The all-new USMCA agreement or rather the United States – Mexico – Canada trade agreement will replace the old North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on July 1, 2020. While USMCA affects many aspects of trade interactions between the three countries, it also deals with the matter of visa and work permit for the citizens of these countries, especially around the labour force. Chapter 16 of the USMCA discusses the following four groups of people.

• Business Visitors (Section A – Annex 1603)
• Traders and Investors (Section B – Annex 1603)
• Intra-company Transferees (Section C – Annex 1603)
• Professionals (Section D – Annex 1603)

This article views USMCA from the Canadian visa and work-permit point of view. You may read the following article first for more information about working in Canada without an LMIA.

• Work in Canada without an LMIA (Labour Market Impact Assessment)

The IRCC has not released the LMIA exempt codes for USMCA as of now. I will update this article as soon as those codes become available. I have taken some portions of this article from Chapter 16 of the USMCA verbatim.

The term Party, in this article means either the US, Mexico, or Canada. The USMCA agreement affects the citizens of these countries only. It does not affect the permanent residents of these countries.

Business Visitors and USMCA (Section A – Annex 1603)

Under Article 1601, a “business person means a citizen of a Party who is engaged in trade in goods, the provision of services or the conduct of investment activities.” Further to this definition, section 187 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations of Canada (IRPR) defines a business visitor as a foreign national “who seeks to engage in international business activities in Canada without directly entering the Canadian labour market.” It further categorizes the business visitors to the following groups:

• foreign nationals purchasing Canadian goods or services for a foreign business or government, or receiving training or familiarization in respect of such goods or services;
• foreign nationals receiving or giving training within a Canadian parent or subsidiary of the corporation that employs them outside Canada, if any production of goods or services that results from the training is incidental; and
• foreign nationals representing a foreign business or government for the purpose of selling goods for that business or government, if the foreign national is not engaged in making sales to the general public in Canada.

Subsection 187(3) of the IRPA emphasizes the activities must meet the following conditions.

1. the primary source of remuneration for the business activities is outside Canada; and
2. the principal place of business and actual place of accrual of profits remain predominately outside Canada.

Under Section A – Annex 1603 of the USMCA, business visitors who are citizens of the United States or Mexico may enter Canada and engage in business activities without authorization. In other words, they do not need a work permit to work in Canada. While this privilege extends to different nationalities under section 186 of the IRPR, the USMCA re-emphasizes the matter for the US and Mexican citizens.

The US business visitors may enter Canada without a visa or an eTA. They only need to have proper documents with them to show to a Border Services Officer their intention to visit and stay in Canada. The Mexican business visitors need to obtain an eTA before flying to Canada. If they are entering Canada at a seaport or land crossing, they do not need an eTA. However, I highly recommend it. If the business visitor, regardless of their nationality, has a criminal history, they need to contact an immigration professional for advice.

Traders and Investors under USMCA (Section B – Annex 1603)

Under Section B – Annex 1603, the US and Mexican citizens are traders or investors if their purpose of the visit is:

1. carry on substantial trade in goods or services principally between the territory of the Party of which the business person is a citizen and the territory of the Party into which entry is sought, or
2. establish, develop, administer or provide advice or key technical services to the operation of an investment to which the business person or the business person’s enterprise has committed, or is in the process of committing, a substantial amount of capital

Under the old NAFA rule,s Traders and Investors are not exempt from a Work Permit, but they may receive their Work Permit without an LMIA under subsection 204 of the IRPR (the old codes T21 and T22 respectively). I suspect, the same policy will be followed by the IRCC under the new USMCA. I will update this Section as soon as new exemption codes are published.

Intra-company Transferees and USMCA (Section C – Annex 1603)

Under Section C – Annex 1603 of the USMCA, “Each Party shall grant temporary entry and provide confirming documentation to a business person employed by an enterprise who seeks to render services to that enterprise or a subsidiary or affiliate thereof, in a capacity that is managerial, executive or involves specialized knowledge, provided that the business person otherwise complies with the Party’s measures applicable to temporary entry. A Party may require the business person to have been employed continuously by the enterprise for one year within the three years immediately preceding the date of the application for admission.” These conditions are pretty much the same as NAFTA, namely:

• The company needs to do business both in the US or Mexico and in Canada
• The intra-company transferee must be in a managerial or executive position, or they need to show specialized knowledge within the company
• The intra-company transferee must show at least one year of full-time experience with the company in the past three years

Under the current NAFTA (exemption code T24), the intra-company transferee who is the US or Mexican citizen may receive a work permit that is valid for three years.

Professionals under USMCA (Section D – Annex 1603)

Appendix 1603.D.1 of the USMCA offers a list of professionals and their education requirements. The following table is an unofficial list of the job titles without the necessary education or licencing requirements.

The exact job title could be different from the ones listed above. The level of education or licencing could also be necessary. The source of remuneration for the professionals need to be from outside Canada to be considered business visitors. If a Canadian employer is involved with the professional, they may receive a work permit for up to three years. The application may be submitted at a port of entry. The current exemption code under NAFTA is T23, but it could change in the future when the USMCA rolls out.

If you wish to visit or move to Canada, please fill out our free assessment form. We will review it for free, but we will contact you only if we find an opportunity for you. Alternatively, you may book a consultation session. Consultation sessions are not free, but you will receive formal advice from a licenced practitioner.

Al Parsai, MA, DTM, RCIC
Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant
Ashton College Instructor – Immigration Consulting
Author – 88 Tips on Immigration to Canada

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