Intra-company transferees (ICT) - CCOFTA [R204(a) – F13, F14, F15] – Agreements or arrangements – International Mobility Program

This section contains policy, procedures and guidance used by IRCC staff. It is posted on the department’s website as a courtesy to stakeholders.

In these instructions “officers” refers to employees of both Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency.

The instructions on this page should be reviewed in conjunction with:

There are two different paragraphs in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) where the work of a foreign national transferring from a position in a foreign enterprise to a Canadian enterprise with a qualifying relationship is described, both paragraphs fall within the International Mobility Program (IMP).

Paragraph 204(a) of the IRPR facilitates the entry of intra-company transferees (ICTs) in Annex 1203: Section C of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (CCOFTA).

Paragraph 205(a) of the IRPR facilitates entry to Canada for all nationalities who are employed by a foreign multinational company and are entering Canada to undertake employment with a parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate of the foreign company as an ICT.

For more information on processing ICT work permit applications under R205(a), please see Intra-company transferees (ICT) [R205(a) – C61, C62, C63] - Canadian interests – International Mobility Program.

Eligibility

At the time of submitting their application, all ICTs must meet the following requirements:

be a citizen, national or permanent resident of Colombia;
be seeking employment in an executive or managerial capacity, as a management trainee or one involving specialized knowledge;
be transferring to an enterprise in Canada that has a qualifying relationship with the foreign enterprise in Colombia where they are currently employed;
have been in continuous employment by the enterprise for 6 months within the 3-year period immediately preceding the date of the application for admission; and
has complied with existing immigration requirements for temporary entry.

The foreign national must belong to one of the following categories:

Executives or senior managers (LMIA exemption code F13)
Management trainees (LMIA exemption code F14)
Specialized knowledge workers (LMIA exemption code F15)

Documentary evidence

The onus is on the foreign national to provide evidence that they meet the eligibility requirements of the exemption and will be able to perform the work being sought as stated in the IMP offer of employment.

The following documents are required:

proof of Colombian citizenship, nationality or permanent residency;
evidence that the foreign national is currently employed by an enterprise outside of Canada that has a qualifying relationship with the Canadian enterprise where they are seeking employment;
evidence that the person has been employed continuously outside of Canada by the foreign enterprise for 6 months within the 3-year period immediately preceding the initial date of application;
a letter of introduction from the employer that specifies:
- the applicant’s current position in an executive or managerial capacity or one involving specialized knowledge, including their position, title, place in the organization, job description;
- in the case of “specialized knowledge,” evidence that the person has such knowledge and that the position in Canada requires such knowledge;
- the position in Canada, (i.e., position, title, place in the organization, job description);
- intended duration of stay; and
- description of the relationship between the enterprise in Canada and the enterprise in Colombia;
evidence that the business enterprise “is or will be doing business” in both Canada and Colombia;
an offer of employment submitted through the Employer Portal or through alternate means if authorized
- The offer of employment provides confirmation of the pre-arranged employment;
- the proposed employer in Canada;
- the profession for which entry is sought;
- details of the position (title, duties, duration of employment, arrangements as to payment); and
- the educational qualifications or alternative credentials required for the position.

Officers may request tangible proof to establish the relationship between the Canadian and Colombian enterprises.

Place of application

Foreign nationals who are exempt from the requirement for a temporary resident visa may apply for a work permit at the port of entry, as well as foreign nationals who otherwise meet the requirements of R198. For more information, see: Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and International Mobility Program (IMP): Persons who may apply at a port of entry.

Foreign nationals may apply for a work permit from within Canada if they meet the conditions set out in section R199 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.

Application assessment

Review of the offer of employment

When assessing if the work permit application meets the requirements for a CCOFTA intra-company transferee, officers should review the offer of employment that appears under the Employment Details tab in the Global Case Management System (GCMS) for information provided by the employer or the matching fields on the IMM 5802 form (if the employer was authorized to use it).

