One way to migrate to Canada is via the Intra-Company Transfers. If your company has a parent company, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate in Canada, you might be able to migrate to Canada an Intra-Company Transfer (ICT). In this article, we will share information on how to migrate to Canada via Intra-Company Transfers.
ICT work permits are initially valid for one year and may be eligible for renewal. If the worker qualifies. If you are considering this route, the employers are exempt from the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) requirement. However, both the company and the transferee must meet certain qualifications to be eligible for the ICT.
Requirements For Companies
For a company to qualify for an ICT, it must be operating in Canada and not just having a physical presence. The Canadian and foreign locations must be providing goods and services on an ongoing basis. However, if your company is a startup, there may be some flexibility.
In specific cases, involving the transfer of senior managers or executives, Canada may accept that the address of the new start-up is not yet secured. The company may use its lawyer’s Canadian address until the executive can purchase or lease a location. Also, start-ups must have realistic plans to staff their new operations and be financially able to start a business in Canada and pay employees.
Also, the company must meet the following requirements:
- When transferring executives or managers, the company must demonstrate it will be large enough to support executive or management functions.
- When transferring a worker with specialized knowledge, the company must ensure the work is guided and directed by management at the Canadian operation and demonstrate that the company is expected to be doing business.
Requirements For Transferee
Intra-company transferees may apply for work permits if they:
- work with a multi-national company and seek to work in a parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate of that company in Canada;
- are being transferred to a position in an executive, senior managerial, or specialized knowledge capacity;
- are transferring to a Canadian location that has a qualifying relationship with their current company, and will be working at a legitimate and continuing establishment of that company;
- have been working continuously (via payroll or by contract directly with the company), with the company that plans to transfer them outside Canada in a similar full-time position for at least one year in the three-year period immediately preceding the date of initial application.
- are coming to Canada temporarily;
- comply with all immigration requirements for temporary entry.
If the transferee does not have full-time work experience with the foreign company, immigration officers may consider other factors before refusing the applicant on this basis alone. Some of the other considerations could be
- number of years of work experience the applicant had with the foreign company,
- similarity of the positions, and
- the extent of the part-time position.
Officers may also look for signs of abuse of the intra-company transferee provision.
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