CETA Work Permits for EU Citizens: Company Transfers, Service Contracts and Spouses
If you are a citizen of a European Union country, your company may be able to send you to Canada, or a Canadian client may be able to bring you in, without a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), in force since September 21, 2017, creates several work permit categories for EU citizens, all issued under paragraph 204(a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR).
The categories are not interchangeable, and one question decides almost everything: does your company have an office in Canada, or only a Canadian client?
An office in Canada or a client in Canada: the question that picks the code
If the EU company has a Canadian parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate, or is opening one, you are in the intra-corporate transferee category: T44 for executives and managers, T41 for specialized knowledge workers and T42 for graduate trainees. You need at least 1 year of full-time employment with the EU company in an equivalent or similar position, and a position abroad that stays available to you when the assignment ends.
If the EU company has no establishment in Canada and has a contract to deliver a service to a Canadian client, you are a contractual service supplier (T47). If you are self-employed in the EU and hold the contract yourself, you are an independent professional (T43). Once your company opens a Canadian branch, the service contract route closes and the transfer route opens.
Transfers under CETA: what the officer looks for
Executives and managers must actually direct or manage, and the Canadian operation must be large enough to need them. IRCC's own example is an architect who incorporates and hires a secretary and a draftsman: that alone does not make the architect a manager. A title is not a function.
Specialized knowledge is where I would spend the most time on the evidence. CETA requires both advanced proprietary knowledge of the company's products, processes or methods and an advanced level of know-how in the field. One without the other may be refused, and IRCC says 1 year with the company does not, by itself, show specialized knowledge. I wrote about how the Federal Court treats this standard in my note on the ICT specialized knowledge case.
Here is the detail that matters for smaller EU companies. Under the general intra-company transfer rules in paragraph 205(a), code C61 for opening a new Canadian office requires a multinational with revenue-generating operations in at least 2 countries. The CETA instructions on opening a branch do not set that test. They ask whether the Canadian enterprise will do business and be large enough to support the role, looking at ownership, premises, the investment committed, the organizational structure and the viability of the EU operation. For an EU company that operates only at home, I look at CETA first and build that evidence as carefully as for any start-up office.
Category | First permit | Total stay |
|---|---|---|
CETA executive or manager (T44) | Up to 3 years | 4.5 years |
CETA specialized knowledge (T41) | Up to 3 years | 4.5 years |
CETA graduate trainee (T42) | Up to 1 year | 1 year, no extension |
General ICT executive or manager (C62) | Up to 3 years | 7 years |
General ICT specialized knowledge (C63) | Up to 3 years | 5 years |
IRCC also limits total time as an intra-company transferee to 7 years even if you switch between the CETA and general codes, so switching does not restart the clock. For how the general route compares with C11 for an owner, see my comparison of C11 and the intra-company transfer, and how I handle intra-company transfer work permits.
Service contracts: the 12-month clock follows you, not the contract
A contractual service supplier must have worked for the EU-headquartered company for at least 1 year, have 3 years of experience in the sector of the contract, and be paid only by the EU employer. An independent professional must be established as self-employed in an EU country with 6 years of experience in the sector. Both need a university degree or equivalent, a service listed in Annex 10-E of CETA, any licence the province requires, and an occupation in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3. Some engineering and scientific technologists can come without a degree under code T48.
The stay is capped at 12 months in any 24-month period. In its September 21, 2026 update, IRCC added a note that the cap applies to the person, not to each contract: once you have used 12 months, a contract with a different Canadian company does not give you more time until the 24-month period has passed. Documented time outside Canada can be recaptured, and each contract needs its own work permit.
Two refusal patterns are worth knowing. The occupation must match your qualification: IRCC's example is a bookkeeper who cannot enter as an accountant. And the category does not allow self-employment in Canada. If you substantially control the Canadian client, the officer must refuse.
Spouses: only transferees' spouses get the CETA open work permit
The spouse or common-law partner of a CETA transferee can receive an open work permit (T45) valid for the same period as the transferee's permit. CETA gives nothing equivalent to the spouses of service suppliers, independent professionals or investors. Their options come from the general rules in my guide to spousal open work permits.
When another route fits better
If you are investing your own capital in a Canadian business, CETA has an investor category (T46), covered in my guide to treaty investor work permits. If the EU company is mostly you and you want to build in Canada, the C11 entrepreneur work permit for owners with at least 51% control, or a C10 significant benefit work permit, can be the stronger pathway, because neither depends on an EU employer or a client contract.
If you are already in Canada on another permit, you can apply from inside Canada when you meet the conditions of section 199 of the IRPR. Apply before your current permit expires, which keeps your status while IRCC decides. The Canadian employer submits the offer of employment through IRCC's Employer Portal; for a transfer it pays the $230 employer compliance fee, and the work permit fee is $155.
What I would do now
Answer the first question in writing: does the EU company have, or will it open, an establishment in Canada? That answer picks the code.
For a transfer, collect proof of 1 year of full-time employment, the corporate relationship and, for a new office, the premises, investment and organizational chart.
For a service contract, count your days in Canada over the last 24 months before you sign a new contract.
Get advice before you incorporate in Canada, because a Canadian company you control changes which category you can use.
This article reflects the rules as of October 2026.
If you want me to review your plan, you can book an online consultation. I work on flat fees. If a route does not fit your facts, I will tell you.
The articles on this site are general information, not legal advice, and reading them doesn't create a lawyer-client relationship. Immigration rules change often, so always consult a qualified Canadian immigration lawyer about your specific situation.
