LMIA-Exempt Intracompany Transfer (ICT) Work Permit Guide
Do you work for a multinational company and want to transfer within it to Canada? Or are you a business owner or executive interested in opening a Canadian office and relocating your key employees to Canada?
The Intracompany Transfer Work Permit (ICT work permit) offers a streamlined process for qualified individuals to work in Canada temporarily. This is an LMIA-exempt work permit. In this comprehensive guide, we will outline the requirements and process for applying to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for an ICT Work Permit. This ensures that you have all the information you need to pursue this opportunity.
What Is an Intracompany Transfer Work Permit?
An intracompany transfer work permit application is made by an employee of a multinational corporation to obtain authorization to work in Canada. The work permit allows you to work only for the multinational corporation’s related company in Canada, in a particular position, and in a particular location.
Multinational companies can use the intracompany transfer work permit to relocate key international employees to Canada to work for them in executive, senior managerial, managerial or specialized knowledge positions. A company must normally undertake a labour market test, known as a Labour Market Impact Assessment, or LMIA, before it can hire a foreign worker to work for the company in Canada. However, the intracompany transfer work permit application bypasses the requirement of a LMIA and is considered an LMIA-exempt work permit.
These work permits are generally processed under administrative LMIA-exemption codes C61, C62 and C63. C12 is an old administrative LMIA-exemption code for intracompany transfer work permits that is no longer in use for ICT work permits.
Why Would I Apply for an Intracompany Transfer Work Permit?
There are different types of Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) work p
Intracompany transfers are used to drive business growth and expansion, improve your company’s position in North American markets, or ensure international consistency in operations. They also allow companies to offer their key employees the opportunity to relocate to live and work in Canada.
Intracompany transfers remain a good option for both large multinational companies and for growing startup enterprises. For startup companies expanding into Canada, you may need to transfer your key employees to establish your new Canadian office. Companies may apply for an intracompany transfer work permit for their business leaders, corporate executives, and highly skilled employees.
rmits available in Canada, depending on the specific circumstances of the transfer. The main types of ICT work permits include:
- Intra-Company Transfer – Executive: This category is for executives within a multinational company who are being transferred to a Canadian branch, subsidiary, or parent company. Executives are individuals who primarily oversee the management of the organization or a significant part of it.
- Intra-Company Transfer – Managerial: This category is for managers within a multinational company who are being transferred to a Canadian branch, subsidiary, or parent company. Managers are individuals who primarily manage the organization, a department, or a specific function.
- Intra-Company Transfer – Specialized Knowledge: This category is for employees with specialized knowledge within a multinational company who are being transferred to a Canadian branch, subsidiary, or parent company. Specialized knowledge refers to knowledge that is uncommon and not easily acquired in the industry or field.
- Intra-Company Transfer – Graduate Trainee: This category is specifically designed for recent graduates who are being transferred to a Canadian branch, subsidiary, or parent company of a multinational organization for training purposes. It allows them to gain practical experience and enhance their skills within the company.
It’s important to note that the specific eligibility requirements and criteria may vary for each type of ICT work permit. The applicant must meet the relevant criteria for their intended category, such as demonstrating the necessary work experience, skills, and the qualifying relationship between the foreign and Canadian entities.
Additionally, the duration of the ICT work permit can vary depending on the category and the specific circumstances of the transfer. It is typically granted for a specific period, allowing the individual to work in Canada temporarily.
It’s recommended to consult with an immigration professional or lawyer who specializes in Canadian immigration to determine the most suitable ICT work permit category for your circumstances and to guide you through the application process. They can provide personalized advice and assist you in meeting the requirements for the specific type of ICT work permit you are seeking.
What Are the Eligibility Requirements for an Intracompany Transfer Work Permit?
To be eligible for an Intracompany Transfer Work Permit, you must meet specific requirements. These requirements include:
- Employment with a Multinational Company: You must be currently employed by a multinational company with a qualifying relationship between the foreign company and the Canadian entity. The qualifying relationship can be a parent company, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate.
- Work Experience: You must have at least one year of full-time work experience within the past three years with the foreign company. This experience should be directly related to the position you will be transferring to in Canada.
