Under the intra-company transfer (ICT) route, your existing operating company abroad incorporates a branch or subsidiary in Canada, and you apply for a Canadian work permit as an executive, a senior manager or a specialised-knowledge employee being transferred into it. If the Canadian entity trades genuinely and keeps proper records, the permit can be extended, and the Canadian work experience you build may later support a permanent residence application. Your spouse and dependent children can normally apply at the same time. Permanent residence is a separate application decided by IRCC or by a province, and no outcome can be promised. Incorporation, the ICT case strategy and the submission itself are handled by Hadi Imani, a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC #R522575) regulated by the CICC, in line with current IRCC guidance.
Yes: spouse and children
None for the ICT permit
4 to 9 months
No minimum set by IRCC
No. An intra-company transfer is exempt from the Labour Market Impact Assessment under exemption code C12 of the International Mobility Program, so no LMIA is required. In exchange you must meet the ICT criteria in full and evidence every part of them.
Yes. The Canadian entity can be newly incorporated; that is the standard start-up branch scenario. It is the parent company abroad that must already be trading, with a real operating history.
Toronto and Vancouver concentrate technology and knowledge-based industry. Smaller centres often suit smaller operations better, and several provinces are strongest in food production and agriculture. Choose the province for commercial reasons, not paperwork reasons.
No rule requires an identical sector. But the ICT category rests on the qualifying relationship between the two companies and on your role within it, and staying in the same line of business makes that relationship much easier to evidence.
A new Canadian branch may not turn a profit in its first year, and that alone does not prevent an extension. What IRCC looks at is whether the business is genuinely trading, has premises and staff, and is following the plan you filed. A dormant company is the problem, not a modest first year.
Yes. You need a registered Canadian address to open a bank account, and IRCC expects a start-up branch to have secured physical premises, normally under a commercial lease. Virtual office addresses are routinely questioned.
Yes. Applications are refused where the economic value of the Canadian entity is not established, funds are not properly evidenced, or there are tax or legal problems behind the parent company. No representative can guarantee an outcome; the decision rests with IRCC alone.
A Canadian-controlled private corporation pays a reduced small business rate on its first CAD 500,000 of active business income, roughly 12% combined federal and provincial in Ontario. Income above that threshold, and rates in other provinces, are different.
A federally incorporated company can operate anywhere in Canada, gets stronger name protection nationwide, files online with Corporations Canada and reads internationally as a Canadian company. It still has to register extra-provincially in each province where it actually does business.
A provincial corporation is governed by the law of the province where it is registered, and those rules differ on directors, filings and fees; to trade in another province it must register there too. You can also trade provincially as a sole proprietorship or a partnership, but neither is a corporation and neither gives you limited liability or shares the parent company can hold.
Have your eligibility for the ICT route reviewed free of charge. An honest review before you spend money tells you whether the route fits your company, and what evidence you would need to build.
Registering a company in Canada can lead to Canadian immigration, but the order matters: you incorporate, you apply for a work permit, and only later, through a separate application, do you look at permanent residence.
This is not the same as buying an existing business and it is not the Start-up Visa. It is also not open to everyone, because it depends on a specific employment history with an operating company abroad. This guide covers who qualifies, what registering a Canadian branch involves, what it costs in CAD, and where the route stops short of permanent residence.
Canada has one of the most stable economies in the G7, an open trading system and a transparent corporate registry, which is why start-up, investment and business-ownership routes attract so many applicants whose aim is work rather than study.
The intra-company transfer category lets an established business abroad open a Canadian branch and move a key person into it on a work permit, with an open work permit for the spouse and study permits for the children. It is one of the faster business routes to immigration to Canada, and it also gives the parent company a Canadian trading arm, a Canadian bank account and direct access to the North American market.