Field	Considerations
LMIA Exemption Code	F13 – CCOFTA – ICT – R204(a) – Executives or senior managers F14 – CCOFTA – ICT – R204(a) – Management trainees F15 – CCOFTA – ICT – R204(a) – Specialized knowledge workers
Requirements Exemptions Met	Information in this field or an attachment should provide a summary of the qualifying relationship between enterprises and qualifying employment of the foreign national. The employer can upload additional documents as part of this explanation. They are found in Incoming Correspondence titled “LMIA exemption explanation”
NOC and Job Title	Ensure that the occupational code and title are in the appropriate TEER for the occupation capacity. For example: TEER 0 or 1 for an executive.
Duration	F13 – Executives and senior managers initial document maximum 3 years 2-year renewals allowable total period of stay may not exceed 7 years F14 – Management trainees initial document maximum 1 year extensions are possible total period of stay may not exceed 3 years F15 – Specialized knowledge workers initial maximum 3 years 2-year renewals allowable total period of stay may not exceed 5 years See Length of stay for further details.
Duties and Job Requirements	These are the activities that the foreign national will be performing. Do they align with the occupation? Are there specific requirements that align with the ICT category of the applicant? Does the employer require more than the minimum amount of paid work experience?
Wages	Note: A mandatory wage assessment is not required for applicants under this category. However, for these applicants, wage remains an important indicator of specialized knowledge and should be taken into account as an important factor in an officer’s overall assessment, although officers should not refuse an application based on the wage alone. There is no requirement that the foreign national be paid by the Canadian enterprise or in Canadian dollars.
Minimum Education Requirements	For specialized knowledge workers there must be documentary evidence as proof that the applicant has the specialized training and experience to demonstrate that they have the proprietary knowledge and advanced expertise required. Are there additional or alternative requirements for this occupation defined in the NOC?
Other Training Required	The employer may indicate specialty training as a requirement.
Provincial/Federal Certification, Licensing or Registration	The employer should list any specific certification, licensing or registration required in Canada. Documented evidence should be provided with the application if the occupation is regulated by the province or territory; however, some occupations may require the foreign national to write an exam after they enter Canada, for example, for a licence from a regulated body or a first aid certificate.

Refer to Employer-specific work permits – General processing – International Mobility Program for further guidance.

Current and continuous employment

The foreign national must have provided sufficient documentary evidence to show that on the day they applied for the work they were employed in an executive, managerial or specialized knowledge capacity and that employment continues at the time of decision. They must also demonstrate that their position in the foreign enterprise remains available to them throughout their period of time in Canada so that they might return to their position once their employment in Canada is completed.

In order to meet the requirement of 6 months out of the 3 years immediately preceding the application, the foreign national has to have been employed continuously in a similar full-time position for at least 1 year by the multinational enterprise that is transferring them to Canada. That employment may not have been accumulated by part-time work equivalent to 6 months.

The employment may have been via payroll or by contract directly with the foreign enterprise. If they are directly contracted with the enterprise, they should be working only for the qualifying enterprise.

Note: Foreign nationals may qualify for a work permit in a different ICT category provided that they are able to demonstrate that their position in the foreign enterprise is equivalent to the position in Canada that they are applying for, and that they have the 6 months of experience in a similar full-time position with the foreign enterprise obtained in the 3 years immediately preceding the new work permit application.

Example: The foreign national worked for the foreign enterprise in an occupation requiring specialized knowledge for 2 years and then as a manager for 1 year. The foreign national originally entered Canada under the ICT managerial category for 1 year, but they are now submitting an extension application for a work permit under the ICT specialized knowledge category.

The foreign national may be eligible for a transfer in a specialized knowledge position in the Canadian enterprise since, at the time they submit the work permit extension application for their new role, they have 1 year of experience as a specialized knowledge worker within the last 3 years. In addition to this requirement, the foreign national would need to demonstrate that they hold a specialized knowledge position with the foreign enterprise.

If the Canadian enterprise promoted the foreign national to manager, but the foreign enterprise continues to hold available a position in a specialized knowledge capacity for the foreign national, they would not meet the at-level employment requirement.

Important: The foreign national must also demonstrate that they can perform the work sought under the new position [R200(3)(a)]. Work experience used to demonstrate the latter must not have been gained through the initial ICT work permit if it means the foreign national would not have complied with the conditions of their work permit.

Example: As per employer compliance conditions, the employer must ensure the foreign national is only performing work specified in the offer of employment. In addition, the foreign national has a specific occupation listed on their work permit.

A foreign national cannot perform duties that are at a different level than their stated occupation; doing so may result in the employer and the foreign national being found non-compliant with their conditions under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and IRPR.

As such, a foreign national issued an ICT work permit under the specialized knowledge category cannot perform the duties of an executive or manager, as this would result in non-compliance on the part of both the employer and the foreign national.

