We represent Business people immigrating to Canada!
The Intra-company transferees:
2 options that work: simplified or not, we are there for you!
Who are Intra-company transferees?
You have probably heard this expression many times but you may still wonder who are “Intra-company transferees” in Canada?
Intra-company transferee is a foreign national (temporary foreign worker) coming to Canada to work for an affiliate, branch, or subsidiary of a foreign company. It means that the foreign company appointing him to Canada has a legal relationship with the entity established in Canada.
Technically Intra-company transferee gets an offer of employment from a Canadian employer as any other Immigrant willing to work in Canada. The only difference is the offer is coming from a Canadian company, which is in a legal relationship with a company overseas.
You may qualify within this category if you officially worked for a company abroad for at least 12 months within the past 3 years prior to being appointed to Canada.
Intra company transferee is an LMIA exempt category. What does it mean?
By applying for a work permit as an Intra-company transferee, in comparison with a regular foreign worker getting an offer of employment from a random Canadian employer, you are using the facilitated employment validation process, which does not involve the complex procedure of Employment validation named Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).
By avoiding LMIA, the Canadian Company (that you will control) saves 2 to 5 months in processing times. The Canadian Company also does not have to show any efforts to locate qualified Canadian Citizens or Permanent Residents of Canada as a first choice before considering hiring an Immigrant - being yourself.
Types of Intra-company transferees:
We would like to emphasize two (2) categories of Intra-company transferees in terms of “ Canadian employer” and “Employer-employee relationship”.
1. “Canadian employer” already exists in Canada:
International companies that already have established active entities in Canada, transfer employees to Canadian branches. This is the most straightforward and relatively easy to accomplish scenario. The company in Canada already exists and is doing business. Usually foreign workers within this category are employees of overseas companies being transferred to Canada based on employment needs.
2. New “Canadian Employer” is being established for the purpose of transferring a foreign worker to Canada.
This process is more complex, and it starts from registering a company in Canada as a Canadian affiliate, branch, or subsidiary of an overseas company. When using a new entity in Canada as a Canadian employer for a work permit application, there is a need for a detailed business plan outlining the reasons and benefits of expanding in Canada and transferring an overseas candidate to Canada. It is important to explain how the transfer may benefit the Canadian economy and Canadian labour market.
For example, opening a new business would facilitate import- export relationships between Canada and foreign countries and expects to create job openings for Canadian Citizens and Permanent Residents of Canada. Under this category business owners may create their own employment and relocate to Canada with work permits for business expansion needs.
Intra-company transferees are often strong candidates to become permanent residents in Canada! Why?
By pursuing this venue, they can use experience accumulated while working in Canada to get additional points towards their Permanent Residency application within Express Entry stream. After one-year of continuous employment in Canada, intra-company transferees can claim additional points for validated employment which may result in 50 points for skilled positions or 200 points for high level managerial positions.
For example a candidate who completed one year of employment in Canada as a management consultant may gain 50 additional points towards his immigration application.
A candidate who completed one year of employment in Canada as a Company director may secure 200 additional points. Upon completing one year of employment in Canada, candidates may also benefit from the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) category, which is strongly beneficial for candidates who lose points due to the age criteria and / or lack of university degree. Within the CEC category only two factors are mandatory, which are Canadian experience and Language proficiency. It means that, subject to certain conditions, it is possible for a 45 + year old high school graduate to qualify for Canadian Permanent Residency within the Canadian Experience Class.
Does Intra-company transferee category suit business owners / self employed candidates?
If you are a business owner running a successful business in your home county and you are interested in expanding your business idea to Canada , you may benefit from this category by gaining Canadian experience and securing Canadian Permanent Residency.
It does not matter whether you employ less than 10 or over 1000 employees and whether your revenues are under CAN$50 000 or over one million dollars, you still have a chance to create your own employment in Canada.
Contact your Desjardins Lawyers’s immigration coordinators today and we will find the best suitable scenario based on your current situation and profile!
