The Intra-Company Transfer Work Permit is a route for employees transferring from one branch of the same company to another, and does not require an LMIA to be carried out. Companies must be linked by common ownership and the applicant must have been employed by the sending company for at least one year (full time) in the previous three-year period from the date of initial application. The role must either require specialised knowledge or must be a managerial position.
The Temporary Foreign Worker Program Work Permit, requiring a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), is the route required for Canadian companies to hire foreign workers where no LMIA exemption applies. The position must be advertised for at least one month, and additional time should be allowed for the advertisement to be translated and posted online.
The Entry as a Business Visitor (After Sales) process is for employees temporarily sent to Canada to fit, install, maintain or repair machines, equipment, computer programmes, or other technical systems, which have been exclusively produced outside Canada, for a client may enter as business visitors to carry out after-sales services. This process usually applies when the assignee is being sent to fulfill foreign contractual obligations to a Canadian client company. The provisions of after-sales services must be enumerated in the existing original master service agreement or lease/purchase order in place between the employing foreign company and the client. The applicant must remain on foreign payroll and contract and scope of work should not normally include hands-on work unless the equipment or machinery requires proprietary or product-specific knowledge to install or assemble.
The Entry as a Business Visitor (Employees of Foreign Companies Contracting Canadian Companies) process applies when foreign companies contract Canadian companies to provide services for them in foreign jurisdictions. Employees of the foreign companies may be sent to Canada to control or inspect the quality of a product that they have contracted and may receive consideration as business visitors. Note: This process is strongly dependent on the activities to be performed in Canada and the qualifications of the applicant should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by an immigration lawyer.
Temporary Entry as a Professional under CUSMA may be available for citizens of the US or Mexico. An LMIA is not required. Successful applicants must be working in one of the designated professional categories set out in Appendix 1603.D.1 of CUSMA. Common categories include: accountants, architects, computer system analysts, engineers, management consultants and scientific technicians.
The Global Talent Stream (GTS), which falls under the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program, is for innovative firms in Canada hiring unique, specialised and highly-skilled temporary foreign workers (Category A), and those seeking to hire highly-skilled foreign workers to fill positions in occupations on the Global Talent Occupations List (Category B).
The GTS provides processing of applications in 10 business days 80 percent of the time, and there is no advertising requirement. Employers are required to develop a Labour Market Benefits Plan that demonstrates their commitment to activities that will have lasting, positive impacts on the Canadian labour market.
