Work Permit – Intra-company transferees (WP-ICT)
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SUMMARY
Work Permit through International Mobility Program (IMP)
Only employees who are working in the capacity as executives or senior managers and functional managers, or the employees with specialized knowledge may qualify under the program.
- ICT – Executive, Senior or Functional manager (C62)
- ICT – Specialized knowledge (C63)
- ICT – employees starting a branch or affiliate (C61)
To see a list of LMIA exemption Codes, see (➨immilib.com/LMIA-Exemptions).
Ready to take the next step towards your Canadian immigration journey? Fill out the form below and embark on your path to new opportunities.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
1- Occupation / Position
Executives and Senior Managers: Executives are people who primarily direct the management of the enterprise or a major component thereof. Senior managers are an employee who manage all or part of the enterprise and supervises/controls the work of other managers or professional employees.
Functional Managers are employees who manage essential functions of the company, but do not necessarily manage staff.
Specialized Knowledge Workers are employees with knowledge at an advanced level of expertise and proprietary knowledge of the enterprise's products, services, processes and procedures.
2- Work Experience
As a worker being transferred to Canada, you must have at least one (1) year of full-time, continuous work experience in the last three (3) years with the foreign enterprise and be coming to Canada to perform comparable work.
If you have not had full-time work experience with the foreign company, the officer should consider other factors before refusing your application solely on this basis. When assessing the part-time situation, the following factors will be considered: employment history with the company, similarity of the position in Canada, and signs of program abuse.
In the case of “specialized knowledge”, you must provide evidence that you have such knowledge and that the position in Canada requires such knowledge.
3- Relationship between Employer and Employee
- You are currently employed by a foreign company and seeking entry to work in a parent, a subsidiary, a branch, or an affiliate of that enterprise;
- You are being transferred to an enterprise that has a qualifying relationship with your current foreign employer.
Intra-company transferees are not necessarily required to re-locate to Canada. However, they are expected to actually occupy a position within the Canadian branch of the company; there should be a clear employer-employee relationship with the Canadian company, and the Canadian company should be directing the day-to-day activities of the foreign worker. This is especially important for employees working at client sites and not at the parent, branch, affiliate, or subsidiary.
4- Significant Benefits
Ready to take the next step towards your Canadian immigration journey? Fill out the form below and embark on your path to new opportunities.
REQUIREMENTS FOR START-UP COMPANIES
If you are the owner of foreign company wishing to establish a Canadian enterprise, you may apply for a work permit using the Intra-Company Transferee – ICT start-up program. If you are part of a foreign company in any of the above capacities, that wishes to establish a Canadian enterprise, the program can be used to bring you or any other company’s critical workers to Canada for start-up operations.
The ICT Start-Up company must demonstrate their ability to become established in Canada, which includes:
- Evidence that the company has the financial ability to start business in Canada and compensate employees.
- Preparing a business plan that outlines realistic plans for staffing the new operation and doing business in Canada.
- Evidence that the company has secured physical premises for the Canadian operation. In cases involving senior managers or executives, it would be acceptable that the address of the new start-up not yet be secured.
- When transferring executives or managers, the company must demonstrate that it will be large enough to support executive or management function.
- When transferring a specialized knowledge worker, the company must demonstrate that it is expected to be doing business and ensure that work is guided and directed by management at the Canadian operation.
DURATION OF WORK PERMITS
For executives and managers:
- Initial maximum is three (3) years
- In case of start-up companies the initial duration is one (1) year
- Total period of stay may not exceed seven (7) years with two (2) year extensions
For specialized knowledge workers:
- Initial maximum is three (3) years
- In case of start-up companies the initial duration is one(1) year
- Total period of stay may not exceed seven (7) years with two (2) year extensions
For renewals, evidence should be provided that
- the Canadian and foreign companies still have a qualifying relationship;
- the new office has engaged in the continuous provision of goods or services for the past year;
- the new office has been staffed.
WHAT STEPS SHOULD YOU TAKE?
Step 1: Business Establishment (for Canadian Start-ups)
When applying for an ICT Start-Up visa, you must demonstrate your company’s ability to become established in Canada by taking at least the following actions:
- Register your company in Canada
- Prepare a viable business plan for Canadian operation
- Secure physical premises in Canada (or be in the process)
Step 2: Offer of Employment
The Canadian employer must submit an offer of employment to IRCC, pay the employer compliance fee and provide you with an offer of employment number.
If your business has already registered for a Canada Revenue Agency business number, this should be done online using online Employer Portal (➨immilib.com/employer-portal).
If the business has not registered for a Canada Revenue Agency business number, the Employer Portal cannot be used. Instead, an email must be sent by the employer to the Employer Portal ([email protected]).
