Intra-corporate transferees – CUFTA [R204(a) – F71, F74] – 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, “officer” 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 the following:

The Canada–Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA) is an international trade agreement between Canada and Ukraine, and as such any work permit applications are assessed under paragraph 204(a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR). This regulatory section falls under the International Mobility Program (IMP).

The intra-corporate transferees category is comprised of citizens and permanent residents of Ukraine who are employed by an enterprise in Ukraine and who are seeking to render services to an enterprise in Canada that is

the parent entity
a subsidiary
an affiliate

The business person must be doing work as 1 of the following:

an executive
a manager
a specialist

Eligibility

At the time of submitting their application, all intra-corporate transferees must meet the following requirements:

be a citizen or permanent resident of Ukraine>
have been continuously employed by the transferring company for at least 1 year within the previous 3 years
show that their employment or partnership was in an enterprise in Ukraine
be transferred to a qualifying enterprise in Canada
belong to 1 of the following occupational categories:

Documentary evidence

The onus is on the applicant 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 citizenship or permanent residence in Ukraine
confirmation that the foreign national is currently employed by an enterprise outside of Canada
confirmation that in the 3-year period immediately preceding the date of application, the foreign national has been employed continuously outside Canada by the enterprise for 1 year
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, i.e., 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
- description of the relationship between the enterprise in Canada and the enterprise in the Ukraine
evidence that the business enterprise “is or will be doing business” in both Canada and the Ukraine
either
- an offer of employment number generated by the Employer Portal when they submit the offer for themselves or
- the Offer of Employment to a Foreign National Exempt from a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) form [IMM 5802] if authorized by the Client Experience branch or Immigration Program Guidance branch to submit the form (see Alternate submission [IMM 5802] for details)

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 can foreign nationals who otherwise meet the requirements of section 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

When assessing if the work permit application meets the requirements of the CUFTA, 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
Requirements Exemptions Met	Information in this field outlines how the job or the foreign national meets the regulation and trade agreement requirements. At minimum, it should mention the CUFTA. There should also be an explanation of the relationship of the businesses.
NOC and Job Title	Is the occupation a position as an executive a manager a specialist
Duration	A maximum of 3 years is allowed in the agreement. It can be for less time.
Duties and Job Requirements	These are the activities that the foreign national will be performing. Do they align with the occupation? Do they align with what is stated for that occupation in the National Occupational Classification system? Are there specific requirements that align with the intra-corporate transferee category of the applicant (manager, executive or specialist)? In the case of a specialist, what specialized knowledge is required for the job?
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 wage alone. There is no requirement that the foreign national be paid by the Canadian enterprise or in Canadian dollars.
Minimum Education Requirements	Are the educational requirements compatible with the stated occupation outlined in the offer of employment? For example: Management trainees must have a post-secondary degree The client’s education may have some bearing on whether the client meets the job requirements; however, its relative weight may be less if their work experience is sufficient.
Provincial/Federal Certification, Licensing or Registration	Documented evidence should be provided with the application; 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 provide sufficient documentary evidence to show that on the day they applied they were employed in an executive, managerial, management trainee or specialized knowledge capacity. 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.

To meet the requirement of 1 full year 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 1 year.

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 1 year 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 [paragraph 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.

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

Executives and Managers (Administrative code F71)

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

An executive is a person within an organization who does all of the following:

primarily directs the management of the organization or a major component or function of the organization
establishes the goals and policies of the organization or of a component or function of the organization
exercises wide latitude in decision-making and receives only general supervision or direction from high-level executives, the board of directors or stockholders of the business organization

An executive or 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.

A manager is a business person within an organization who does all of the following:

primarily directs the organization or a department or subdivision of the organization
supervises and controls the work of other supervisory, professional or managerial employees
has the authority to hire and fire or take other personnel actions (such as promotion or leave authorization)
exercises discretionary authority over day-to-day operations

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 Ukrainian 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 overseas operation should be considered.

Specialists (Administrative code F74)

A specialist is an employee possessing specialized knowledge of the company’s product or services and their application in international markets or an advanced level of expertise or knowledge of the company’s processes and procedures.

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 such a nature 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
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.

See Qualifying job positions for specialized knowledge workers – Intra-company transferees [R205(a) - C63] – Canadian interests – International Mobility Program for guidance on specialized knowledge.

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.

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 – CUFTA [R186(a)] – Authorization to work without a work permit)

Issuing 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.

Work permit issuance in GCMS

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.
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.
Administrative code	F71 – Executives and senior managers F74 – Specialized knowledge This code is auto-populated from the IMP offer of employment. This code should only be changed in specific circumstances. For further instruction, see Changes between the offer of employment and the work permit application
NOC	The National Occupational Classification (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	The validity should match the duration of the offer of employment to a maximum of 3 years or until the expiry of the travel document, whichever is earlier. Refer to Validity period for work permits

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.

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.

Length of stay

The length of stay is up to 3 years for initial applications, with possible extensions at the officer’s discretion if the applicant is able to provide documentation that satisfies the processing officer that the applicant needs to have their stay extended and is still in Canada for a temporary purpose. The total period of stay may not exceed 7 years for executives and managers or 5 years for specialists.

See Extending work permits issued under the CUFTA for details on when an application can be extended.

Spousal provisions – Administrative code F73

An open work permit may be issued to the spouse of an intra-corporate transferee if the principal applicant is a citizen or permanent resident of Ukraine.

Spousal eligibility is based on the citizenship or permanent resident status of the principal applicant.

Page details

2026-01-13

Language selection

Search