- Job Offer in Canada: You must have a valid job offer from the Canadian entity of the multinational company. The offer must be for an executive, senior management, supervisory managerial, functional management, or specialized knowledge position. The job offer should specify the position, duties, duration of employment, and compensation.
- Transfer within the Company: The purpose of the Intracompany Transfer Work Permit is to transfer within the same multinational corporation from a foreign location to Canada. You must provide evidence of your intention to transfer and continue working for the Canadian entity.
What Are the Different Types of LMIA-Exempt ICT Work Permits?
There are different types of Intracompany Transfer (ICT) work permits available in Canada. These depend on the position level in the company. The main types of ICT work permits include:
- Intracompany Transfer – Executive (C62 work permit): This category is for executives within a multinational company who are being transferred to a Canadian branch, subsidiary, or parent company. Executives are individuals who primarily oversee the management of the organization or a significant part of it.
- Intracompany Transfer – Managerial (C62 work permit): This category is for managers within a multinational company who are being transferred to a Canadian branch, subsidiary, or parent company. Managers are individuals who primarily manage the organization, a department, or a specific function.
- Intracompany Transfer – Specialized Knowledge (C63 work permit): This category is for employees with specialized knowledge within a multinational company who are being transferred to a Canadian branch, subsidiary, or parent company. Specialized knowledge refers to knowledge that is uncommon and not easily acquired in the industry or field. Compensation for specialized knowledge workers must usually be consistent with the median wage.
- Intracompany Transfer – Graduate Trainee: This category is specifically designed for recent graduates who are being transferred to a Canadian branch, subsidiary, or parent company of a multinational organization for training purposes. It allows them to gain practical experience and enhance their skills within the company.
It is important to note that the specific eligibility requirements and criteria may vary for each type of LMIA-exempt ICT work permit. The applicant must meet the relevant criteria for their intended category, such as demonstrating the necessary work experience, skills, and the qualifying relationship between the foreign and Canadian entities.
Additionally, the duration of the ICT work permit can vary depending on the category and the specific circumstances of the transfer. It is typically granted for a specific period, allowing the individual to work in Canada temporarily.
Importantly, new companies to Canada must pass additional criteria before they can qualify to transfer their employees to Canada.
It is recommended that you consult with an immigration lawyer with expertise in intracompany transfer work permits to determine the most suitable category for your circumstances and to guide you through the application process. A lawyer can provide personalized advice and assist you in meeting the requirements.
Can a New Business Apply for an Intracompany Transfer Work Permit?
New businesses can apply for an intracompany transfer work permit, as long as they can meet the program criteria. Not all businesses will be able to meet the criteria. If your business does not meet the criteria today, then you may take steps to develop your business so that it meets the criteria in future.
What Is a Multinational Company (MNC) and How Can I Make My Company Qualify as One?
A multinational company (MNC) is a business that is legally established in two or more countries. Its offices in those countries must be legally related. The company must be actively doing business in those countries.
Legally Established
To qualify as a multinational company, you must show that your company is formed in its home country outside of Canada, and in Canada. Documents which show this include business registration certificates, incorporation certificates and articles of incorporation.
Related Companies
When showing that the company in Canada is legally established in Canada, you must also show that it is legally related to the company outside of Canada. The company can produce its ownership records, such as its corporate minute book, displaying a list of shareholders and the proportion of shares held. The company in Canada can be a branch, subsidiary, parent or affiliate of the company outside Canada.
A branch is an operating extension of the foreign company into Canada. It is not a separate legal entity, but rather a continuation of that same company. A branch can be imagined as the leg of a body that has stepped over a border. The body is primarily on one side of the border while the leg is over the border in Canada.
A subsidiary is a company in Canada that is owned, directed and controlled by a company outside Canada. The relationship is often described as a mother-daughter relationship, the mother being the parent company and the daughter being the subsidiary. Ownership, direction and control can be achieved in several ways:
- through majority ownership (50% or more) of the parent company over the subsidiary,
- through resolutions and bylaws giving effective, or de facto, control of the subsidiary to the parent, or
- in the case of public companies, where ownership may be dispersed internationally across many unknown owners, corporate resolutions and bylaws can show who controls and directs the company’s subsidiaries abroad.