In the email, the employer must include full name, date of birth, citizenship, country of birth and gender.
If the email request is approved, the employer will get an email back with forms and instructions on how to submit offer of employment and pay the employer compliance fee.
Step 3: Apply for Work Permit
To find out how to submit your application (➨immilib.com/WP-Apply)
If your job is at the NOC TEER0 (managerial, executive) or NOC TEER 1 (professional) level, you may be eligible for two-week application processing.
Step 4: Get your fingerprint and photo taken (Biometrics)
| Temporary Work Permit | |
| Submit Online Application: | |
| immilib.com/WP-Apply | |
| Official Program Guide: | |
| immilib.com/WP-ICT-Guide | |
| IRCC Application Fees: | |
| Employer Compliance Fee: | $230 |
| Applicant: | $155 |
| Applicant with Open WP | $100 |
| Open WP – Spouse | $155 |
| Each child – Visitor | $100 |
| Biometrics: | $85 |
| Processing Time: | |
| immilib.com/FED-PT | |
| Document Checklist: | |
| immilib.com/WP-Doc-out | |
| Contact: | |
|
1-888-242-2100 (in Canada) 1-613-944-4000 (outside Canada) Web Form: Visa Office: |
|
Step 5: Arrival with Work Permit
That letter is not a work permit. You’ll get your work permit when you arrive in Canada.
The work permit will outline:
- the type of work you can do
- the employer you can work for
- where you can work, and
- how long you can work
If you’re eligible to apply from within Canada, the work permit will be mailed to your Canadian address.
Ready to take the next step towards your Canadian immigration journey? Fill out the form below and embark on your path to new opportunities.
TRANSITION TO PERMANENT RESIDENCY
ICT work permit offers you a potential path to permanent residency. The Canadian work experience that you will gain through Canadian employment paves the way towards your permanent residency.
If you are eligible to enter the Express Entry pool (➨Page), your Canadian work experience adds points to your Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score (➨Page), which may put you in an advantageous position to be accepted to apply under Federal Skilled Worker Program (➨Page) when competing against overseas foreign workers without such experience.
Even if you are not eligible for federal programs due to limited language skills, many provincial nominee programs, with their lower language level requirements, could still accommodate them.
Federal Skilled Worker Program
After you (and your spouse if applicable) receive your work permit under ICT and start working in Canada, you will have the opportunity to receive the following additional points under CRS and considerably increase your chances to be invited to apply under Federal Skilled Worker Program.
The following tables show the potential additional points you can receive on your CRS (➨Page) based on your experience in Canada.
Factor A4: Canadian Work Experience
| Canadian Work Experience | With Spouse | Without Spouse |
| Less than 1 year | 0 | 0 |
| 1 year | 35 | 40 |
| 2 years | 46 | 53 |
| 3 years | 56 | 64 |
| 4 years | 63 | 72 |
| 5 or more years | 70 | 80 |
Factor B3: Spouse Canadian Work Experience
| Spouse Canadian Work Experience | With Spouse or Common-law partner |
| Less than 1 year | 0 |
| 1 year | 5 |
| 2 years | 7 |
| 3 years | 8 |
| 4 years | 9 |
| 5 or more years | 10 |
Factor C1: Education with Canadian Work Experience
| Level of Education(With Canadian Work Experience) | Points for 1 year of Canadian work experience (Maximum 25 points) | Points for 2 years or more of Canadian work experience (Maximum 50 points) |
| Doctoral (PhD) level | 25 | 50 |
| Master’s degree or Professional degree (doctorate) in medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, optometry, chiropractic medicine, law | 25 | 50 |
| Two or more post-secondary credentials, one of which is a three-year or longer post-secondary credential | 25 | 50 |
| One-year or longer post-secondary credential | 13 | 25 |
| Secondary school/high school diploma or less | 0 | 0 |
Factor C2: Foreign Work Experience with Good Language Proficiency or Canadian Work Experience
| Foreign Work Experience (With Canadian Work Experience) | Points for 1 year of Canadian work experience (Maximum 25 points) | Points for 2 years or more of Canadian work experience (Maximum 50 points) |
| 3 years or more | 25 | 50 |
| 1 or 2 years | 13 | 25 |
| 1 year or less | 0 | 0 |
Factor D4: Arranged Employment
| Arranged Employment (After one year full-time work) | Points |
| Senior managers (TEER 0 Major group 00) | 200 |
| Any other job in TEER 1, 2 or 3 or any TEER 0 other than major group 00 | 50 |
For complete Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) Criteria go to (➨Page).
Provincial Nominee Programs
If you are not eligible to be entered in Express Entry pool due to limited language skills, many provincial nominee programs, with their lower language level requirements, could be your potential path to permanent residency. You may study any of the many provincial programs to see which one works for you.
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