Finland, Canada allow youths to work in partner country

The youths of Finland and Canada will be allowed to work in the partner country as The Youth Mobility Agreement between the countries will enter into force on March 1, said the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in a press release on Thursday.

The agreement allows Canadian and Finnish young people aged 18 to 35 to explore the other country through temporary work and travel.

The agreement between Finland and Canada was signed in March 2023 and the Finnish government on Thursday proposed that the President to approve the agreement and ratify the act on Friday.

Consequently, the agreement will enter into force on 1 March 2024. Its entry into force will be regulated separately in a government decree to be adopted later.

In future, Finnish and Canadian young people can explore the culture, languages and society of the other country on a reciprocal basis. They can stay and work in the other country for up to a year.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for Finnish and Canadian young people and employers. Young people can gain valuable and useful work experience abroad,” said Arto Satonen, Minister of Employment.

Finland already has working holiday agreements in place with Australia (2002), New Zealand (2004) and Japan (2023), although the agreement between Finland and Canada is wider in scope.

Working holiday agreements are characterised by people primarily going on holiday to another country and supplementing their stay with work or studies.

The agreement between Finland and Canada also allows young people to enter the other country primarily for work or an internship in addition to a working holiday.

An individual applicant may be granted a residence permit on the basis of the agreement once on each of the three grounds (working holiday agreement, work or internship). Each time, a residence permit can be granted for up to a year.

Residence permits for Finland based on the agreement should be addressed to the Finnish Immigration Service. Similarly, Canadian authorities are in charge of the application process for residence permits for Canada based on the agreement.

It is estimated that Finnish young people submit almost a thousand residence permit applications a year for Australia based on the working holiday agreement, as well as several hundred for New Zealand.

However, the number of applications submitted in Australia and New Zealand for Finland is smaller.