A parent is a company in Canada that owns, directs and controls a company outside Canada. It is the same relationship described above, but in reverse.
Finally, an affiliate is a company in Canada that is ultimately owned, directed and controlled by the same company or individuals who own, direct and control the company outside Canada.
Doing Business
Generally, for a company to be considered as doing business, it must have employees and be selling goods or services. Both the company outside Canada and the related company in Canada must meet these criteria.
In the case of a new company to Canada, the company must show that it will commence business in Canada. This is demonstrated with a business plan that, at a minimum, describes the staffing plan for the new Canadian enterprise, the available financial resources to support business establishment and operations in Canada, and a market entry strategy.
What Are the New Intracompany Transfer Work Permit Guidelines?
In short, companies must already operate in more than one country to qualify for an LMIA-exempt intracompany transfer work permit.
For nearly 30 years, Canada assessed ICT work permit applications in a consistent way. In October 2024, Canada reinterpreted its commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) so that it would only consider intracompany transferees as being eligible for a work permit if they were working for an existing multinational corporation (MNC).
A multinational corporation (MNC) is a company that is legally established, and doing business, in two or more countries.
If you have a company and conduct business in your home country, and you establish a company and conduct business in another country, then your company is an MNC.
If the MNC then wants to establish a third company in Canada, it would be assessed as an MNC under the new startup intracompany transfer work permit guidelines. The administrative LMIA-exemption code for startup intracompany transfer work permits is C61.
What if your foreign company is doing business only in its home country and wants to open its first foreign office into Canada? Can it apply for a C61 work permit? In this case, it would not be considered an MNC. Therefore, your employees would not be eligible for a C61 intracompany transfer work permit.
Why Would Canada Prohibit a Company from Establishing Its First Global Office in Canada?
It is a fair criticism that Canada’s policy prohibiting a company from using the intracompany transfer work permit guidelines when it is establishing its first global office in Canada may create a competitive disadvantage for Canada.
However, when you carefully analyse the policy, you find strong reasons in support of it, and once you discover the reasons, it is possible to develop a strategy to transform a company that does not qualify as an MNC into one that does qualify.
Therefore, a company that wants to establish its first global office in Canada must be guided by creative and strategic legal advice. This means taking necessary steps to qualify as an MNC before your employees apply for intracompany transfer work permits.
What Is the Policy Justification for These Guidelines?
The intracompany transfer guidelines are intended to prohibit small companies from using a basic “shell” structure to ‘parachute’ employees into Canada. These companies are often speculative in their presentation of their companies, relying on business plans that attempt to forecast their strategy for entering the Canadian market, and avoid the LMIA process through an LMIA-exempt work permit pathway.
However, early-stage startups that are pre-revenue in Canada lack the foundation in Canada that is required for them to deploy their key employees to Canada. In particular, they present only a plan for how they will staff and fund their new Canadian operations, rather than evidence of having staff and sufficient revenue to support existing operations.
Canada only allows companies with reasonable prospects for success to be exempted from the Labour Market Impact Assessment process under the general ICT work permit guidelines. Riskier endeavours require a LMIA or another LMIA-exempt work permit, such as the C11 entrepreneur work permit or C10 significant benefit work permit.
Canada’s concern is that, if the new Canadian enterprise is the company’s first establishment outside of its home country, then that new Canadian company has a high risk of failing to staff their operations and generate revenue.
That risk is mitigated if you have had prior success launching a new establishment outside your home country. But since the risk is still not zero, specific guidelines were developed to assess startups – C61.
Otherwise, if a company wants to launch its first office outside its home country in Canada, then it must demonstrate that it succeeded in establishing its new Canadian enterprise, staffing that enterprise and generating revenue in Canada.
The guidelines therefore interpret the new company as an MNC only after the new Canadian office is established, operating and carrying on business.
This means that employees of foreign companies in the early startup stage in Canada would be ineligible for consideration for intracompany transfer work permits.
In other words, if you operate a company outside Canada, and the first office outside your home country you want to establish abroad will be in Canada, then you must develop a legal and business strategy for becoming operational – with staff and generating revenue – before you transfer your key employees to Canada on an intracompany transfer work permit for your employees.
How Does the Intracompany Transfer Work Permit Policy Prevent Speculation and Encourage Business Success?
