Pathway guide
Intra-company transfer
An intra-company transfer lets a multinational group move a key employee from a related company abroad (a parent, subsidiary, branch or affiliate) to its Canadian business for a limited time, without a labour market impact assessment. It covers executives and managers (code C62), employees with specialized knowledge of the company (code C63) and employees sent to open a new Canadian office (code C61).
Who it’s for
- Canadian companies with a parent, subsidiary, branch or affiliate abroad
- Multinational groups already earning revenue in at least 2 countries that want to open an office in Canada
- Executives, managers and employees with advanced knowledge of the company's own products or processes (not general staff)
- Employees who have worked full time for the company abroad for at least 1 continuous year in the last 3 years
What it asks for
- The Canadian and foreign companies are linked by ownership and control as parent, subsidiary, branch or affiliate
- Both companies are actively doing business, and the Canadian business has physical commercial premises
- The worker works for the company abroad now and has 1 continuous full-time year in a similar role in the last 3 years
- The Canadian job is executive, managerial or specialized knowledge, in the same capacity as the job abroad
- The transfer is temporary and the job abroad stays open for the worker's return
- The wage is at least the prevailing wage for the job and location (a firm floor for specialized knowledge)
- Your Canadian company directs the worker's daily work, and the transfer brings a significant benefit to Canada
- A new office needs a group operating in 2 or more countries, a business plan, a staffing plan, funding and a timeline
- Time limits: 1 year for a new office; otherwise up to 3 years at first, with a total of 7 years (executives and managers) or 5 years (specialized knowledge)
What the employer does
- Confirm the ownership link, the worker's employment history and the right category (C61, C62 or C63) with a lawyer.
- Gather corporate records, both job descriptions, proof of the worker's current job and a support letter explaining the transfer.
- Sign an employment agreement with the worker, in their chosen official language, that matches the offer you will submit.
- Submit the offer of employment in the Employer Portal with the right code and pay the $230 employer compliance fee.
- Give the worker the offer of employment number; the worker applies online (from outside Canada for 2-week processing if eligible), and family members can apply at the same time.
- When the worker arrives, check their work permit and keep them in the approved job, wage and location; keep employment records for 6 years.
- Before the permit expires, submit a new offer and fee for an extension; a new office moves to C62 or C63 once it is operating.
Documents you’ll usually need
- Proof of the ownership link: share registers, articles, annual reports and an organization chart
- Proof the Canadian business operates: tax returns, payroll account, business licence, lease and recent invoices or contracts
- Support letter: the worker's current role, the unique skills needed, the Canadian role, the length of the assignment and how the companies are related
- Job descriptions and organization charts for the job abroad and the job in Canada
- Proof of the worker's employment abroad: employment letter with dates and hours, pay slips or payroll records
- For specialized knowledge: evidence of company-specific knowledge, such as internal training, projects and product work
- For a new office: business plan, staffing plan, proof of funds and a timeline, plus a lease or plan to secure premises
- Signed employment agreement and the offer of employment number
Fees and timing
- Employer compliance fee: $230, paid before the worker applies, and again for a renewal; refunded if the permit is refused, or if you withdraw the offer and ask for a refund before the permit is issued
Official source - Worker fees: $155 work permit fee and, if required, $85 biometrics fee ($170 for a family of 2 or more applying together); a spouse's open work permit costs $155 plus a $100 open work permit holder fee
Official source - Global Skills Strategy: IRCC aims to process eligible applications within 2 weeks for TEER 0 or 1 jobs when the worker applies online from outside Canada
Official source - IRCC says GSS applications will probably take more than 2 weeks while it recovers (help centre, modified 2026-09-28)
Official source - Permit length: up to 1 year for a new office (C61); up to 3 years at first for C62 and C63, with 2-year renewals up to 7 or 5 years in total
Official source - Spouse open work permit: since January 21, 2025, the worker's permit must be valid for at least 16 months after the spouse's application is received
Official source
Watch out for
- Codes changed: transfers now use C61, C62 or C63; these replaced code C12 on December 15, 2022.
- IRCC rewrote its transfer instructions on October 3, 2024 and added multinational examples on January 6, 2025; a general workforce cannot be moved this way.
- A company that exists in name only, or works from a home or virtual address, cannot transfer employees.
- Specialized knowledge is hard to prove: general industry skill is not enough, and jobs in TEER 3 to 5 get a closer review.
- Keep the worker's duties, level, location and wage as set out in the offer; a promotion or other change needs a new offer and work permit first, and a specialist cannot act as a manager.
- Since January 21, 2025, children of transferees can no longer get open work permits under the high-skilled worker measure (other measures apply once the worker applies for permanent residence), and spouses need at least 16 months left on the worker's permit, which a 1-year new-office permit cannot meet.
- A worker in Canada as a visitor generally cannot apply from inside Canada.
- Transfers under trade agreements (CUSMA, CETA, CPTPP and others) have their own rules; time under them counts toward the same 7-year and 5-year limits.
- Proposed change: Budget 2025 directed IRCC to transfer International Mobility Program employer inspections to ESDC; the regulations are planned but not yet in force.
Official pages
- Intra-company transferees (ICT): [R205(a), C61, C62, C63], Canadian interests, International Mobility Program
- Labour market impact assessment (LMIA) exemption codes: International Mobility Program (IMP)
- How to hire under the International Mobility Program
- Employer Portal
- Hire through the Global Skills Strategy: Who’s eligible for faster processing
- Open work permits for family members of foreign workers: Who can apply
- Spouses or common-law partners of foreign nationals authorized to work in high-skilled occupations TEER 0 or 1, or select occupations TEER 2 or 3: [R205(c)(ii), C41], Canadian interest, International Mobility Program (IMP)
- Citizenship and immigration application fees: Fee list
- Hire a worker without an LMIA: after you hire a temporary worker
- Program delivery update: Canadian Interests: Significant Benefit, Intra-company transferees [R205(a)] (exemption codes C61, C62 and C63)
- Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, section 205
- IRCC’s Forward Regulatory Plan - Amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations to facilitate the transfer of International Mobility Program employer compliance inspection responsibilities to ESDC
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Checked against official sources on October 16, 2026. The employer assessment checks your answers against these requirements, and a lawyer reviews anything unusual.