Intra-Company Transferee (ICT Program)

Intra-Company Transferee (ICT) Program

The Intra-Company Transferee (ICT) Program permits international corporations to transfer their personnel to their parent company, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate in Canada. Workers coming to Canada through the ICT must secure a work permit, obtainable through exemption from Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) requirements under exemption code C-12. This LMIA exemption makes the ICT procedure quicker and more straightforward compared with the standard LMIA work permit process. The fundamental purpose of the ICT Program is to temporarily relocate qualified employees to Canada to improve management effectiveness, expand Canadian exports, and enhance competitiveness in overseas markets.

Eligibility Criteria for ICT Work Permit

The following requirements must be fulfilled for an intra-company transferee to submit a work permit application under the ICT category:

Foreign workers must be currently employed by a multinational company and seeking employment in an enterprise in Canada that is a parent company, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate of that multinational foreign company. They will be undertaking employment at a legitimate and ongoing establishment of the foreign company, where 18-24 months can be used as a reasonable minimum guideline. This requirement does not apply to start-up companies.

The ICT also requires that foreign workers have been employed continuously by the foreign company in a full-time role for at least one year in the three years immediately preceding the date of initial application. It should be noted that full-time work experience with a foreign company is not always required, because Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada officers may evaluate other certain factors before denying the application solely on this ground.

Foreign workers must be transferred to a position in an executive, senior managerial, or specialized knowledge capacity at a permanent and continuing establishment of the foreign company in Canada for a temporary duration.

Executive and Senior Management Capacities

Executive and managerial capacities indicate that holders of such positions plan, organize, direct, or control the activities of a business or a division of a business, either independently or through middle managers. They are frequently responsible for the execution of the policies of a business.

• Executives primarily engage in the following activities:
  Directing the management of the organization or a major component, establishing organizational goals and policies, exercising wide latitude in discretionary decision-making, and receiving only general supervision or direction from higher-level executives, the board of directors, or stockholders of the organization.
• Managers primarily engage in the following activities:
  Managing the organization, department, subdivision, function, or component, supervising and controlling the work of other supervisory, professional, or managerial employees, having authority to hire and fire or recommend personnel actions, and exercising discretion over the day-to-day operations of the activity or function.
• Functional Managers:
  Functional managers in the ICT context oversee an essential function in the company but do not necessarily manage staff. The essential function generally means a function that is indispensable or important to achieving the organization’s objectives. A functional manager must operate at a senior level within the organization or within the function managed and have discretion over the day-to-day operations of the function. The following factors may support functional manager status: holding a senior position in the company hierarchy, having significant professional experience and qualifications, and bearing responsibility for decisions affecting the company’s core operations.

Specialized Knowledge Worker Qualifications

For an applicant to be eligible for specialized knowledge worker exemption, they must hold knowledge at an advanced level of expertise and proprietary knowledge of the company’s product, service, research, equipment, techniques, or management. Elements that may assist officers in their assessment include: occupation (NOC code), education, duration of experience, training, duration of the job offer, and prevailing wage level.
IRCC considers specialized knowledge to be knowledge that is unique and uncommon, which will by definition be held by only a small number or small percentage of employees of a given firm. Specialized Knowledge workers must therefore demonstrate that they are key personnel, not simply highly skilled. The burden of proof is on the applicants to provide evidence that they meet this standard.

Documentary evidence may include: detailed descriptions of proprietary processes, evidence of specialized training programs, documentation of unique company methodologies, and proof of involvement in proprietary projects.

Company Qualifying Relationship Requirements

Foreign workers must be transferring to an enterprise in Canada that has a qualifying relationship with the foreign enterprise in which they are currently employed. Having said that, the Canadian and foreign enterprises must be legal entities that have a parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate business relationship. Both the Canadian and foreign companies must be, or will be, doing business.
For a foreign worker to be granted a work permit under the ICT Program, an employer-employee relationship with the Canadian branch of the company to which they are being transferred must exist. The right of the employer to order and control the employee in the performance of their work is an essential element in determining the said qualifying relationship. While full-time employment by the Canadian branch is anticipated, there is no requirement that the foreign national perform full-time service in Canada. An executive, for example, could divide normal working hours between offices in Canada and the U.S. There is no requirement that the foreign national be paid from the Canadian entity; however, this is usually the case.

Work Permit Duration and Extensions

In general, the initial work permits issued under the ICT program are for a one-year period. This is usually the case with start-up companies. On the other hand, these work permits can be renewed up to a maximum of 7 years for executives or managers and 5 years for specialized knowledge workers, provided that the qualifying relationship continues and the company remains operational.
Upon reaching the maximum work permit duration (7 years for executives and managers, and 5 years for specialized knowledge workers), the intra-company transferees must complete one year of full-time employment in the company outside Canada if they wish to re-apply as an intra-company transferee. For professional guidance with your ICT application, contact our qualified immigration legal team who specialize in Canadian work permits and corporate immigration matters.