An Intra-Company transfer makes it possible for an employee of a Company to work for the company’s branch/subsidiary/division/affiliate/parent company in Canada without the need to obtain a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). That is the work permit through an Intra-Company transfer program is LMIA exempt.

Note: To learn about Intra-Company transfers in general, click here.

It is quite normal for IT companies and corporations to have branches in different parts of the world. Sometimes, if not quite often, they are businesses that facilitate one or more other businesses, and their presence in a global scale is indispensable form an operational perspective. Also, though spoken languages change from one country to another, the language of technology does not. This mitigates the risk of cultural/linguistic conflicts which many Canadian employers prefer to avoid in their workplace.

Intra-Company transfers gives the special benefit to IT employees and professionals in that they can obtain facilitated (LMIA exempt) work permits to work in their company’s branch/subsidiary/division/affiliate/parent company in Canada. This is an attractive option for Canadian employers because they do not have to bear the formalities, expenses, as well as hassles with respect to a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). That is, for Canadian employers to hire IT/Tech professionals through an Intra-Company transfer program, depending on the specific case, they may not have to prove that they were unable to find the required talent (professionals) inside Canada.