Jul
15
Written by:
The VISANOW Legal Team
7/15/2011 7:50 AM
On July 4, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) issued a new Operational Bulletin (OB316) and provided additional guidelines regarding Intra-Company Transferees (ICTs) under specialized knowledge. Since October 2010, there has been a substantial increase in the number of ICT applications due to the cancellation of Canadian exemption of labor market opinions for IT workers. The major shift will concern how ICT applications under specialized knowledge are to be reviewed by CIC officers and how these applications will be assessed.
ICT applications under the specialized knowledge will be reviewed considering the following factors: education, knowledge, experience, salary, relevant training and supporting documentation. The knowledge component is superior in importance when officers are reviewing such applications. Knowledge of the prospective worker should be uncommon, gained through experience with the company abroad (which may include in-house training, specialty courses as developed and perfected by the company and no one else in the industry), difficult to acquire in a small time span, complex and not easily taught to others, or generally not available in the industry.
It should be noted that CIC will strictly enforce appropriate evaluation of the specialized knowledge and therefore all available evidence of the foreign worker’s specialized experience and knowledge should be presented at the time of the application. Several example factors to consider:
• Would it take several years to train a worker to perform these duties?
• Is the required knowledge complex (i.e. not only does the worker need to know the IT aspect of the job, but also specific and unique to the company procedures, processes and/or products)?
• Is the knowledge uncommon, in other words, does it go beyond what is generally found in the industry?
The salary component is also important in the application process. According to CIC, “job offers must present salaries that are realistic in terms of Canadian wage-levels for the occupation concerned.” The CIC also wants to enforce that the applications should not be accepted nor rejected based on salary alone.
Due to the increase in ICT applications over the past year, CIC wants to make sure that only the most intelligent and experienced specialized knowledge applicants are hired to work in Canada under this ICT category. Therefore, an example of a well-prepared application will include details regarding worker’s eligibility under the specialized knowledge provision, evidence of in-house training completed by the worker, specialized nature of projects completed during the worker’s tenure with the company, as well as evidence of salary/wage which may now include per diems (among other elements and factors specific to the job assigned under the ICT specialized knowledge provision).
The candidates’ specialized knowledge can help boost the Canadian economy in the near future.