It is clearly stated in the IEC guidelines that when you first arrive to activate your IEC work permit you need to be able to show travel insuarance for the full duration of the IEC applicable to your country and also access to at least 2500 CDN. Given most IEC durations are 12 months or more it would be impossible to buy a return anyway given airlines only issue returns upto around 11 months out from issue date so a return is not expected.
