Moving your existing business to a foreign country can be challenging, cumbersome and rewarding. Canada thus is the perfect immigration destination and an attractive choice for entrepreneurs, business immigrants and workers. It’s world’s 2nd largest country by land area and the 10th largest economy. Immigration to Canada comes with many benefits, such as the ability to explore new markets, take advantage of the government’s incentives, and enjoy business-friendly laws and regulations.
We at Globe Canada can help you move your existing Company to Canada. Here is an overview of the main points and steps to consider when moving to Canada.
Why Immigrate To Canada
The economy of Canada is a highly developed market economy. It is the 9th largest GDP by nominal and 15th largest GDP by PPP in the world.It is one of the least corrupt countries in the world and one of the world’s top ten trading nations, with a highly globalized economy. Canada historically ranks above the U.S. and most western European nations on the index of economic freedom and experiencing a relatively low level of income disparity.
With an ever-growing economy, Canada facilitates global business owners. Many such business owners and business immigrants wonder whether they can move their companies to Canada and the fears that come along with moving to a new country exist in their minds when making a decision. Following are some of the reasons which make Canada an attractive destination to entrepreneurs from all over the world.
Highly Skilled Workforce
For many decades now Canada has been one of the favorite go-to destinations for many high-skilled workforce migrants. Access to a highly skilled workforce is one of the main competitive advantages of Canadian companies.
Ease of Doing Business
In the Ease of Doing Business rankings of the World Bank, Canada ranks 22nd out of 190 countries. Canada is put in third place in ease of starting a business and seventh in ease of obtaining credit.
Low Corporate Taxes
Canada’s corporate tax rate in 2019 was as low as 15%, which marked to be an economical rate internationally as compared to the corporate tax rate of 21% in the US.
Comparatively lower costs of expansion than compared to the United States:
According to a 2016 study report by KPMG the cost of doing business in Canada is 14.6% lower for US companies than in the U.S. This provides Canada with a competitive edge over not only the US but other industrialized nations like the UK, Australia, Germany, and Japan as well.
Expanding Your Business to Canada
Due to a well designed legal process, expanding one’s business to Canada may take approximately 12 to 18 months if followed accordingly. The steps to follow are:
- Check if your company is eligible to expand to Canada under the Intra-Company Transferee (ICT) Program
Not all business owners can move their companies to Canada and to do so you must meet the following requirements:
- A company in your country must be active, selling, or providing services at the moment.
- Your company must be at least 1 year old. The older the company, the better it is.
- A running company must have employees. A minimum of one employee should be hired by the company.
- While there is no minimum amount to operate a business in Canada, but your company must have sufficient funds to grow your business in Canada. At least $100,000 should be present to sustain the business.
- The company should be officially incorporated or registered in the home country, with a complete tax payment record, and has its own registered office.
Further not every person from your company or business group can migrate to work in Canada. The owner of the company, executives, supervisors, and key staff individuals can migrate to work in Canada.
- Executives must demonstrate inclusion/work in the company for at least one year in the last three years;
- Managers must show at least one year of work in the last three years with the home company and their administrative job;
- Key personnel should demonstrate at least one-year work with the home company; appropriate training, industry mastery and exclusive information;
- Incorporating your company in Canada
You can register your existing company’s branch or incorporate a completely new related company in Canada.
- Choose a Canadian province where you wish to do business; Most provinces require that you have at least 1 Canadian director on your board of directors;
- Canadian director(s) – could be a nominee director or a full-fledged director who is responsible and are answerable for managing your Canadian operations.
- If you don’t have someone who can act as your Canadian Director, it is recommended that you get your Canadian law firm’s guidance on this issue.
- Also, choose the corporate structure of your Canadian organization. For more information on choosing a business structure, you should take advice from a business lawyer or an accountant.
- Apply for a work permit
- Once you completed every step of registration and your company registered in Canada, you can apply for a work permit to work at your newly established Canadian company.
- Initial work permits are generally given for one year. Your spouse/partner and children under 22 can go with you to Canada.
- Arrive and begin working in Canada
It normally takes between 1-4 months for the Canadian authorities to process your work permit application. Once your work permit application is approved, you will be issued a work visa to travel to Canada. The work permit document will be issued at the port of entry upon your arrival to Canada. You have the option to extend your work permit for up to 5-7 years. However, this option depends on the type of role you have in your company.
At the end of your first year in Canada, you must demonstrate to the Canadian immigration authorities few of important factors to extend your work permit:
- You have a genuine business and your business is actively selling goods or services in Canada. However the requirement does not mandate that the company needs to be profitable at any cost.
- You are keeping your company running and active and have a physical office and presence in Canada. Virtual offices and workstations do not count.
- You should have at least 1 Canadian citizen or permanent resident employee working for your company.
- Apply for Permanent Residence
Applying for Permanent Residency basically means that your business is actively selling goods and services and is not a sham. It has got all the required licenses and permits to operate in Canada and has a physical location and presence within Canada having at least one Canadian employee apart from you and who is not related to you.
Once your Canadian business is active, you can apply for Canadian permanent residency (PR) as the manager of your business. To qualify as a manager in the company, you need to comply with the following:
- Have a score of at least CLB 7 for your language skills which is IELTS General overall test score of 6
- Have at least high-school education
- A police clearance or any other official character certificate
- Should be medically fit with no serious medical condition(s)
We at Globe Overseas Can Help
We hope that we’ve given you an understanding of the process of expanding your company from any part of the world to Canada using the ICT program. You can now decide whenever you are ready to take your company to the next level.
For more information on moving your company to Canada, please contact us. The business immigration experts at the Globe will not just help you move your existing company to Canada but will also help you choose the right type of business entity when moving your business to Canada.
