ICT is designed to facilitate transfer of employees of multi-national companies.
Multi-national companies with parent, branch, subsidiaries or affiliated companies in Canada may be eligible to repatriate employees to Canada with Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) without the need to obtain a Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).
LMIAs can be costly and time consuming so not having the need to obtain an LMIA is one of the biggest benefits of ICT. For example, obtaining an LMIA requires businesses to demonstrate that bringing in employees from a foreign country will not negatively impact the local labor force or economy.
ICT permits are initially valid for three years. After that, it is possible to renew up to five years for special knowledge holders and up to seven years for executives and senior managers.
employer requirements
A company is eligible to take advantage of ICT work permit only if they are operating in Canada. Canada and overseas locations need to provide goods and services. Merely having a physical presence or office in Canada will not suffice.
However, there are some exceptions for start-ups. If a company is attempting to relocate a senior manager or executive, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) may acknowledge that the start-up address is not yet secure, and the company may require the Canadian address of its attorney. may be allowed to use. leased or purchased.
A start-up must be able to demonstrate a solid and realistic plan to staff its new operation in Canada. They need to be financially able to start and maintain the business as well as pay employees.
If the transferee is an executive or manager, the company needs to show that it is sufficient to require and support executive or management functions.
In many cases, a worker is transferred because of their specialized knowledge. If so, the company needs to ensure that the employee is directed by management at the Canada branch, not supervised from abroad.
transferee requirements
An employee may be eligible to apply for an ICT work permit if they fulfill certain criteria.
To begin, they must be an employee of a multi-national company that has a parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate in Canada, and must have been transferred to the position of an executive, senior manager, or in a specialized knowledge capacity . ,
He/she should be continuously working with the Company for at least one year out of the period of three years immediately preceding the date of initial application. Also, they must only intend to reside in Canada temporarily and must comply with all immigration requirements for temporary entry.
It may also be possible to obtain ICT if the transferee does not have full-time work experience with the company. Immigration officers may consider the number of years an applicant has worked on a part-time basis or the number of positions within the company.
CUSMA
It is also possible to obtain an intra-company transfer through the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), another option that does not require a labor market impact assessment.
This program provides increased mobility for employees of North American companies. Like ICT, the transferee must have worked for one year in a row for their employer in the US or Mexico in the last three years at the time of applying.
To be eligible for ICT for a transferee under CUSMA, they must be employed at the time of application and perform the same work in their overseas job as they would upon arrival in Canada.