The overall sequence for registering a Canadian company or branch under the ICT category is as follows:
| Company registration details and requirements | |
|---|---|
| Visa applied for | Work Permit |
| Visa application fee | Work permit CAD 155 per person; employer compliance fee CAD 230; LMIA, where required, CAD 1,000 per position, paid by the employer |
| Capital required to set up the company | No published statutory minimum – the officer assesses whether the business is genuine and viable |
| Initial review | Set by IRCC – check the IRCC processing times tool |
| Document assessment and visa issuance | Set by IRCC – check the IRCC processing times tool |
| Core documents | Language test results, work experience, proof the company exists, proof of funds |
On top of this, you must have at least one year of documented full-time work with the parent company within the past three years. With that outline in mind, here is what you actually need in order to qualify.
Incorporation itself is open to non-residents: you do not need to live in Canada or hold Canadian status to register a federal corporation, although some provinces impose director-residency rules and every corporation needs a Canadian registered address. The conditions bite at the next stage, the work permit. Owners, senior managers and specialised-knowledge staff can be transferred into the new Canadian entity, and each of them must meet the following:
| Category | Requirements |
|---|---|
| Business owners and entrepreneurs | At least one year of managerial-level experience within the past three years |
| Senior manager | One year of experience at senior-management level with the company opening the branch |
| Specialised-knowledge staff | One year of experience with the company opening the branch, plus specialised training |
Beyond the usual CV, employment and education records and identity documents, the following need to be in the file when the work permit application is submitted:
With that background, here is what registering a Canadian branch actually involves. It starts with the immigration test rather than the paperwork.
The work permit side of this route runs through the intra-company transferee category. The company abroad must be actively trading. You must have at least one year of continuous full-time work with it within the past three years, in an executive, senior managerial or specialised-knowledge role. You must be able to fund the Canadian entity; IRCC publishes no minimum figure, and what is assessed is whether the Canadian operation can genuinely be set up, run and support the position. And the parent company’s tax filings must be clean. Meet all of that and you can move on to incorporation.
Decide where the Canadian entity will trade. Ontario and British Columbia are the usual choices, and it matters because incorporation rules, director-residency requirements and fees are set province by province. You can also incorporate federally with Corporations Canada and then register extra-provincially wherever you operate.
A start-up branch is expected to hire in Canada, and a Canadian manager with genuine operational experience makes the file considerably stronger.
Next you secure premises, prepare the corporate structure and the documents that establish the qualifying relationship between parent and Canadian entity, register for a CRA business number and open a Canadian bank account. Only then is the work permit application filed with IRCC, for you and, at the same time, for your spouse and children.
Once you meet the ICT criteria, the remaining decisions are corporate: what the Canadian company will do, how it will be owned, and at which level it is registered.
You can incorporate in almost any lawful sector. In practice, the businesses that evidence an ICT case most easily fall into the following areas:
With the sector settled, choose the corporate form, corporation, sole proprietorship or partnership, and decide whether to register provincially or federally. Only a corporation gives you limited liability and a share structure the parent company can hold.
This is the point to read properly on the Canadian labour market and on corporate and immigration rules, or to talk it through with the Aval Visa team on 02159307, because incorporation, banking and tax all interact with the immigration file.
If you can show IRCC that the Canadian business is genuinely trading, holds physical premises and is generating revenue, the work permit can be extended: up to five years in total for specialised-knowledge staff and up to seven years for executives and senior managers. The first permit for a start-up branch is normally issued for one year only.
Permanent residence is a separate application, not an automatic conversion, and it is decided by IRCC or by a province on their own criteria. Most people on this route apply through Express Entry once they have built Canadian work experience, or through a provincial entrepreneur stream. Over those years you will need to hire in Canada, keep every licence and registration current and file on time. A permanent residence application will usually also call for:
Opening a Canadian branch is a business decision first and an immigration file second, and both have to be right. The corporate structure, the premises, the funding and the evidence all have to tell one consistent story before the work permit application is filed.
Aval Visa works with you from the first eligibility review through document preparation, forms, corporate structure and the work permit submission. The immigration advice and representation are provided by Hadi Imani, a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC #R522575) regulated by the CICC, on Canadian immigration matters only. Where a matter falls outside that, such as corporate litigation or an application to the Federal Court for judicial review, you will be referred to a Canadian lawyer, because only a lawyer may act before the court.
If you own or run an operating business and want to know whether the ICT route is realistic for you and your family, get in touch for an assessment. We will tell you plainly if it is not.
