Why Canada ICT?

•  Establish your current business operations in Canada
•  Easy path for Canada PR
•  Get a study permit for your children
•  Get an open work permit for your Spouse
•  Great opportunity to create employment in Canada

The Canadian immigration framework offers several business immigration pathways. The Intra Company Transfer (ICT) program of Canada is suited for international businesses that want to grow their current operations in Canada. Here, know the details of the ICT program, including its requirements, benefits, application processes, and paths to switch to permanent residency.

Canada Intra Company Transfer

An immigration pathway that falls under the International Mobility Program, ICT lets qualified foreign business owners to shift their businesses to Canada and obtain a work permit. The ICT pathway will let you gain an ICT Work Permit and permanent residence (PR) eventually. In most cases, the major applicant’s spouse will get an open work permit and the children a study permit.

ICT Canada is only one of the business immigration programs available. Avail of our free instant assessment and learn about your options to migrate. You will also receive advice from our business immigration lawyers when we conduct our hour-long strategy meeting.

Eligibility for the ICT Program

The intra-company transfer program was designed to attract established firms from all over the globe to develop their operations in Canada. Three categories of individuals stand to gain from this program: Owners of businesses, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders of profitable companies who hold executive positions in their companies and intend to do well in Canada too.

Senior managers and functional managers, who currently work in a foreign company and want to hold a similar position in Canada, and key functionaries of a business who have advanced niche knowledge.

Individuals like the ones mentioned above must also fulfil various other requirements that have been described below to gain a work permit as per the ICT program.

Intra-company transfer Canada requirements

Entrepreneurs who run successful establishments in their countries of origin can apply for an ICT work permit (WP) to grow their businesses in Canada. There are various other requirements that entrepreneurs need to meet to get a work permit as per the ICT program, including the following:

The company in the home country must have been functional for a minimum of 12 months (but ideally for a minimum of three years) before venturing into Canada.

The original company must be financially sound and can support external operations in Canada.

An individual who wants an ICT WP should have been employed in the original company for a minimum of 12 months in the last three years before they apply for immigration.

The original company should be related to the company in Canada as a parent, subsidiary, or affiliate; and operations will be viable and result in the creation of jobs for Canadians.

If it is an initial venture into Canada for a foreign firm, immigration officers will also then verify the following:

Is there a sensible business plan that establishes that operations in Canada will be a feasible venture and can create adequate revenue to pay for its costs and pay its employees?

Will this expansion lead to the creation of jobs for Canadian citizens?

Will the operations in Canada be big enough to hire an executive or a manager there?

If it is their first ICT application in Canada, companies need to establish that expansion in Canada makes business sense for the company, and also its newly established operations there would be more likely to succeed by becoming sizable enough to recruit locally. Therefore, for companies venturing into Canada for the first time, it is vital to showcase a solid business case and describe the justification for expansion in addition to fulfilling basic eligibility conditions for the ICT applications.

Investment amount required for initial growth of business in Canada

The federal government of Canada has not established any minimum investment sum for companies to venture into Canada. However, the companies need to be financially strong and must have the necessary capital to strengthen their new operations in Canada and recruit talent locally.

Therefore, as per our experience, companies should prove solid gross sales exceeding $250,000 per year and have access to liquid funds amounting to a minimum of $100,000 to pay for the operational costs of the first year. Besides the initial investment capital, applicants need to prove that they have access to more funds or assets to sustain the Canadian business if it does not become self-sufficient when it completes its first year.

Step by step process to apply for an ICT work permit

To apply for any Canadian immigration program, applicants need to confirm that they fulfil that program’s eligibility criteria. Applicants should also create a sound strategy on how to exhibit their potential to the Canadian immigration authorities. After that, applicants require to gather solid evidence to strengthen their immigration applications and include extensive descriptions of how they will meet the eligibility criteria and why they need to be present in Canada.

If this happens to be your first ICT application, you need to follow the steps as follows:

Step 1: Register your company in Canada as a parent, subsidiary, or an affiliate

Step 2: Devise a business plan charting out the proposed business activities, market research, and how you would plan to run its operation profitably in Canada. Ensure to include your recruitment plan and cash flow projections for the next two to three years in keeping with industry standards.

Step 3: Collect all the essential documents (such as articles of incorporation, bank statements, proof of investment funds, etc.) and prepare your work permit application; and

Step 4: Submit your application for the work permit and await the decision.

Note that the process varies significantly based on the applicant’s nationality. Businesses of some countries gain from having agreements in Canada, which allows their citizens a seamless immigration pathway under the ICT.

When applicants hail from visa-exempt countries, it is possible to apply at the port of entry (POE) for an ICT WP.

Processing time of Canada intra company transfer visa

Usually, standard processing times are applicable to the ICT WP applications and can be verified on the IRCC’s website relevant to your country.

As per our experience, the average processing times for particular offices across the world are as follows:

Please note that ICT applications for executives and managers are regularly processed by the CPC-Edmonton office in Canada. This office seemingly makes use of a case processing technology “Chinook”, therefore, decisions are taken expeditiously. If you send your application to the CPC-Edmonton office, you will probably get a decision in one or two months. However, we noticed that the rates of refusal from the CPC-Edmonton office are generally higher than in other offices. Therefore, sitting down to plan with an immigration lawyer on where to send your application might be a good idea.

Duration of ICT work permits

ICT work permits are typically granted for one to two years. If they are put into use by a start-up firm, the WP has then only a validity of one year. Some nationals, who hail from countries that are visa-exempt, gain from a three-year WP. It is possible to renew the WP for two to three years additionally for an aggregate of up to five years for talented knowledge workers and seven years for executives and managers.

But immigration officers may grant work permits of only one year to individuals who will be employed by companies newly established in Canada. The US nationals and other citizens from visa-exempt countries (like the UK, EU, Australia, Japan, etc.) will gain from the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) their countries and Canada have and secure a three-year ICT work permit.

As per the program, one can get a WP via a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) exemption (C12).

Switching from Canada ICT to PR

After being employed full-time for one year in a Canadian company, foreign nationals could become entitled to apply through the Express Entry program for PRs. Based on the job roles, foreign nationals qualify to get 50 or 200 more points for organized employment (job offers) from their businesses located in Canada.

It, usually, significantly adds to their Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores, leading to selection under the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) category of the Express Entry (EE) stream and an invitation to apply (ITA) for PR from Canadian immigration authorities.

How can Y-Axis assist you in applying for a Canada Intra Company Transfer Visa?

• Free eligibility check through Canada Immigration Points Calculator
• Expert guidance/counseling for Canada Immigration
• Coaching services:Expert CELPIP coaching, IELTS proficiency Coaching
• Free career counseling, book your slot today
• Complete assistance to apply for Canada PR visa
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