The new guidelines force companies to present evidence of their experience with expanding into international markets. National business success does not automatically mean you will succeed in new international markets. Companies must be able to adapt to the legal, financial, business and cultural norms of a new country. Legal, financial, business and cultural experiences in your home country do not necessarily translate well into a foreign country.
Canada has international trade agreements with many countries that override the new MNC criteria. Those countries typically have legal, financial, business and cultural norms that are similar to Canada. However, not all do, but there may be strong trade policy reasons for Canada to accept the risk that comes with a first enterprise abroad in Canada. This means that, despite different norms, Canada has assessed that there is a benefit to Canada from the trade-off between easier market access in a foreign company for Canadian business with riskier market access by foreign companies into the Canadian market.
What Countries Have International Trade Agreements with Canada That Override the MNC Guideline?
Canada has international trade agreements with approximately 40 countries. These agreements facilitate intracompany transferee market access through LMIA-exempt work permits. They do not require the company to be an MNC. The countries are:
- United States of America: CUSMA (Canada-US-Mexico Agreement) – administrative LMIA-exemption codes T37 and T38
- Mexico: CUSMA – T37, T38, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – T51, T54 and T55
- All 27 European Union Member States: CETA (Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement) – T41, T42 and T44
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- United Kingdom: Agreement on Trade Continuity between Canada and the UK (CUKTCA) – F61, F62, F63
- Chile: Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA) – F23 and F24, and the CPTPP – T51, T54 and T55
- Peru: Canada-Peru FTA – F53, F54, F55, and the CPTPP – T51, T54 and T55
- Colombia: Canada-Colombia FTA – F13, F14, F15
- South Korea: Canada-Korea FTA – F33, F34, F35
- Ukraine: Canada-Ukraine FTA (CUFTA) – F71, F74
- Australia: CPTPP – T51, T54 and T55
- Brunei: CPTPP – T51, T54 and T55
- Japan: CPTPP – T51, T54 and T55
- Malaysia: CPTPP – T51, T54 and T55
- New Zealand: CPTPP – T51, T54 and T55
There are differences in the trade agreements’ criteria to qualify companies and employees for ICT work permits. These nuances should be carefully considered before applying to ensure eligibility and alignment with business goals.
For example, for an intracompany transfer work permit under CETA or the CUSMA, the nationality criterion applies to both the foreign worker and the company. In the case of a CETA ICT work permit, this means that the workers must have European Union nationality and be transferring from a European Union based company. In the case of a CUSMA ICT work permit, the transferee must be American or Mexican and be working for a company in the U.S. or Mexico.
Under the general C62 work permit or C63 work permit ICT criteria, nationality is not a factor that is taken into consideration.
How Does an Employee Qualify for an ICT Work Permit?
Work Experience
To qualify for an ICT work permit, an employee must generally be working for a foreign company outside of Canada for a minimum of one year in the three-year period preceding the date you made your application. That one year of work experience must have been full-time and continuous. The employee must also either have been on payroll or direct contract. The employee must also be currently employed by the foreign enterprise at the time of the application.
On Payroll or Direct Contract
Being on payroll means that the employee was paid directly by the enterprise. Being on direct contract, however, allows for some degree of flexibility on how to determine whether a worker that is, on paper contract, called a contractor, but in reality, appears to Canada as being an employee.
To qualify as an intracompany transferee as a worker on payroll or direct contract, the company must be able to control where and when the worker is working. This means that the company must be able to transfer that person back out of Canada at any time. In some contractor relationships, companies exercise this degree of control over the worker.
Canada interprets the existence of an employer-employee relationship even if the contract is called an independent contractor agreement. The factors considered are whether the company:
- completely controls and supervises the worker,
- provides the worker with the tools and equipment to do the work for the company,
- prevents the worker from assigning or delegating to someone else without the approval of the company (and in that case, only to direct subordinate also on direct contract with the company), and
- determines the working hours, schedule and priorities of the worker.
When all these factors are present, this relationship mirrors an employee-employer relationship in Canada. The immigration department may read past the agreement’s title and consider this a genuine employer-employee relationship.
The reason for this flexibility is that some countries provide workers and companies with different legal or tax treatment that require, or provide favourable treatment to, a relationship to be called an independent contractor relationship in that country.
