Up to 200 young people from Taiwan will be able to have a working holiday in Canada under a reciprocal agreement signed by ROC Representative to Canada David Ta-wei Lee in Ottawa April 16.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the pact allows ROC and Canadian nationals aged between 18 and 35 to apply for a one-year working holiday multi-entry visa. The scheme will begin June 1.
“We hope this program will further enhance exchanges between the young adults of Taiwan and Canada, as well as bolstering bilateral relations,” MOFA spokesman Henry Chen said.
“Through this arrangement, the youth of both nations can gain unique life, travel and work experiences in an overseas environment while enriching respective cultural understandings.”
The program is also expected to provide a welcome boost for ailing Taiwan-Canada tourism ties.
According to the Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications the number of ROC tourists visiting Canada has fallen sharply from 112,413 in 2004 to 61,893 last year.
Canada joins New Zealand, Australia and Japan in signing a working holiday agreement with the ROC. Taiwan is Canada’s 26th working holiday partner.
MOFA said 12,600 ROC citizens participated in working holiday programs last year. Australia accounted for 10,000, Japan 2,000, and New Zealand 600.
“We expect the Canadian program to be extremely popular and will seek to increase the intake number over the next few years,” Chen said. (JSM)
Write to Chiayi Ho at chiayi@mail.gio.gov.tw