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Wonders of Canada

If you are looking to get paid work on your gap year or career break, Canada is quite possibly one of the most exciting places that you could go. A good wage, stunning scenery and the ease of using English language all make this one of the best places in the world to spend your gap year working! An Oyster job in Canada perfectly combines an opportunity to earn money, ski and socialise.

All of the employers that we work with expect you to work hard and to a high standard. You will be required to be punctual, well presented and polite. The perks of working with one of our employers is that they also want you to make the most of your days off work. One thing is for sure, there will be plenty of ways to spend your hard-earned wages in Canada! At the end of the season, you will be in a fantastic location so why not take the time to explore a bit further afield and make the most of your gap year in Canada.

Just want to say thank you for all your help, you made my gap year arrangements to get to Canada very easy, the journey smooth and stress free – Jake, Canada participant

Our resorts

Choose between 3 awesome resorts that offer gap year jobs in Canada for either the winter or summer season:

Whistler

Regularly voted the #1 ski resort in North America and host of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, Whistler Blackcomb is a world-class resort. What we love about Whistler is the amount of terrain that is available, the high levels of customer service and that everything is within easy walking distance.

Whistler is located 2 hours north of Vancouver in the Coast Mountain Range. With over 8000 acres of skiable terrain, the resort enjoys an annual average snowfall of over 11 meters!

If you have a great sense of humour, childcare experience and are a confident skier, why not get paid to ski on your gap year with one of our popular Whistler Blackcomb Ski School jobs? Alternatively, secure a job working in one of the many high end hotels in Whistler village in a customer facing role. or in the fast-paced kitchens.

If you are looking to qualify as a ski or snowboard instructor, but don’t have a work permit, you can participate on our 4, 7 or 11 week instructor courses.

The Rockies

Oyster has been sending people to work in The Rockies since 2006 and we have developed links with a number of employers in the hotel industry.

The Rocky Mountains are an outdoor enthusiast’s paradise. With awesome snow in the winter and warm sunshine in the summer, it is easy to see why!

The employers we work with are mostly located in the town of Banff – the hub of this part of the Canadian Rockies.

Tremblant

We’ve been sending people to work in French-speaking Tremblant since 2006 and have links with a number of great employers in the food and beverage/hospitality industry.

This part of Canada is a great place to spend a season. You get to experience a different way of life, living with the mix of French and English speakers. On both our winter and summer Tremblant programmes. we include French lessons to help you on your way. Tremblant is close enough for visits to Ottawa and Montreal, and you can even get a coach to New York for a few days!

Tremblant in the winter is a skier’s paradise. Mont Tremblant has slopes suitable for all levels of skier/boarder. This part of Canada can get bitterly cold. but the blue-sky days are awesome, the views are pretty good too!

During the summer, the weather is warm and sunny. This attracts tourists from all over the world. who want to enjoy the mountain biking, trekking, tobogganing, lakes and the annual IronMan Competition.

On our programmes you get to spend between 4 weeks and a whole season somewhere most people are lucky to say they’ve been to for a week.

For more about the country, check out our guide to Canada.

IEC Work Permit

Each year. the Canadian Immigration and Citizenship (CIC) department releases a limited number of Working Holiday Permits. Applying for, and securing, a Work Permit is your responsibility however we encourage you to apply to Oyster early to get your interview and job offer before receiving our advice on how to secure your permit. You need to be aged between 18 and 30 on the day the CIC receives your application. Therefore, Oyster can only take bookings from people that will be aged at least 18 in the January of the departure year to stand the best chance of being able to get a Work Permit before they run out.

The 2024 IEC Working Holiday application process is now open and we encourage people to book their Oyster place as soon as possible to take advantage of our advice.  There are limited places available each year so we recommend entering the ‘pool of candidates’ as soon as possible.

The IEC Working Holiday Permit is available to citizens of 32 countries including the UK, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal and Spain.

If you have a US Passport, we may still be able to help – just get in touch for details on our American partners.

To submit your profile, visit the International Experience Canada (IEC) webpage or, for instructions on how to start your application, sign up for our free Guide to the Work Permit.

Successfully getting a work permit will allow you to work in Canada for a year or more!

Ski or snowboard instructor courses in Canada

If you miss out on a Canadian Work Permit, or simply don’t have the time to commit to a full season working in Canada, consider our shorter ski or snowboard instructor courses in Whistler. These are purely instructor courses without a job; therefore a tourist visa is all that you need. These courses run for anything from 4-11 weeks.

If you are keen to qualify as a ski instructor and work for a season, we offer a similar course in Austria.

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