What a US company must do before transferring staff to Canada
You run or advise a US company that has decided to put people in Canada. Maybe you want a sales office in Toronto, an engineering team in Vancouver, or a founder on the ground while you test the market. The route most companies use is the Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) work permit, which lets you move staff to a related Canadian company without a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) — the study that normally proves no Canadian could do the job.
Here is the part companies get wrong: an ICT application is not an employee matter that HR files on the side. It is a corporate file. The officer reading it spends more time on your two companies than on your employee’s resume. If you want the detail on who qualifies and which category fits, our intra-company transfer work permit guide covers the program itself. This guide covers what your company has to do, and in what order, so the application you eventually file is not the thing holding you up.
Quick answer
Before your employee can file anything, your Canadian entity must submit an offer of employment through IRCC’s Employer Portal, pay the $230 employer compliance fee, and give the employee an offer of employment number. The work permit belongs to your employee, but most of the evidence comes from your two companies — officers assess the US business, the Canadian business, and only then the person.
Key takeaways for employers
Five things decide whether your transfer runs to schedule.
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The evidence is corporate, not personal
Officers assess the US business and the Canadian business before they assess your employee’s resume.
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The Employer Portal comes first
Your Canadian entity must submit the offer of employment, pay the $230 employer compliance fee, and issue the offer of employment number before your transferee can file.
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Your US salary does not settle the wage question
The Canadian role must pay at or above the prevailing wage for that occupation and city. Allowances do not count toward it.
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Who you send changes how long you can keep them
An executive or senior manager can stay up to 7 years; a specialized-knowledge employee tops out at 5.
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Build the corporate file before you pick the person
Companies that incorporate in Canada as an afterthought lose months.
What does a US company have to prove about itself?
Three corporate facts decide most ICT files. Get these straight before you spend money on anything else.
Your US company must already do business outside the United States
This surprises people. The general ICT route is for multinational companies. IRCC expects your US business to already earn revenue from operations in at least one country besides the US. A profitable company that sells only to American customers cannot use the general ICT route to open its first foreign office.
There is an important exception for you. US and Mexican citizens can transfer under CUSMA (the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement), and the treaty route does not apply that multinational test. Our CUSMA work permit guide explains how that differs, including why US citizens can often apply at the border rather than online. If neither fits, the C11 entrepreneur work permit is usually the next route to look at.
Both companies must be actively doing business
The US company must keep operating the whole time your employee is in Canada, and the Canadian company must provide real goods or services. A registered shell with a virtual address and no staff does not count. Officers look for a lease, a bank account, contracts, and a plan to hire locally.
Your US company must be able to fund the Canadian operation
Canada sets no minimum investment for ICT. The question is whether your company can realistically carry the Canadian office until it pays for itself. On first-time expansions we handle, the figures that make a file credible are roughly $250,000+ in annual gross sales for the US company and $100,000+ in liquid funds to cover the Canadian office’s first year, including the transferee’s salary, with a reserve beyond that. Those are our benchmarks from practice, not IRCC rules — your business plan decides what is enough.
The step most US companies miss: the IRCC Employer Portal
This is the single most common reason a US company’s timeline slips, and it is the reason this guide exists.
Your employee cannot submit a work permit application until you have done three things. As IRCC’s Guide 5487 states: “Your employer must give you an offer of employment number and pay the Employer compliance fee before you start your work permit application.”
- Submit the offer of employment through the Employer Portal. Your Canadian entity registers on IRCC’s Employer Portal and submits the offer electronically. You complete employer attestations and certifications at the same time. This is not the same document as the offer letter you send the employee.
- Pay the employer compliance fee. The fee is $230 CAD per offer, paid in the portal. Some employers are exempt and upload proof of exemption instead.
- Give your employee the offer of employment number. IRCC issues a number that begins with the letter “A” followed by seven digits. Your transferee needs that number to complete their application. Without it, they cannot file.
A practical note: register your Canadian entity in the portal early. Registration asks for details a brand-new company may not have yet, and sorting that out while your employee waits is a bad place to be.
