Immigration, Citizenship and Refugees Canada (IRCC) has updated its guidance to staff relating to Intra-Company Transferees (ICTs). These changes were released on October 3.

The changes will make it more difficult for employers to get their employees work permits under the International Mobility Program.

The changes include stricter requirements for the employer to be a multinational corporation, and for the employee to have specialized knowledge necessary for their role.

What is the International Mobility Program?

Under the International Mobility Program, employers can use Intra-Company Transfers to obtain work permits for foreign nationals, without needing to undertake a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).

LMIAs are administered to ensure that the hiring of a foreign worker has a neutral or positive impact on the Canadian labour market. Employers must spend more time and effort to obtain LMIA-based work permits.

Stricter requirements for Intra-Company Transferees

The updated guidance requires officers to ensure that the foreign enterprise applying for an ICT qualifies as as an existing multinational corporation (MNC). Officers must ensure that the enterprise has "revenue-generating operations in at least two countries, before establishing an enterprise in Canada."

Other updates to this section include:

• • Clarification on the definition of “specialized knowledge,” and how to assess whether an applicant has specialized knowledge, and whether a position requires specialized knowledge;
  • Clarification on the eligibility criteria for foreign nationals for the ICT; and
  • Consolidating the instructions for ICTs into a single page.

Guidance also reinforced that ICTs should not be used “as a means to transfer an enterprise’s general work force to affiliated entities in Canada.”

The update also stressed the importance of officers including all evidence for ICT applications within the Global Case Management System (GCMS).

Free trade agreements related to the International Mobility Program

IRCC has also updated staff documentation related to the following free trade agreements, all related to the International Mobility Program:

• Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement;
• Canada–Korea Free Trade Agreement;
• Canada–Peru Free Trade Agreement;
• Canada–Colombia Free Trade Agreement;
• Canada–Chile Free Trade Agreement;
• Canada–European Union: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement;
• Canada–United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement; and
• Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

IRCC has updated instructions related to these free trade agreements (FTAs) by standardizing the format in the following ways:

• Integrating all guidance on assessing ICTs into the ICT instructions for each FTA;
• Formatting instructions as individual pages for each temporary work provision; and
• Including an overview page.

On the same day, IRCC also updated guidelines for entering information in GCMS for representatives.

Changes part of IRCC’s ongoing reforms

These program updates relating to ICTs align with IRCC's broader agenda for scaling back temporary resident programs.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller intends to lower the proportion of temporary residents in Canada’s population from 6.5% to 5% over the next three years.

On 18 Sept, Miller announced measures intended to significantly reduce the number of study permits, post-graduation work permits (PGWPs), and spousal open work permits over the next three years.

Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), which enables LMIA-based work permits, has also come under scrutiny. As of the 26 Sept, the government has suspended processing of the low-wage stream of the TWFP for all census metropolitan areas in which the unemployment rate exceeds 6%.

The upcoming Levels Plan, to be released on November 1, will be the first Levels Plan to include targets for temporary residents.

The Levels Plan sets out immigration targets for the upcoming year, along with provisional targets for the following two years.