If your business has a branch/subsidiary/affiliate/parent company/head office/headquarters in Canada, then you can transfer your key employees to the Canadian office without the hassles of a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).

Intra-company transfers are governed by sections R186(a) and R205(a) C12 of the Canadian immigration law. Under the provisions of these sections (that falls under the international mobility program), if a business has its branch/subsidiary/affiliate/parent company/head office/headquarters in Canada, then the business can transfer its key employees to the Canadian office without the hassles of a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). 

Though intra-company transfers are exempt from LMIA (Labour Market Impact Assessment), workers and professionals who use this mobility program must comply to other immigration requirements applicable to foreign workers in Canada. That is, they must apply for a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) or eTA (based on their country of citizenship). The TRV (or eTA) will enable the person to enter Canada, and work as an intra-company transferee. To see if what you need to apply for is a TRV or eTA, click here.

Eligibility Criteria for Intra-Company Transfers (ICT)

Not every person who is working in the company/business can be considered for intra-company transfers. The person must meet certain criteria. The person must:

• Have been working with the company for at least 1 year (12 months);
• Be coming to Canada to perform “comparable” work he or she had been executing at his or her current company;
• The nature of work he or she is planning to execute in Canada must fall under one of the below 3 categories:

• Executive level: At an executive level, the employee must be performing some significant duties and responsibilities like being a key player in certain aspect(s) of the business;
• Senior Manager level: At a senior manager level, the employee will be managing or controlling the work performed by other managers and/or employees;
• Subject Matter Expert (SME): Being an SME, the employee must be having expert knowledge about the product(s) and/or service(s) of the company, OR, advanced knowledge in the company/enterprise’s policies and procedures.

To qualify for this program, two additional criteria must also be met. They are:

• The company/business must demonstrate a qualifying relationship with its counterpart in Canada;
• The company/business must demonstrate a qualifying relationship with its employee(s) whom they are planning to transfer to their Canadian counterpart.

If you are a foreign company or business and wish to start a Canadian subsidiary/branch/affiliate, you can now accomplish this easily by transferring your key employees to Canada through Intra-Company Transfers to perform the essential start-up operations.