What you are signing up for
Submitting that offer makes your Canadian company subject to IRCC employer compliance. You must pay what you said you would pay, provide the working conditions you described, and keep records for six years. IRCC and ESDC can inspect. Employers found non-compliant face monetary penalties and can be barred from hiring foreign workers. Treat the offer of employment as a document your CFO reads, not a form an assistant completes.
Why your US offer letter can sink the application
Since IRCC’s October 3, 2024 program update, the prevailing wage is the benchmark for ICT applications. The specialized-knowledge category is held to a wage floor strictly.
In plain terms: the Canadian role must pay at or above the median wage for that occupation in that city, as published on Canada’s Job Bank. Three things go wrong here:
- Allowances do not count. Housing, travel, relocation, and cost-of-living top-ups are excluded from the comparison. Only base salary counts.
- US pay bands are not Canadian pay bands. A salary that is generous in Austin can land under the Toronto median for the same occupation. Check the Job Bank figure for the city and occupation before you issue the offer, not after.
- Currency. The offer in the Employer Portal is in Canadian dollars. Converting a US figure at the wrong moment creates a mismatch between your offer letter, your portal submission, and your payroll.
Fix the wage before you issue anything. Changing it afterwards means amending the portal submission and explaining the change to an officer.
Which employee should you send first?
Companies usually pick the person who most wants to go. It is better to pick based on what each category buys you.
| Factor | Executives & senior managers (C62) | Specialized knowledge (C63) | New Canadian office (C61) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who it fits | People who direct the company or a major function, or supervise managers and professionals | Staff with advanced knowledge of your own products or processes AND advanced expertise | The person sent to open the Canadian branch, subsidiary or affiliate |
| First permit | Up to 3 years | Up to 3 years | 1 year |
| Maximum total stay | 7 years | 5 years | 1 year; then requalify under C62 or C63 |
| Wage test | Prevailing wage | Prevailing wage floor, applied strictly | Prevailing wage |
Exemption codes and permit lengths reflect IRCC program delivery updates of October 3, 2024 and January 6, 2025. Confirm current rules before you file.
Three things follow from that table
Send a leader before a specialist. An executive or senior manager gets a longer runway and a more forgiving assessment. Specialized knowledge is where officers push back hardest, because you must show both advanced company-specific knowledge and advanced expertise — one without the other fails. Officers generally expect two or more years with your company, even though the legal minimum is one year in the last three.
Everyone needs one year of full-time work with you in the last three. Part-time months cannot be added together to make a year. A recent hire cannot be your first transferee, however good they are.
Plan around the C61 one-year ceiling. If this is a brand-new Canadian office, your first permit runs one year and normally does not extend. That year has to produce an operating business that can support a C62 or C63 application. Build your hiring and revenue plan around that deadline from day one.
A realistic 90-day sequence
For a first Canadian office, the corporate work comes first and the immigration filing comes last. Here is the order we use.
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Step 01
Week 1–2 · Strategy
Confirm the corporate relationship qualifies, choose the category and the person, and check the Job Bank wage for the occupation and city.
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Step 02
Week 2–4 · Incorporate
Register the Canadian branch, subsidiary or affiliate, and set up directors and share structure.
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Step 03
Week 4–7 · Set up operations
Business address or lease, Canadian bank account, CRA business number and payroll account.
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Step 04
Week 4–8 · Build the business case
Business plan with hiring plan and 2–3 years of cash-flow projections, ownership records, financial statements and payroll proof.
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Step 05
Week 8–9 · Employer Portal
Register the Canadian entity, submit the offer of employment, pay the $230 fee, and receive the offer of employment number.
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Step 06
Week 9–10 · File
The employee applies online, or at a port of entry if eligible, with biometrics where required.
Two notes on timing
First, the business plan is not a formality — for new offices it is the document the officer tests the whole application against. Our guide to business plans for Canadian immigration sets out what officers look for.
Second, if your transferee’s Canadian role is in a TEER 0 or 1 occupation and the application is complete, it may qualify for two-week priority processing under the Global Skills Strategy, provided biometrics are given within two weeks of applying.
Three costs US finance teams underestimate
The government fees are the small number. Budget instead for the Canadian entity: accounting, payroll, benefits, insurance, a real address, and legal work.