Occupational capacity – Executives and senior managers (LMIA exemption code F13)

This group includes foreign nationals in the executive or managerial capacity. In the National Occupational Classification this would the Training, Experience, Education and Requirements (TEER) categories of 0 or 1. There must be evidence that the Canadian operation’s size and organizational structure justifies the need for an executive or managerial function.

Executive capacity (TEER 0) means that the employee primarily:

directs the management of the enterprise or a major component or function of the enterprise;
establishes the goals and policies of the enterprise, component, or function;
exercises wide latitude in discretionary decision-making; and
receives only general supervision or direction from higher-level executives, the board of directors, or stockholders of the enterprise.

Managerial capacity (TEER 1) means that the employee primarily:

manages the enterprise, a department, subdivision, a component or an essential function of the enterprise;
oversees and controls the work of:
- other managers or supervisors;
- professional employees, or
- an essential function within the enterprise
has the authority to recommend or to hire, fire or make other personnel decisions, such as promotion and leave authorization. Where they do not directly supervise employees, the supervise functions at a senior level within the hierarchy of the enterprise
exercises discretion over the day-to-day operations of the activity or function for which the employee has the authority.

Note: An essential function is indispensable or important to achieving the enterprise’s goals.

Exclusions:

Persons who are in positions that are more accurately defined as lower-level management and who will perform functions that more accurately align with those of managing supervisors, or persons with managerial sounding titles only, are not eligible for work permits under provisions for ICTs. A first line supervisor is not considered to be acting in a managerial capacity unless the employees they supervise are professionals.

Important: An executive or senior manager does not perform tasks or functions related in the manufacturing of a product or in the delivery of a service. In addition, the organizational structure of the Canadian business must have a reasonable need for an executive or senior manager. The size of Canadian enterprise is an important factor to determine whether an executive or high-level managerial function is required and justified for the Canadian enterprise.

For example, an architect who incorporates a business and hires a secretary and a draughtsman is not automatically considered to be holding an executive or managerial position. In order to qualify as a senior manager or executive as described in the intra-company transferee category, the architect must be engaging in managerial or executive duties rather than purely architectural ones.

Establish a branch, subsidiary or affiliate enterprise

A foreign national transferring in an executive or managerial capacity to establish a branch, subsidiary or affiliate enterprise on behalf of the Colombian enterprise must show that the enterprise in Canada will be doing business and will be large enough to support a managerial or executive position during the period of the foreign national’s work in Canada.

Factors such as the ownership or control of the enterprise, the premises of the enterprise, the investment committed, the organizational structure, the goods or services to be provided and the viability of the Colombian operation should be considered.

Intra-company transferees may be authorized to enter Canada for short-term assignments and may divide work between Canada and Colombia.

Occupational capacity - Management trainees (LMIA exemption code F14)

Management trainee applicants must also:

possess a post-secondary degree
be temporarily transferred to an enterprise in Canada for career development purposes or to obtain training in business techniques or methods in preparation for a senior leadership position within the company

Duration for trainees: Entry and stay for management trainees is for the period of the transfer and extensions are possible. The maximum period of stay is three (3) years provided the conditions on which they are based remain in effect.

Education: The post-secondary degree requirement for the Trainee category is a Bachelor or Baccalaureate degree, or a license at a professional level related to the intra-company activity.

Occupational capacity - Specialized knowledge workers (LMIA exemption code F15)

A foreign national applying as an intra-company transferee with specialized knowledge under the CCOFTA provisions must possess “knowledge at an advanced level of expertise” and “advanced proprietary knowledge of the company’s product, service, research, equipment, techniques or management” in addition to meeting all other eligibility requirements applicable.

Important: Both qualifications must be met to be eligible under this exemption. Advanced proprietary knowledge alone, or advanced expertise alone, may result in a refusal. If a foreign national is not deemed key personnel having specialized knowledge, this may also result in a refusal. Simply being employed with a company for 1 year does not demonstrate the high degree of specialized knowledge required for the work permit category.

Advanced proprietary knowledge would require an applicant to demonstrate:

uncommon knowledge of the host firm’s products or services and their application in international markets; or
an advanced level of expertise or knowledge of the enterprise’s processes and procedures such as its production, research, equipment, techniques or management.

An advanced level of expertise is also required, which would require specialized knowledge gained through significant experience (meaning the longer the experience, the more likely the knowledge is indeed “specialized”) and recent (within the last 3 years) experience with the organization and used by the individual to contribute significantly to the employer’s productivity.

