Activity 2

Outreach and Partnership Management includes the following sub-activities:

• Market IEC to Canadian and foreign target audiences
• Negotiate new and manage existing formal bilateral arrangements and agreements with countries and stakeholder partners
• Monitor and assess program implementation by foreign governments

Program Activity 3

Service Delivery includes the following sub-activities:

• Process applications for foreign nationals under IEC in line with service standards and best practices
• Develop & maintain program delivery instructions
• Provide support activities for program delivery
• Provide functional guidance

Program Outputs

These program sub-activities are expected to lead to the following program outputs.

Sub-program output 1: Program Design and Development

• Policy option papers
• Corporate reports
• Program statistics and reports
• Program framework

Sub-program output 2: Outreach and Partnership Management

• Youth mobility arrangements (MOUs, treaties)
• Partnership arrangements, terms of reference
• Events, conferences, consultations
• Promotional and outreach products

Sub-program output 3: Service Delivery

• Eligibility decisions
• Training materials and guides
• System updates
• Service standards and best practices

Immediate Outcomes

These activities and outputs are all expected to lead to four immediate outcomes.

Immediate Outcome 1

• IEC policy decisions (including selection of countries, organizations, and partners) are informed by reliable data and program information

Immediate Outcome 2

• Awareness of IEC among Canadians and foreign target audiences

Immediate Outcome 3

• Reciprocity is reflected in youth mobility opportunities

Immediate Outcome 4

• Timely authorization for eligible foreign nationals to work in Canada and timely access for employers to eligible foreign nationals

Intermediate Outcomes

These immediate outcomes are expected to lead to the following Intermediate Outcome.

• Diverse cultural and professional experiences abroad for Canadians, and in Canada experience for foreign national youth
• Reciprocal participation in IEC

Ultimate Outcomes

Together, these immediate and intermediate program outcomes lead to an Ultimate Outcome:

• IEC supports Canada’s international, economic, and social interests.

This ultimate outcome feeds into the following strategic outcomes:

• DRF Outcome R1: Entry to Canada of eligible visitors, international students and temporary workers is facilitated
• DRF Outcome R2: Facilitation of temporary entry helps to generate economic benefits economy

Annex D: Evaluation Questions

Relevance

1. Is there an ongoing need for Canada to maintain the IEC Program?
2. Is the IEC Program aligned with departmental and Government of Canada priorities?

Performance – Management

3. To what extent does the management of IEC support effective program delivery?
4. To what extent is IEC reciprocity being reflected and achieved in youth mobility opportunities?

Performance – Effectiveness and Efficiency

5. To what extent are Canadians and foreign target audiences aware of IEC opportunities?
6. What type of cultural and professional experiences are being obtained through the IEC Program?
7. To what extent is the IEC Program supporting Canada’s international, economic, and social interests?
8. To what extent has IEC processing been timely and support program integrity?

Performance – Resource Management

9. Are the program’s resources managed effectively to facilitate the achievement of outcomes?

Annex E: IEC Reciprocity – Quotas, Participants and Ratios (2007, 2013 and 2017)

Annex E: IEC Reciprocity - Quotas, Participants and Ratios (2007, 2013 and 2017)

2007

2013

2017

Source: Immigration Branch, July 2018.

Note 1: 2017 data for Costa Rica and Switzerland was not available.

Note 2: N/A - Reciprocity ratios could not be calculated as no Canadians went to those countries through the IEC Program.

Note 3: The YMAs with Mexico and Ukraine are currently suspended.