The fees are the small part
Per application
A work permit is $155 per person and biometrics $85 per person ($170 per family of two or more). The employer compliance fee is $230 per offer.
If status lapses
Restoring it costs $246.25 plus a new $155 work permit, and your transferee cannot work during that period.
Year two costs the same
Why it repeats
A C61 new-office permit runs one year. Year two means a fresh application and fresh evidence that the Canadian business is real and operating.
Plan for it
The second filing is often under a different category. Companies that budget for one filing get surprised.
The PR clock starts late
What ICT does not give
ICT does not give permanent residence. After 12 months of skilled, full-time Canadian work, your transferee may qualify through the Canadian Experience Class under Express Entry.
Since March 25, 2025
A job offer no longer adds CRS points, so their score rests on age, education, language and experience.
Plan the permanent residence route before you choose the category
If retaining that person long-term matters to you, decide the PR route before you pick the ICT category — see our guide to Express Entry for senior managers. Weighing Canada against other destinations for the same assignment? Our Canada vs US vs UK comparison sets the three side by side.
US company staff transfers: frequently asked questions
Yes — a registered Canadian entity has to exist, because it is the employer named on the permit and the one that submits the offer of employment in the Employer Portal. It does not need to be profitable or fully staffed. For a brand-new office, IRCC issues a one-year permit under code C61 and expects a business plan showing the operation can support the transferee.
The Canadian employer pays it through the Employer Portal. You cannot recover it from the worker, and you cannot charge recruitment fees to the worker either. The fee is paid before the employee submits the work permit application.
No. The employee must have worked full-time for your company in a similar role for at least one year within the last three. Part-time periods cannot be combined to reach a year. If the person is essential, look at whether another route fits, or wait until they meet the requirement.
Sometimes. Since January 21, 2025, only select spouses qualify. Your transferee’s spouse or common-law partner can usually get an open work permit if the Canadian job is in TEER 0 or 1 (or a listed TEER 2 or 3 occupation) and the permit is valid for at least 16 months when IRCC receives the spouse’s application. A one-year C61 new-office permit usually does not meet that test — which is another reason the category you choose matters.
Often, yes. US citizens can frequently apply at a port of entry, which is faster than an overseas application. That does not remove the employer’s obligations: the offer of employment must still be in the Employer Portal and the fee paid before your employee presents at the border. Going to the border with an incomplete corporate file is how refusals happen.
A procedural fairness letter sets out the officer’s concerns and gives you one chance to respond before a refusal. It is the most important document in a contested file. Answer every point, with evidence, before the deadline. Most of these letters raise the same two issues: thin proof that the US company is actively doing business, and ownership records that do not clearly show how the two companies are related.
Final thoughts
The companies that move people to Canada smoothly are the ones that treat the ICT as a corporate project with an immigration filing at the end, not an immigration filing with some corporate paperwork attached. Sort out the relationship between your two entities, check the prevailing wage before you issue an offer, register in the Employer Portal early, and choose your first transferee based on what their category allows rather than who volunteers.
If you are still deciding whether expansion is the right move, or whether your situation fits something other than ICT, our guide to moving from the US to Canada lays out the four main routes, and our staff transfers to Canada page explains how we work with employers moving teams.
Related guides
- Intra-Company Transfer work permit in Canada
- C11 vs ICT: which work permit fits your business
- CUSMA (formerly NAFTA) work permits for Canada
- Moving from the United States to Canada
- Staff transfers to Canada
- Intra-company transfers: Canada vs US vs UK
- Business plans for Canadian immigration
- Express Entry for senior managers
Sources
- IRCC — Citizenship and immigration application fees: fee list
- IRCC — Guide 5487: Applying for a work permit outside Canada
- IRCC Help Centre — How do I hire a temporary foreign worker?
- IRCC — Employer compliance exemptions
- Government of Canada Job Bank — wage data
IRCC fees checked against the published fee list on November 4, 2026 (page last modified September 21, 2026). Exemption codes C61, C62 and C63 reflect IRCC program delivery updates of October 3, 2024 and January 6, 2025.
This article provides general information about Canadian immigration law and is not legal advice. Immigration rules and fees change frequently. Your situation should be reviewed by a licensed Canadian immigration lawyer before you take any step.