Canada is not concerned with those local employment legal and tax understandings. Instead, Canada’s concern is simple: can the company control the worker such that it can transfer the worker out of Canada at any time? If the answer is yes, then the worker has the requisite relationship to qualify as an intracompany transferee.
Qualifying Work Experience
The worker being transferred to Canada must have had work experience with the company abroad that would relate to or qualify the worker to perform the job duties in Canada.
Not all jobs qualify for an intracompany transfer work permit.
Generally, to qualify for an intracompany transfer, the job in Canada must be an executive, senior management, management supervisor, functional manager or specialized knowledge position.
Executives and senior management positions are ones where the manager has directly subordinate managers and indirectly subordinate workers under their supervision and direction. Executives and senior managers are often responsible for determining company policies, goals and objectives, allocating human and material resources, and representing the company in official capacities. Except in the case of a startup business where the administrative LMIA-exemption code would be C61, executives and senior management intracompany transferees are classified by administrative LMIA-exemption code C62.
Management supervisors often have direct subordinate workers under their supervision and direction. They are responsible for hiring and firing staff, deploying human and material resources to specific projects, functions or tasks, manage budgets, manage relationships with customers, clients or vendors, and execute day-to-day decision making. Management supervisors are classified under administrative LMIA-exemption code C62.
Functional managers have responsibility over key functional areas or priorities of a company. They can be responsible for a wide range of functions, such as controllership and supervision of financial, accounting, legal, human resources, marketing, supply chain management, vendor relationship management, acquisition, business development, and more. The key questions to ask when identifying whether a worker is a functional manager are:
- Could the company operate without that area of responsibility?
- Are other workers co-dependent on the functional manager performing their duties?
- Would the operations of the organization cease to function without the managerial employee?
If these are answered favourably, this may be a functional management position. Functional managers are coded under administrative LMIA-exemption code C62.
Specialized knowledge workers must have both advanced and proprietary knowledge of a company’s internally developed products, tools, equipment, methodologies or processes.
The knowledge must be advanced in that it usually requires a high degree of education – a bachelor’s degree or higher education. In some industries where a bachelor’s degree is not a requirement to attain an advanced level of knowledge, the training received by the worker to enter the field of expertise must be similar. That is, it must take years of theoretical and practical training to reach the level of knowledge that this person would be considered as advanced in their field in the labour market.
The knowledge must also be proprietary in that it is unique to the company and generally unavailable or unattainable to workers in the same field or industry who do not work for this company. This means that the product, tools, equipment, methodologies or processes of the company were developed internally, the specifics of which are not known outside the company, and would generally be considered trade secrets by the company.
Only the combination of advanced and proprietary knowledge would qualify a worker as an intracompany transferee.
Specialized knowledge workers must also usually be compensated at least the median wage for their occupation. The median wage is determined according to the region of employment. Statistics Canada regularly publishes this information on the National Job Bank website. Some occupation data may be found on the websites of provincial governments.
Specialized knowledge intracompany transferees are classified by administrative LMIA-exemption code C63.
Can a Graduate Trainee or Management Trainee Qualify for an Intracompany Transfer Work Permit?
Graduate trainees and management trainees can qualify for an intracompany transfer work permit if the worker is a national or citizen of a country that has a trade agreement with Canada that allows for transfers of graduate or management trainees. Only some trade agreements allow graduate trainees or management trainees to be intra-corporately transferred to Canada.
The general intracompany transfer guidelines do permit graduate trainees or management trainees to be intra-corporately transferred to Canada unless the worker will be a managerial employee or specialized knowledge worker in Canada.
How Can We Help?
Mandelbaum Immigration Lawyers can conduct an assessment for your intracompany transfer case.
📞 Call us: 1 (416) 646-3523
📧 Email us: info@dmandelbaum.com
📝 Fill out our online questionnaire for a detailed assessment
Or, provide us with your name, email address and phone number by emailing us at info@dmandelbaum.com, and our office will contact you to arrange a consultation with a lawyer.
For US companies exploring the intracompany transfer work permit as an alternative to the H-1B visa, see our dedicated guide: Canada as an H-1B Alternative for US Companies.