Do I need travel insurance for IEC Canada?

Yes. IEC participants must have health insurance for the entire time they are in Canada. The insurance must cover medical care, hospitalisation and repatriation.

Can Canadian border officials ask to see my IEC insurance?

Yes. A Canadian border services officer may ask to see proof of health insurance when you arrive in Canada. You should keep your insurance certificate and policy wording with your passport and Port of Entry letter.

What happens if my IEC insurance is shorter than my planned stay in Canada?

If your insurance is valid for less time than your intended stay in Canada, your IEC work permit may only be issued until the date your insurance expires. Shorter insurance can mean a shorter work permit.

Can True Traveller cover me for up to 24 months for IEC Canada?

True Traveller can offer IEC Canada travel insurance for up to 24 months for eligible applicants, subject to policy terms, eligibility and visa duration. This can help IEC travellers match their insurance length to the period they hope to work and travel in Canada.

Does buying 24 months of insurance guarantee a 24-month IEC work permit?

No. Buying 24 months of insurance does not guarantee that Canadian officials will issue a 24-month work permit. Border decisions remain at the discretion of Canadian officials. Having insurance for the full intended stay helps avoid the specific issue of insurance being shorter than the work permit period requested.

Can I get a refund if I come home early during the first year?

If you return home within the first year of a 2-year policy, you may be able to receive a partial refund for the unused part of your policy.

What documents should I carry when entering Canada on an IEC visa?

Before travelling to Canada, carry your passport, IEC Port of Entry letter, proof of health insurance for your full intended stay, insurance certificate, policy wording showing medical care, hospitalisation and repatriation cover, proof of funds and either a departure ticket or funds to buy one.

True Traveller Insurance

On the IEC scheme, participants from the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, and Portugal are required to have health insurance for 2 years on arrival, to ensure that their work permit is issued for 2 years.

There are some situations where people may not like Canada and want to come back home or need to come back home for a reason which may not be covered by an insurance claim.

If you’re going to carry on travelling to Asia, Australia or South America, your insurance will remain valid, but if you must come home, we have special permission by the insurer to partially refund your insurance premium if you have been away for under 12 months, haven’t made any claims and didn’t take out your policy whilst already travelling, subject to the following:

• You must email us a copy of your e-ticket home, as well as a copy of your 2 year Work Permit, which we may arrange to have cancelled.
• You will be charged for the time utilized on your policy, calculated from the date you advise us that you would like your policy cancelled. For example, if your policy is cancelled after 5 months, we will apply the premium for 5 months and then refund you the balance of your premium. So, note that the refund is not calculated on a pro-rata basis. You can just re-quote for the time you have spent away to work out the refund for yourself.
• If you paid any additional premium to cover pre-existing medical conditions, that part of the premium cannot be refunded.
• No administration fees will be applied.

We’ve arranged tens of thousands of travellers’ insurances for their journey to Canada over the past 16 years, and an astonishing number of them go on to get Canadian residency. The chances of you wanting to come home early are small, but if you must come home, you will only pay for the insurance you used; nothing more.

Your True Traveller Policy is insured by Inter Partner Assistance S.A., which is part of the AXA Group, one of the world’s largest insurance companies.

If you’ve already started travelling, and you previous insurance has run out, or you simply forgot before you left to take out travel insurance, you can simply apply online and get cover immediately.

Do however note, if you have already lost an item of baggage, have already seen a medical professional or are feeling ill or have been injured and about to see a medical professional, then we can’t help. Insurance is there to assist you in the event that something may happen, not for things which have already happened.

Your Traveller Policy includes 92 activities as standard, which includes Bungee Jumping, Horse Riding, Safari Touring, Scuba diving to 18M and lots more activities you may end up partaking in on your trip. We even include non-manual work if you’re on a Working Holiday, and include bar and restaurant work as well.

We have our Adventure, Extreme and Ultimate Activity Packs you can select when you apply for your Insurance with us, which covers even more activities, to even include Rock Climbing, Trekking to unlimited altitudes as well as light manual labour again if you’re on a Working Holiday.

If you have an accident on your trip and end up in Hospital, AXA Assistance has a team of multi-lingual staff and medical professionals on duty, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

You can call them from overseas on +44 20 7985 7446, or if you’re in the USA or Canada, you can also call toll free on 1 800 986 6380.