In assessing such expertise or knowledge, officers consider:

abilities that are unusual and different from those generally found in a particular industry and that cannot be easily transferred to another individual in the short-term;
the knowledge or expertise must be highly unusual both within the industry and within the host firm;
it must be of a nature such that the applicant’s proprietary knowledge is critical to the business of the Canadian branch and a significant disruption of business would occur without the applicant’s expertise; and
the applicant’s proprietary knowledge of a particular business process or methods of operation must be unusual, not widespread across the organization, and not likely to be available in the Canadian labour market.

Example: Skill in implementing an off-the-shelf product would not, by itself, meet the standard of specialized knowledge; unless, for example, the product is new or being highly customized to the point of being a “new” product. In other words, an ICT applicant is more likely to have truly specialized knowledge if they directly contribute to the (re)development of a product, rather than to the implementation of a pre-existing product.

Residence

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 workers working at client sites and not at the parent, branch, affiliate, or subsidiary.

Alternatively, officers should examine whether a foreign national not residing in Canada might better be classified as a business visitor, which includes provision of after-sales or after-lease service. (See Business visitors, Appendix 1203.A of the CCOFTA)

Issuance of short-term work permits for specific projects is permissible, whether the project is taking place at the company premises in Canada or at a client site (generally seen as applicable for persons the company needs to transfer for their specialized knowledge). Long-term work permits in the intra-company transferee category should not be issued for service personnel living outside Canada whom the company wishes to parachute into a client site of the international company on an as-needed basis.

Final decision

Approval

The work permit will be issued under the authority of paragraph R204(a).

In GCMS, under the Application screen, officers should enter the information below in the specified fields.

Field	Selection or input
Case type	52
Province of destination	The province of destination entered by the applicant should match the address of employment in the IMP offer of employment. This information is under the Employment Details – LMIA-exempt tab. If there is more than one location, officers should enter the primary location in the ‘province of destination’ field, and the secondary information in the ‘remarks’ field.
City of destination	The city of destination entered by the applicant should match the address of employment in the IMP offer of employment. This information is under the Employment Details – LMIA-exempt tab. If there is more than one location, officers should enter the primary location in the ‘city of destination’ field, and the secondary information in the ‘remarks’ field.
Exemption code	F13 – CCOFTA – ICT – R204(a) – Executives or senior managers F14 – CCOFTA – ICT – R204(a) – Management trainees F15 – CCOFTA – ICT – R204(a) – Specialized knowledge workers This code is auto-populated from the IMP offer of employment.
NOC	The NOC code is auto-populated from the IMP offer of employment.
Intended occupation	Job title This is auto-populated from the IMP offer of employment.
LMIA/LMIA-exempt #	“A” number from the work permit application. This number is auto-populated from the work permit application, and it is what is used to “match” in the portal. If the work permit application was submitted on paper, the officer must manually enter the number.
Employer	Business operating name
Duration	Officers may issue a work permit that is valid for the duration of the offer of employment or until the expiry of the travel document, whichever is earlier. F13 - Executives and senior managers initial document maximum 3 years 2-year renewals allowable total period of stay may not exceed 7 years F14 – Management trainees initial document maximum 1 year extensions are possible total period of stay may not exceed 3 years F15 - Specialized knowledge workers initial maximum 3 years 2-year renewals allowable total period of stay may not exceed 5 years T25 - Spouses and common-law partners issued to the same validity date as the principal applicant See Length of stay for details on the maximum duration of work permits for ICTs under CCOFTA. Refer to Validity period for work permits
Processing Fees	Work permit processing fee Biometric fee (if applicable) Employer compliance fee – paid by employer with the IMP offer of employment. Note: Refund the Employer Compliance fee if the work permit is refused.

Note: If the employer is authorized to use an IMM 5802 form instead of completing the offer of employment through the Employer Portal, please see Employer-specific work permits – General processing – International Mobility Program.

Refusal

If an officer is not satisfied that all the requirements of R200, including the assessment under R204(a), are met, they must record their reasons and outline the rationale underlying the decision as well as the facts and elements considered. They must also provide an explanation for the decision in a case note.

A decision is reasonable and therefore defendable when another person is able to trace the decision maker’s reasoning, without encountering fatal flaws in the overarching logic, and is satisfied that there is a line of analysis within the given reasons that could reasonably lead the tribunal from the evidence before it to the decision maker’s conclusion.

