Irish citizens can work in Canada through International Experience Canada (IEC), a programme for young people that runs under a youth mobility agreement between Ireland and Canada. It offers them all three kinds of IEC permit: Working Holiday, which needs no job offer and lets you work for most employers; Young Professionals, tied to one employer and a job that builds your career; and International Co-op (Internship), for students who need a work placement to complete their studies. Paid skilled work on the first two can later count toward the Canadian Experience Class, the Express Entry route to permanent residence for people with skilled work experience in Canada.

Two documents need planning from Ireland. IRCC, Canada's immigration department, says the county offices of the Garda, Ireland's police, share no central records system, so it asks for a separate police certificate from each county you have lived in during the period your application covers, and the IEC work permit application usually asks for police certificates too. For an educational credential assessment, the report Canada needs before an Irish degree earns points in its ranking of skilled workers, WES, one of the designated assessors, wants your Diploma Supplement (your university's record of subjects and grades) sent electronically by the university or in an envelope it sealed, plus a copy of your degree certificate that you upload yourself.

The mistake to avoid is planning a Working Holiday now and a Young Professionals permit later. IRCC lets an Irish citizen take only one of those two, and after either, the one further IEC participation allowed is International Co-op, which requires you to be a registered student at a college or university in Ireland. Work done while you are a full-time student, co-op placements included, does not count toward the Canadian Experience Class. IRCC counts a participation once you arrive in Canada and get your work permit, so decide which permit suits your plan before you travel.