The Canadian European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) adds new labor mobility rulings for citizens of the EU interested in migrating to Canada for work/business purposes.

The list of affected countries are as follows:

• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Canada
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Germany
• Estonia
• Ireland
• Greece
• Spain
• France
• Croatia
• Italy
• Cyprus
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Hungary
• Malta
• Netherlands
• Austria
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Slovenia
• Slovakia
• Finland
• Sweden
• United Kingdom

Admittance into Canada will be split into the following categories:

• Professionals
• Business Visitors
• Key Personnel
• Investors

Professionals Allowed in via CETA

Contractual Service Suppliers and Self Employed Independent Professionals are allowed to obtain work permits under CETA.

To Qualify under CETA members must:

• Be employed within the E.U.
• Their employer must not have an existing establishment in Canada
• The employer must have a contract to provide services to a Canadian customer in Canada.
• The member must fit into one of the 37 approved service sectors for contractual service suppliers

Stipulations of the CETA Policy

Work Permits are exempt from the standard LMIA process and are issued for a maximum duration of 12 months. They are renewable at the discretion of an immigration officer.

Business Visitors Allowed in via CETA

Specific rules have been made for short term business visitors and for business visitors in Canada for investment purposes. Most notably, CETA allows entry for business visitors entering the country for meetings and consultations, training seminars, and commercial transactions.

To be considered a business visitor for investment purposes a candidate must be “an employee in a managerial or specialist position who is responsible for setting up an enterprise but who does not engage in direct transactions with the general public and will not receive direct or indirect remuneration from a Canadian source.”

Entry into Canada under this category allows the business visitor entrance for a duration of up to 90 days per 6 month period.

Key Personnel Allowed in via CETA

People who qualify as Intra-Corporate Transferees and Graduate Trainees are also eligible for admittance into Canada under CETA.

CETA introduces a new work permit subcategory titled “Intra-Corporate” which is designed with Graduate Trainees in mind.

To qualify under CETA a candidate must:

• Be a citizen of the E.U.
• Possess a University Degree
• Have an employment offer in a subsidiary or global branch from their employer

If a candidate qualifies for this role they can obtain a 12 month work permit to gain entry into Canada to advance their career or receive training.

Investors Allowed in via CETA

The Investor Work Permit category allows for an investor to qualify if they are employed by a company that has committed a significant amount of capital into the Canadian economy and if the candidate will be fulfilling a supervisory or executive role for that company.

All of the above options can be applied for directly at any Canadian Port Of Entry with the exception of certain Bulgarian and Romanian citizens.