They will be able to assist you and get your medical bills paid, and in cases where it’s medically necessary, arrange to fly you back home for further medical attention.

The Traveller Pack is included as standard on all our policies. However you can upgrade to more adventurous activities to ensure you are covered when undertaking these activities. If there’s an activity not listed, just contact us and we will see if we can get it included for you.

Traveller Pack
Abseiling	Aerobics
Archery	Athletics
Badminton	Ballet
Banana Boating \| excludes Flying Fish	Baseball
Basketball	Black Water Rafting (grades 1-3)
Bowls	Bungee Jumping (2 jumps)
Camel riding (day tour)	Canoeing (inland/ coastal – grades 1-3)
Caving (sightseeing/ tourist attraction) Recreational Visit only	Cheerleading and Baton Twirling (excludes stunts)
Clay pigeon shooting	Cricket
Croquet	Cruising (Cruise Ship)
Curling	Cycling (incidental to the trip) including e-bikes
Cycling (on an organised tour)	Dodge Ball
Dragon Boating (inland/ coastal waters)	Dune Bashing
Walking with Elephants (Riding Elephants not covered)	Field Hockey
Fitness Training	Fishing (inland/ coastal waters) - Sports/ Leisure fishing only – no commercial or rock fishing
Flag American Football	Floorball
Flying (as a fare paying passenger in a licenced scheduled or chartered aircraft or helicopter)	Football (Soccer)
Go Karting	Golf
Gymnastics	Horse riding (leisure/ social/ non-competitive) - No racing/ jumping
Hot Air ballooning	Ice skating (indoor)
Ice skating (outdoor) on a commercially managed rink	Jet boating (inland/ coastal waters)
Jet skiing (inland/ coastal – grades 1-3)	Kayaking (inland/ coastal – grades 1-3)
Kite boarding (on land or water)	Lacrosse
Martial Arts training (non-contact)	Motorcycling (on road under 125cc) (1) – No Motorcycle Touring
Netball	Non Manual/ Clerical Work (2)
Orienteering	Outdoor endurance courses up to 3 miles
Outward Bound Pursuits	Paint Balling/ Airsoft
Parasailing/ Parascending (Over water)	Racquetball
Rifle range/ Sports shooting	River Boarding/ Hydro Speeding (grades 1-3)
Roller Skating/ Rollerblading	Rounders
Rowing/ Sculling (inland/ coastal waters – no white water)	Running/ Jogging (up to half marathon distance)
Safari Travel	Sandboarding/ Sand Skiing
Sailing (inland/ coastal waters)	Scuba Diving (up to 18 metres in depth)
Segway Tours (Helmet must be worn)	Skateboarding (ramp, half pipe, skate park, street) \| excludes Electric Skateboarding
Snorkeling	Snowshoeing (Flat Terrain)
Softball	Speed Boating (inland/ coastal waters – no white water)
Squash	Stand up Paddle Surfing/ Paddle Boarding
Surfing	Swimming (pool; enclosed, inland/ coastal waters)
Swimming with Dolphins/ Whales/ Whale Sharks	Table Tennis
Tandem Skydive (1 jump)	Tennis
Trampolining	Trekking up to 3,000 metres
Triathlon up to Sprint Distance	Tubing on rivers (grades 1-2)
Ultimate Frisbee	Volleyball
Wall Climbing (Man-made Climbing Walls) – No soloing	Water Polo
White Water Rafting (grades 1-3)	Windsurfing (inland/ coastal)
Yoga	Zip Lining
Adventure Pack
Aerial hoop or silks (Max 2m above the floor)	Aerial Safari
Bicycle Polo	Black Water Rafting (grades 4-5)
Bouldering – No soloing	Boxing/Muay Thai Boxing (training only)
Bungee Jumping (3 or more jumps)	Camel Trekking (overnight/ main mode of transport)
Canyon Swinging	Canyoning
Canoeing (inland/coastal – grades 4-5)	Cheerleading and Baton Twirling (includes stunts)
Dirt Boarding	Dogsledding (on recognised trails)
Fencing	Fishing (outside coastal waters/ deep sea) – Sport/ Leisure Fishing only
Fly By Wire	Glacier Walking
Horse riding (overnight/main mode of transport)	Indoor Skydiving
Kayaking (inland/coastal – grades 4-5)	Kite Buggy
Land Surfing	Marathons
Martial Arts - Judo/ Karate /Jiu-Jitsu only (training only)	Motorcycling (on road over 125cc) (3) – No Motorcycle Touring
Mountain Biking (MTB trail grades Green/Blue)	Open water swimming with support boat (above 5˚C)
Outdoor endurance courses up to 8 miles	Outrigger canoeing (inland/ coastal waters)
Quad Biking (Helmet must be worn)	Permitted Manual Work (4)
Rock Climbing (outdoor/traditional/sport climbing/bolted/aid climbing). Excludes Sea Cliff/Ice Climbing/Big Walling over 450M	Roller Hockey
Sailing (outside coastal waters)	Scuba Diving (up to 40 metres in depth)
Shark Cage Diving	Spearfishing
Trekking up to 4,600 metres (N)	Triathlon to Middle Distance /Half Ironman
Via Ferrata (schall scale A-C)	Volunteering (6)
Water Skiing/ Wakeboarding/ Wake Skating (No jumping)	White Water Rafting (grades 4-5)
Wing Foiling (within coastal waters)	Zorbing
Extreme Pack
American Football	Australian Rules Football (AFL)
Caving / Potholing (as part of a group, not ice; known routes only)	Coasteering
Cycle Touring	Cycling - BMX
Flying (as pilot or passenger of a private light aircraft) - No Stunt/ Aerobatics or Commercial flying.	Gaelic Football
Gliding	Horse Riding (Equestrian, Dressage, Show Jumping, Eventing)
Hurling	Kite Wing (land, water only)
Motorcycling/Trail Biking (off-road under 250cc) (7) – No Motorcycle Touring/ No Motocross	Mountain Biking (MTB Trail Grade Red)
Outdoor endurance courses up to 13 miles	Ranching and Ranch activities
Roller Derby	Rugby (League/ Union)
Scuba Diving (up to 50 metres in depth)	Tandem Paragliding (1 flight)
Trapeze/ High Wire/ Aerial Silks	Trekking over 4,600 metres (8) (N)
Via Ferrata (schall scale D-E)	Water Skiing (Barefoot)
Wrestling/Sumo Wrestling
Ultimate Pack
Climbing (Ice) – No soloing.	Hang Gliding
Mountain Biking (MTB Trail Grade Black)	Mountaineering to 6,000M with (with ropes, picks or specialist climbing equipment). (N)
Parachuting – More than 1 Jump \| excludes Base Jumping	Paragliding/Parapenting/Paramotoring
Parasailing/Parascending	Polo/Polocrosse
Sea Cliff Climbing – No soloing	Skydiving/Tandem Skydiving – More than 1 Jump
Triathlon to Full Distance /Ironman	Ultramarathon – Max distance 250km /No Polar Cover

