LMIA Exemption Codes for intra-company transfers:

There are several unique cases where Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will consider granting a work permit without an employer issued Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).

These exemptions are based on policy considerations, which basically include analyzing the circumstances highlighted in the applicant’s file, and IRCC will evaluate the full scope of the submitted application to make a decision on a case-by-case basis.

What are the conditions for intra-company transferees to apply for work permits under this general provision?

The application for a work permit under this scheme depends on a range of factors, including:

• If the applicant is currently employed by a multi-national company and is applying to enter to work in a parent, a subsidiary, a branch or an affiliate of that company,
• If the applicant is transferring to a company that has a qualifying relationship with the company where they are currently employed and will be employed legitimately and continuously at that company,
• If the applicant is being transferred to a role in an executive, senior managerial, or specialized knowledge category,
• If the applicant has worked continuously (via payroll or by contract directly with the company) for the company that intends to transfer them outside of Canada in a comparable full-time role (not accumulated part-time) for at least one year during the three years prior to the date of initial application,
• If the applicant is coming to Canada temporarily,
• If the applicant complies with all necessary immigration requirements as stated otherwise.

Are extensions to this application allowed?

• Extensions are allowed up to the five- and seven-year maximums mentioned in the IRCC sections on breaks, recaptured time, and work permit duration limits, as well as in the part on the categories of work with non-exceeding validity periods. Five or seven full years of physical presence in Canada can be granted to the intra-company transferee by “recapturing” documented time spent outside the country during the work permit’s validity.

For start-up companies: modified rules and guidelines

The start-up company must

• Have physical premises for the Canadian operation. This may be exempted for senior managers or executives.
• Have realistic intentions and a plan to staff the new enterprise.
• Must have the financial capability to begin business operations in Canada and be able to compensate hired individuals
• Demonstrate that the company will be large enough to have managerial structure and senior executives

For recently merged or acquired companies:

It is not a requirement that:

• The applicant has worked for one year for the company sending them to Canada as long as they have been working for one of the affiliates for at least one year in the last three years.

IRCC has fixed definitions in place for what possible corporate restructuring activities could include, This definitions are:

• An acquisition is the takeover of the controlling interest of one entity by another, and both entities retain their legal existence after the transaction.
• Mergers and consolidations are the joining together of two entities into a single entity called a surviving entity. The surviving entity assumes all of the assets and liabilities of the merged entities (that is, it purchases the stock, assets and liabilities of the other entities, absorbing them into one corporate structure).
• A contraction is the reduction in size of a corporation, and it can take several different forms: divestitures, equity carve-outs, spin-offs or split-offs, and split-ups. A divestiture is a sale of a portion of the firm to an outside party. An equity carve-out is a variation of a divestiture that involves the sale of an equity interest in a subsidiary to outsiders. A new legal entity is also created in a standard spin-off. In a split-up, the entire firm is broken up into a series of spin-offs.

What documentation is necessary for this process?

• Confirmation of employment by multi-national company,
• Confirmation that the individual has been employed continuously,
• Description of the applicant’s position,
• Evidence that person has specialized knowledge for position, if relevant,
• Outline of position in Canada,
• Intended duration of stay,
• Description of relationship between the enterprise in Canada and the enterprise overseas.

What happens once the duration of work permit limit is over?

• For executives and senior managers, the limit is 7 years.
• For specialized knowledge workers, the limit is 5 years.
• Once the above limits are over, the worker must work outside Canada for one year in a full-time position if they wish to re-apply.