An intra-company transferee in Canada refers to a worker who is being transferred from a foreign branch, subsidiary, or affiliate of a company to a Canadian branch, subsidiary, or affiliate. This is part of Canada’s immigration and work permit process designed to facilitate the transfer of key personnel within multinational companies. That can be done with a new branch, subsidiary, or affiliate to be created in Canada or an existing one.

* REQUIREMENTS:

To qualify for an intra-company transferee work permit, the following requirements typically need to be met:

– Employment Relationship: The employee must have been employed by the company for at least one year full-time (no accumulated part-time) in the last three years and must be transferring to a position in Canada that is managerial, executive, or involves specialized knowledge.

– Company Structure: The Canadian entity must be affiliated with the foreign company, such as being a branch, subsidiary, or affiliate.

– Position: The position in Canada should be in a similar role to the one held in the foreign office, typically requiring managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge skills.

* BENEFIT:

The benefit of this category is that it allows for relatively smooth and expedited processing of work permits (3 months processing time on average) given that the employee’s transfer is part of an intra-company arrangement. Additionally, intra-company transferees are eligible for work permits that are not subject to the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), which is usually required for other types of work permits.

* DURATION OF WORK PERMITS

– Initial work permit: one year

– For renewals, evidence should be provided that:

  • The Canadian and foreign companies still have a qualifying relationship;
  • The new office has engaged in the continuous provision of goods or services for the past year;
  • The new office has been staffed.

After intra-company transferees have reached their maximum work permit duration (seven years for executives and senior managers, and five years for specialized knowledge workers), they must complete one year of full-time employment in the company outside Canada if they wish to re-apply as an intra-company transferee.

Once a transferee has a validated job offer or accumulates one or more years of experience in Canada, he can normally access Permanent residency status after meeting conditions of the Express Entry programs or Provincial skilled worker programs depending on the location of the work.