(1) Note you must have the correct licence in your Country of Residence to drive a motorcycle or cover is not available. If you are from the UK, you are only covered if you have either a full Motorcycle Licence, or in the absence of that you have taken a Compulsory basic training (CBT) course in the past two years. A helmet must be worn when riding a motorbike.

(2) Non Manual/Clerical Work means professional, clerical or administrative work or working as a classroom teacher, classroom assistant, au pair, child-minder, bar and restaurant work.

(3) Note you must have the correct motorbike licence in your Country of Residence to drive a motorcycle or cover is not available. A helmet must be worn when riding a motorbike.

(4) Permitted Manual Work means general farm work and fruit picking. This includes driving tractors and other similar farm vehicles so long as you comply with any appropriate license requirements; doctor, nurse, midwife and care work (including medical elective trips but not dental elective); light building and DIY e.g. painting, decorating or basic construction work using light power tools only. Permitted Manual Work is not covered if it involves the use of plant/trade/industrial machinery, non-domestic power tools or working at a height of over 2 metres.

(6) Volunteering means your participation in community or wildlife based conservation/project work when arranged by a professional organisation. This may include caring, teaching or nursing. It may also cover community/charity based supervised building/renovation projects or other Permitted Manual Work, provided the activity does not involve the use of plant/trade/industrial/agricultural machinery (other than tractors), non-domestic power tools or working at a height of over 2 metres.

