What is Intra Company Transfer to Canada?
Canada Intra Company Transfer Work Permit, sometimes called Canada ICT Visa, is suitable for key workers and owners of multinational corporations who will be transferred to work in the affiliated Canadian company, either start-up or established one.
There are many advantages of inter company transfer to Canada, as compared to applying for a regular work permit. In addition to transferring expertise of key staff to the Canadian affiliate, getting ICT Work Permit is facilitated. It does not require LMIA [labour market impact assessment], qualifies for 2-week processing time under the Global Skills Strategy, as well as experience gained on ICT Work Permit can be used to facilitate immigration to Canada after one year of working for Canadian affiliate.
Canada company transfer visa is frequently compared to a work permit based on the Owner Operator LMIA [labour market impact assessment], i.e., another option for business people to come, work in Canada as owner and operator of the business, and eventually immigrate benefiting from 200 points. If you meet the requirements under both programs, for a start-up company – better to first come via intra company transfer, and, once the Canadian operations are running (6-8 months later) apply for Owner Operator LMIA. A comparative analysis of ICT WP and OO LMIA requirements can be found here.
Canada Intra Company Transfer Rules
To be eligible for Intra Company Transfer Work Permit, there are four main requirements for:
- Foreign nationals/ transferees – at the time of transfer to Canadian affiliate must have been working for a foreign entity continuously (i.e., no breaks in employment), full-time (i.e., 30 hours per week), in a similar position, for at least one year. Importantly, not all positions are eligible for ICT Canada visa. Only executives, senior managers, functional managers, and specialized knowledge workers (advanced knowledge in the job and proprietary knowledge about an international business’s service or product) who will be transferred in a similar capacity to Canada. Executives and Senior Managers’ job description, common duties, and responsibilities can be found in NOC 0013, NOC 0014, NOC 0015, NOC 0016. Often, the co-owners and owners/shareholders are acting as executives and general business managers, as long as they are not just passive investors. For example, a work reference letter, pay stubs, dividend payments, shareholder certificates, and other documents can be used to prove the employment requirement for Canada Intra Company Transfer Visa.
- Foreign corporations/ current employers – must be a legal entity doing business, i.e., regularly, systematically, and continuously providing goods or services to the public for around year and a half or longer. For example, the company’s activity can be proved by providing its articles of incorporation, business tax returns, profit and loss statements, license to do business, partnership agreements, business tax returns, registration with the tax authorities, etc.
- Canadian corporation – must be a legal entity that is doing or will be doing business. This means that executives and senior managers can be transferred to a start-up company to establish operations. For example, the following supporting documents can be provided to show the start-up nature of the company – articles of federal or provincial incorporation, a statement from the Candian bank proving that around $100,000 is available to cover start-up expenditures, lease agreement, etc. Read more about Intra-Company Transfer for Office Startup in Canada.
- Qualifying relationship between the foreign and Canadian entities – must be in a parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate relationship. For example, if a Canadian company is a subsidiary, the international company either owns 50% of it or, possibly, less than 50%, but in that case, controls the Canadian subsidiary. Canadian affiliate means that it is and foreign company are both owned by another company or individual or group of persons. Canadian branch is an operating division or office of the same international company housed in a different location.
How to Apply for Intra Company Transfer Work Permit?
Canada Intra Company Transfer Visa Process varies depending on the nationality of a transferee. A temporary foreign worker from a country whose nationals are visa-exempt can apply for Intra Company Transfer Work Permit at the port of entry (POE). All others should apply online.
For example, in the case of Intra Company Transfer from USA to Canada, US citizens can apply at the POE. To make a case stronger and decrease waiting time, a temporary foreign worker can request an opinion from the IMWU [International Mobility Program Unit] to find out if an LMIA exemption applies to your situation. While it does not guarantee the issuance of ICT Work Permit, the opinion provided by the IMWU may be considered by the border services officer and speed up the process.