The officer needs to engage with the documentary evidence that was provided by the applicant. Simply stating ‘I have reviewed the submissions and I am not satisfied that R204 is met’ is not sufficient for another reasonable person to understand the logic of the decision without reviewing all of the evidence again.

Refusal reasons should clearly indicate which criteria or what requirement of R200 was not met and explain how the conclusion was reached.

For assistance, officers can follow the steps in Decision making: Standard of review and process for making a reasonable decision.

Refusal grounds in GCMS

The GCMS has standard text for refusal grounds. Officers should ensure that the refusal grounds selected for the refusal letter match the reasons that they have stated in their case note.

If an officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant is not able to perform the work sought, they should select the paragraph “R200(3)(a) You were not able to demonstrate that you will be able to adequately perform the work you seek.” Officers should ensure that they clearly indicate in their refusal notes why they are not satisfied.

Given that there is no specific refusal ground for FTA categories in GCMS for when a officer is not satisfied that the criteria has been met, they should select the refusal ground “Other” and add a short explanation in the Comments field that they are not satisfied that section R200 or paragraph R204(a) are met.

Length of stay

The category of intra-company transferees is the only category where Canada has imposed a “cap” on the total duration of employment.

Executives and senior managers (LMIA exemption code F13)

initial maximum 3 years,
2-year renewals allowable;
total period of stay may not exceed 7 years
Establishing a qualifying enterprise maximum of 1 year for initial and any renewal is a maximum of 6 months

Management trainees (LMIA exemption code F14)

initial maximum 1 year,
2-year renewals allowable;
total period of stay may not exceed 3 years

Specialized knowledge workers (LMIA exemption code F15)

initial maximum 3 years,
2-year renewals allowable;
total period of stay may not exceed 5 years

Spouses or common-law partners (LMIA exemption code T25)

Spousal open work permits should be issued to the same validity date as the principal applicant or passport expiry, whichever comes first.

Note: There is no need for a worker to spend time employed outside of Canada before applying for a new work permit under a different ICT category, provided:

they can demonstrate the required work experience with the foreign enterprise under the new ICT category (i.e. 6 months of experience in the 3 years prior to the new work permit application) (See Current and continuous employment); and
they have not reached the limit (i.e., 5 years for specialized knowledge workers, 3 years for management trainees, and 7 years for executives and senior managers).

This limit is cumulative across intra-company transferee categories (i.e., time spent working under one category will carry over and count towards the limit of another) and extensions beyond this limit cannot be issued, even under a different ICT category. Once the limit has been reached, they must complete one year of full-time employment in the company outside Canada if they wish to reapply as an intra-company transferee.

Example: A foreign national who is issued an ICT work permit as a specialized knowledge worker has been working in Canada for 3 years and would like to switch to an executive position within the Canadian enterprise. Assuming all other eligibility criteria are met at the time the foreign national applies for their work permit extension, their time working under their initial specialized knowledge work permit would still count towards the maximum 7-year duration for executive workers.

Once the limit has been reached they must complete 1 year of full-time employment in the company outside Canada if they wish to reapply as an intra-company transferee.

The foreign national must be able to demonstrate that their position in the foreign enterprise is equivalent to the new position in Canada that they are applying for, and that they meet other all other eligibilities such as 6 months of employment in the same occupation in the 3 years preceding the new work permit application

An application for a new position will be assessed against both the duties and responsibilities listed in the offer of employment for the new position and National Occupation Code (NOC) for the new position. The application may be refused if the officer is not satisfied that the foreign national can perform the work sought or that the job offer is genuine.

See the section on Current and continuous employment for further information.

Spouses and common-law partners (open work permit/ LMIA exemption code T25)

Annex 1203: Section E of the CCOFTA includes provisions to facilitate work permit issuance for the spouses or common-law partners of Investors or Traders (F10 or F11), Intra-Company Transferees (F13, F14 or F15), and Professionals and Technicians (F12).

Each party shall grant temporary entry and provide an open work permit to a spouse or common-law partner of a business person qualifying for temporary entry under the agreement (with the exception of the Business Visitor Category), if the spouse or common-law partner otherwise complies with existing immigration measures applicable to temporary entry. Such an individual should be processed using LMIA exemption code T25.

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2025-01-03

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