(7) Note you must have the correct motorbike licence in your Country of Residence to drive a motorcycle or cover is not available. A helmet must be worn when riding a motorbike.

(8) Trekking over 4,600 metres exclude rock climbing at altitude. This is covered by Mountaineering in the Ultimate Pack. However, trekking will include peaks such as Mera Peak and Island Peak in Nepal, as these are treks and no mountaineering skills are required for these summits.

(N) If travelling to Nepal, you must also select the Trekking in Nepal option.

Please Note: The above list of activities is subject to the full policy terms and conditions which we suggest you read to ensure you are happy with the cover you elect to arrange.

Can I take out this Insurance if I’m already abroad?

If you are normally a resident of the UK or Europe and your insurance has run out, you may take out cover online with us for Single Trip policies. This is on the understanding that nothing has occurred at the time of taking out the cover which has led to a claim or may lead to a potential claim. Obviously, this insurance will not pay for your belongings if you’ve already lost them, medical bills if you’ve already incurred them or any other events known to exist at the time of arranging cover which might give rise to a subsequent claim. Note, purely as an anti-fraud measure, there is no cover in the first 48 hours after you’ve taken out your policy, except of course in the case where you suffer an injury as a result of an accident.

Please note if you are already travelling, you MUST select this option otherwise your Policy is not valid.

If I take out Insurance and get ill, where will I get repatriated to?

In the unlikely event of this happening, you will be repatriated back to your home country as long as the appropriate geographic premium has been paid and it has been agreed by the 24 hour Emergency Medical Assistance Service.

Please Note: The above FAQs are subject to the full policy terms and conditions which we suggest you read to ensure you are happy with the cover you elect to arrange.

Your Country of Residence is the country where you:

Note if you have recently been travelling, we do not have any minimum residency requirements. This means, for example, if you are a British Passport holder and have right of abode in the UK, we are not concerned as to how many months in the past year you have been in the UK provided at the time of arranging this insurance you fulfil all the requirements as set out above.

The Start Date is the date you leave your home to start your trip, or the date you want cover to start if you're already travelling.

The End Date is the date the policy will expire, so select the date you expect to return home, or the date you expect to reach your destination if you only need one-way cover.

Please enter your age that you are today. For infants aged under 1, please enter 0 as the age.

Please select where you are travelling to.

Please choose your country of residence.

Please enter your age.

Please add the age textbox through spinner plus sign to enter traveller age.

Age cannot be zero.

Caution - Age Check

You have entered the ages of all travellers as below 18 years of age. If this is a mistake please go back and correct this error so you can complete your application.

If the ages should all be under 18 years, please note to enter any sort of financial contract the individual purchasing the insurance must be 18 years of age or older.

By continuing, you are confirming that you are a parent or legal guardian on behalf of the child to be insured.

Please check already travelling checkbox.

Important Notice

We can offer travel insurance for you if you've left home and already travelling but only on the strict understanding that nothing has already happened which has led to a claim or may lead to a potential claim.

This means, for example, that if you have already lost an item of baggage, have already seen a medical professional or are feeling ill or have been injured and about to see a medical professional, then this policy will not pay for any part of any claim, and any claim attempted in such situations may be treated as fraud, which is a criminal offence.

To prevent fraudulent claims, cover will not commence until 48 hours after the policy has been purchased, and any illness or injury occurring in this waiting period will be considered a pre-existing condition and will not be covered. However, should you suffer a serious injury in an accident in this 48-hour period, which is verifiable by an Independent Witness, then you will be covered from the date cover commenced.

Note there is no 14-day cooling off period when already travelling overseas so no refund of premium will be made in the event you cancel the policy.

Sorry, the maximum length of a policy you can have is limited to 366 days if you are 50 years of age or more. Please amend your End date to in order to get a quote.

Please amend your end date accordingly, and remember it's always possible to extend cover with us even if you're still travelling at the end of this period.

Sorry, the maximum length of a policy you can have is limited to 548 days if you are 36 years or age or more. Please amend your End date to in order to get a quote.

Please amend your end date accordingly, and remember it's always possible to extend cover with us even if you're still travelling at the end of this period.

