ICT

Canada has a program called the International Mobility Program that allows high-skilled foreign workers to temporarily work in Canada as an Intra-Company Transferee or other known as the ICT Canada. If an international company has a location within Canada that company can apply to have any of their employees transferred to the Canada location. Applying for an Intra-Company Transfer visa allows the company and employee to avoid applying for an LMIA since this is an LMIA-exempt work permit. Qualified intra-company transferees require work permits and are exempted from the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). They provide significant economic benefits to Canada by transferring their expertise to Canadian businesses.
With a small number of exceptions, all foreign nationals wishing to work in Canada must obtain a Canadian work permit. In most cases, in order to apply for a work permit, a foreign national must be issued a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) from a Canadian employer. The intra-company transfers stream of the International Mobility Program enables foreign nationals to obtain a work permit without an LMIA.

General Requirements for the Employe

• – Must be employed at a multinational company seeking entry to Canada to work at the company’s parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate.
• – The enterprise in Canada must have a qualifying relationship as outlined below.
• – The employee must be applying to work in Canada in a position at the executive level, senior managerial level, or in a position requiring specialized knowledge.
• – Must have been employed with the company for at least 1 year (full-time) with the company within the previous 3 years.

Who can get an ICT work permit for Canada?

Companies may seek to get an Intra-company Transfer (ICT) work permit if:

• – the enterprises outside and inside of Canada have a parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate relationship.
• – the two enterprises are doing business. This means they are providing goods and services on an ongoing basis. The company must be
• – operational in Canada; they can not just have a physical location in Canada.

Employees may apply to get an ICT work permit if they:

• – are currently employed by a multi-national company and seeking entry to Canada to work in a parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate of that company.
• – are transferring to a company that has a qualifying relationship with the company in which they are currently employed and will be undertaking employment at a legitimate and continuing establishment of the company in Canada.
• – have been continuously employed (via payroll or a contract) by the company that plans to transfer them to Canada in a similar full-time position for at least one year in the three-year period immediately preceding the date of the initial application.

* If the employee worked part-time, IRCC may consider other factors like the number of years of work experience with the foreign company, the similarity of the position with the one in Canada, the extent of the part-time position, and whether there are signs the company is looking to abuse the purpose of the ICT work permit.

* If there is a recent corporate acquisition or merger, it is not required for the employee to have worked for the company for a year provided the employee has worked for one of the affiliates for at least one year in the previous three years. The successor entity must demonstrate it has assumed the interests, obligations, assets, and liabilities of the original company and continues to operate the same type of business as the original company.

• – are coming to Canada for a temporary period only.
• – comply with all of Canada’s immigration requirements for temporary entry.

In addition, the occupation in Canada must fall under one of three following functions:

Executives and Senior Managers

• • Executive: An employee who primarily directs the management of the enterprise or a major component thereof.
  • Senior Manager: An employee who manages all or part of the enterprise and supervises/controls the work of other managers or professional employees.

Functional Managers

• • An employee who manages a function that is essential to achieving the company’s goals, but does not necessarily manage employees.

Specialized Knowledge

• • An employee who can demonstrate specialized knowledge, which in turn means knowledge at an advanced level of expertise and proprietary knowledge of the enterprise’s products, services, processes and procedures.

Canada ICT Visa Processing Time

Intra Company Transfer Canada Processing Time: 2 – 10 weeks
The average time for the Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) is 2 to 10 weeks but there are priority processing options. Those who are qualified for the 2-week processing time will get the Intra-Company Transfer visa within 2 weeks. This priority processing option is for visa-exempt countries (biometrics processing is not included in these 2 weeks).

How Long is the Intra-Company Transfer Visa Valid?

The Intra-Company Transfer work permit is valid for one year. If you want to renew the work permit through Intra-Company Transfer you must provide evidence that:

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