Annex F: CEEDD

Figure C1: Incidence of Employment Earnings by Temporary Resident Program

Text version: Figure C1: Incidence of Employment Earnings by Temporary Resident Program

Year	Research, educational or training programsTable note *	Other permits with ESDC Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA)	Study permitsTable note *	Significant benefits	International Experience Canada (IEC)	Post-Grad employment programTable note *
2004	49.91	33.94	11.47	36.59	61.17	74.47
2005	51.56	39.73	12.99	41.6	59.14	72.14
2006	54.38	46.11	13.62	43.75	62.16	74.46
2007	53.22	57.06	14.09	42.81	64.34	73.51
2008	55.36	65.59	14.08	44.99	62.41	72.22
2009	50.89	63.82	14.72	45.59	58.83	65.33
2010	52.12	60.49	14.36	44.99	57.63	58.54
2011	50.1	63.49	14.44	53.24	57.79	58.85
2012	51.36	69.01	14.74	57.55	59.76	62.97
2013	50.53	71.46	15.13	61.79	61.66	64.7
2014	55.37	68.86	20.18	57.98	63.78	65.77
2015	64.06	60.61	26.5	49.56	64.13	66.34

Source: CEEDD, 2015

Figure C2: Average Employment Earnings by Temporary Resident Program

Text version: Figure C2: Average Employment Earnings by Temporary Resident Program

Year	Research, educational or training programsTable note *	Other permits with ESDC Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA)	Study permitsTable note *	Significant benefits	International Experience Canada (IEC)	Post-Grad employment programTable note *
2004	$10,300	$46,000	$7,000	$110,000	$5,200	$14,000
2005	$12,100	$51,000	$7,000	$126,000	$6,700	$16,000
2006	$13,500	$50,000	$7,400	$121,000	$7,700	$18,600
2007	$14,700	$44,000	$7,900	$130,000	$8,800	$21,000
2008	$16,300	$38,000	$8,100	$123,000	$9,500	$23,000
2009	$16,600	$40,000	$8,500	$129,000	$10,200	$22,000
2010	$16,100	$42,000	$9,000	$118,000	$10,900	$22,000
2011	$15,800	$43,000	$9,500	$108,000	$12,400	$23,000
2012	$16,100	$43,000	$10,200	$104,000	$13,300	$24,000
2013	$15,300	$43,000	$10,600	$90,000	$13,800	$25,000
2014	$14,800	$45,000	$9,200	$85,000	$15,300	$25,000
2015	$14,700	$46,000	$9,600	$96,000	$15,300	$28,000

Source: CEEDD, 2015

Annex G: Resource Management Tables and Figures

Table 6: Total IEC Program Costs^{Table note *} (IRCC and OGDs), FY 2013-14 and 2016-17

Note: “Direct program delivery” and “Direct program support” (i.e., “mains”) are activities and processes assigned specifically to the delivery of a program (i.e., “output”). “Indirect program delivery support” and “Indirect program support” (i.e., “feeders”) are activities and processes that contribute to the delivery of one or several programs (i.e., “outputs”).

Source: IRCC Cost Management Model

Figure 3: IRCC and OGDs Share of Total IEC Program Costs, FY 2013-14 to 2016-17

Text version: Figure 3: IRCC and OGDs Share of Total IEC Program Costs, FY 2013-14 to 2016-17

Departments	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17
IRCC	78%	72%	61%	60%
CBSA	15%	12%	28%	27%
Other government departments (OGDs)	7%	17%	11%	13%

Note: Data for FY 2016-17 should be interpreted with caution as the Cost Management Model for that FY has not been validated.

Source: IRCC Cost Management Model

Table 7: Total IEC Program FTEs (by Sector), FY 2013-14 to 2016-17

Note: “Direct program delivery” and “Direct program support” (i.e., “mains”) are resources assigned specifically to the delivery of a program (i.e., “output”). “Indirect program delivery support” and “Indirect program support” (i.e., “feeders”) are resources that contribute to the delivery of one or several programs (i.e., “outputs”).

Source: IRCC Cost Management Model

Table 8: IEC Program Costs and Revenues, FY 2013-14 and 2016-17

Source: IRCC Cost Management Model

Table 9: Costs per Processed Application (Total IRCC and OGD Costs), FY 2013-14 to 2016-17

Program: IEC

Program: TFW

Program: ISP

Note: Applications processed refers to applications for which a final decision was rendered.

Source: IRCC Cost Management Model