Sorry, the maximum length of a policy you can have is limited to 548 days (18 months). Please amend your End date to in order to get a quote.

Please amend your end date accordingly, and remember it’s always possible to extend cover with us even if you’re still travelling at the end of this period.

Note: If you need 2 years cover, please change your destination to Worldwide including USA & Canada.

Sorry, the maximum length of a policy you can have is limited to 731 days (24 months). Please amend your End date to in order to get a quote.

Please amend your end date accordingly, and remember it’s always possible to extend cover with us even if you’re still travelling at the end of this period.

Sorry, you can only start a policy with a commencement date up to 364 days from today’s date, so please amend your start date.

… but since most of our insurances are for adventurous activities or for backpackers, the maximum age we are able to insure to is 75, as for our sort of business mix, we’re unable to get rates from Underwriters for ages above this.

For residents of the UK, we recommend you telephone Goodtogoinsurance.com on 0330 024 9949 as they can insure persons aged 76 and above.

Goodtogoinsurance.com is a trading name of Ancile Insurance Group Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 471641).

For residents of Europe, we recommend you contact your local AXA Insurance office.

Sorry, but since the majority of our insurances are for adventurous activities or for backpackers, the maximum age we are able to insure to is 65, as for our sort of business mix we’re unable to get rates from Underwriters for ages above this.

We don't know of any travel insurer who will offer cover to any persons aged 66 or more who are already travelling, so we suggest you contact your current insurer to see if they will extend your current cover.

Please select the travelling start date.

Please select the travelling end date.

Important Notice

We have detected that you are using a computer which doesn't appear to be located in your Country of Permanent Residence.

Please be aware that you must choose the "Already Travelling" option on this page to ensure your policy is valid. Without the Already Travelling endorsement shown on your Policy, the policy is simply not valid and claims may be declined.

You may of course be purchasing this insurance for someone else, or you may be using a Corporate Internet routing through another country which we cannot detect, so if that is the case then please contact The True Traveller by telephone where one of our operators will be pleased to assist.

The start date of your insurance is in the past. Please correct the start date.

All True Traveller policies include medical, cancellation and curtailment cover for Coronavirus.

For further information about the Coronavirus and your True Traveller policy, please go to the Coronavirus FAQs on our website.

We're sorry, but Multi-Trip policies are only available for travellers up to 65 years of age.

If you’re over 65, please click here to get a Single Trip quote — we’re able to offer cover on Single Trip policies for travellers up to 75 years old.

Europe inc. Morocco, Egypt & Israel

Australia & New Zealand

Worldwide excluding USA / Canada

Worldwide

IEC Canada Travel Insurance for Working Holidays

Unlimited Home Visits

Available if already in Canada

No Return Ticket required

Up to £10M Medical Cover

Important: what border officials may ask for

Quick answer

Why IEC travellers choose True Traveller

Comprehensive cover

Flexible cover

Global support

Value and choice

What to carry / show at the border

of cover for eligible IEC Canada applicants

Partial refund may be available

True Value

The Traveller

Traveller Plus

IEC Canada insurance FAQs

IEC FAQ

True Value

The Traveller

Traveller Plus

True Value

The Traveller

Traveller Plus

Annual Multi Trip Policies

One policy to cover all your activities. Phew!

Types of insurance we can offer you

Trekking

One-way

Backpacker

Gap Year Travel

IEC for Canada

Winter Sports

Already Travelling

Multi-trip

Trekking

One-way

Backpacker

Gap Year Travel

IEC for Canada

Winter Sports

Already Travelling

Multi-trip

Why buy from True Traveller

Why choose True Traveller?

In partnership with AXA

Already Travelling Cover

92 activities as standard

24/7 emergency assistance

Online claims

One-way travel insurance

Road and gadget cover

Activity and high risk cover

In partnership with AXA

Already Travelling Cover

92 activities as standard

24/7 emergency assistance

Online claims

One-way travel insurance

Road and gadget cover

Activity and high risk cover

Trusting your insurer

Our Insurer

Already Travelling – No Problem

92 Activities as standard

24/7 Medical Assistance Service

Choose your Activity Pack

Are you already travelling?

Where do you normally live?

Start and End Dates

Travellers Ages

Travelling To Caution

Residence Caution

Blank Age Caution