Business Visas & Entrepreneurs
Business Visitors - who qualifies?
If you are interested in coming to Canada for business purposes you may be eligible for a business visitor visa. Such a visa is generally used for individuals who intend to engage in international business activities in Canada without directly entering the Canadian labour market. Factors that help to determine whether a visit falls within a business visitor visa includes whether the primary source of remuneration is outside Canada and whether the principal place of business and actual place of accrual of profits is outside of Canada.
Examples of business visitors that are clearly set out in Canadian public policy (the International Mobility Program) include
Attending business meetings, trade conventions and exhibitions
Procurement of Canadian goods and services
Providing after sales services that are subject of an agreement between buyer and seller
Supervision of the installation of specialized equipment
Training activities
Personal servants of short-term residents
Business visitors are to be distinguished from intra-company transferees, professional coming pursuant to trade agreements, and others who are generally coming to provide services to Canadian employers who would ordinarily provide remuneration for such services.
Business visitors are not ordinarily allowed to receive remuneration from Canadian sources except for limited reimbursement of travel expenses incidental to the visit.
Business visitors who are from visa required countries need to make a visa applications before being allowed to travel to Canada. Such an application should be supported by the Canadian entity inviting them to Canada and the foreign employer for whom the business visitor is ordinarily employed.
For visa-exempt applicants, an eTA is required, and may require the support of evidence to establish the purpose of the visit.
Business visitors are not permitted to work in Canada. Activities must be limited to those activities which an ordinary business visitor would conduct such as business meetings, training or educational seminars, and other activities as specifically allowed in the International Mobility Program policies.
Contact us for assistance with entering Canada as a business visitor.
Intra-Company Transfereers
Intra-company transferees are generally employees of companies that are outside of Canada seeking to transfer to a parent, subsidiary, branch or affiliate of a company inside Canada for the purposes of working on a temporary basis in Canada. These employees must be transferred at an executive, senior managerial or specialized knowledge capacity. Generally speaking, for employees to be transferred from abroad they must have worked in a similar capacity for at least one year in the proceeding three years before the application for the transferring company. The company in Canada should be established and have a qualifying relationship with the foreign company, however, there is provision for allowing for transfer from an established company outside of Canada into a new start up company inside Canada. Work permits are initially granted for a one year duration, but further renewals can be applied to for a maximum of five (for specialized knowledge workers) to seven years (for senior managerial and executives) in total, not counting any time not spent physically in Canada.
While the general rule is that the Canadian company should have a physical premises to operate in Canada, (enforced with respect to specialized knowledge applications), for senior managers and executives, a temporary address may be used until the company in Canada can purchase or lease a premises. In the case of a start up, additional documentation would have to be provided which would show realistic plans to staff a new operation, and to demonstrate that there are financial resources to commence the operation and compensate employees. Further in the case of executives or senior managers the company must demonstrate it is of a size to support executive or management staff.
In order to demonstrate a qualifying relationship documentation must be provided which would prove that:
Parent relationship: that the foreign company owns the Canadian entity, or at least a controlling interest in the Canadian entity.
Subsidiary relationship: that the Canadian entity owns the foreign company, or at least a controlling interest in the Foreign entity.
Branch office: that the Foreign entity has corporately registered in Canada to do business in Canada and opened its own branches.
Affiliated companies: where the Canadian entity and Foreign entity are owned by the same shareholders or substantially the same shareholders.
For renewals of intra-company work permits the qualifying relationship must be maintained from the time of the initial application to the time of the renewal.
Applications for intra-company applications are generally done online and processed through visa offices abroad. The Employer would seek a Labour Market Impact Assessment Exemption through the online registration process, and require a Exemption Fee of $230.
For applicants from non-visa required countries, processing can be done at Ports of Entry, but due to the complex nature of such applications, the application should be made in advance, and approval letters issued before the worker applies at the port of entry.