Intra Company Transferees

What is an intra-company transferee?

 The intra-company transferee program allows international companies with a branch, parent company, affiliate or subsidiary in Canada to transfer qualified employees to Canada temporarily. The purpose of this is to improve management effectiveness, expand Canada exports and add to the overseas market competition.

Eligibility for Intra-Company Transfer?

 Transferees must have at least one year of full-time work experience with the foreign company and be arriving to Canada to carry out similar work for the Canadian affiliate. Work in Canada must fall under one of three categories:

• Executive
  • An employee must primarily directs the management of the enterprise or a major component thereof, within minimal direction.
• Senior Managerial
  • An employee must manage all or most of the enterprise and supervises/over sees the work of other managers or professional employees.
• Specialized Knowledge
  • An employee must demonstrate specialized knowledge of the enterprise’s product or service or a higher level of skill in the enterprise’s processes and procedures.

Requirements for Intra-company transferee:

• Proof that the foreign worker has been employed, and is presently employed, as a full-time employee at the company for a minimum of one year.
• Proof of foreign transferee’s specialized knowledge and current job description
• Job description of the position in Canada.
• The length of the intra-company transfer.
• Demonstrate the qualifying relationship between the company in Canada and the foreign counterpart

Foreign businesses wanting to establish a Canadian enterprise may use the Intra-Company Transfer program to transfer critical workers to Canada for start-up operations set-up.

The processing time for Intra company transfer can be as quick as 1 month or as long as 12 months, depending on the country of the transferee applies from. The initially work permit granted it typically for a year and there is a possibility of extension.

Intra-company transferees are often in a strong position to apply for permanent residency in Canada, should they wish to do so.