delsol79

Hey - recently been speaking with a company about a possible employment opportunity.

The job is a consultant position and is home based aside from when you need to be on a client site, about 25% of the time. All client sites would be in the US. The firm is a global firm who suggested they could employ me under their Canadian operation. So all pay, benefits etc. would be from within Canada.

As a PR would I run in to any problems here with so much work and travel to the US? I assume I am legally entitled to work in the US for a Canadian company on a regular basis.

Thanks.

Former Lancastrian

Definition of a Canadian business as per CIC Manual ENF 23
6.2. Canadian business
The definition applies to both large and small businesses, and includes:
• federally or provincially incorporated businesses that have an ongoing operation in Canada;
• other enterprises that have an ongoing operation in Canada, are capable of generating revenue, are carried out in anticipation of profit and in which a majority of voting or ownership interests are held by Canadian citizens, permanent residents or Canadian businesses; and
• enterprises that have been created by the laws of Canada or a province.
Definition of employment outside of Canada
6.5. Employment outside Canada
The Regulations enable permanent residents to comply with the residency obligation while working abroad, provided that

they are under contract to, or are full-time employees of, a Canadian business or in the public service, where the assignment is controlled from the head office of a Canadian business or public institution in Canada; and
they are assigned on a full-time basis, as a term of their employment or contract, to a position outside Canada with that business, an affiliated enterprise or a client.

See section 7.4 of this link for more info
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resourc.../enf23-eng.pdf

As long as you meet the criteria you will be meeting your 730 day residency obligation.

delsol79

Really appreciate the response - thanks.

I think I would meet all the requirements EXCEPT "the assignment is controlled from the head office of a Canadian business or public institution in Canada" as the assignment would be controlled from a US office. I have no idea how likely that is to be investigated.

So as an example it would be like working for Deloitte Canada for ease of them employing me but in reality I would be working on assignments sold and processed by Deloitte US. The team I would be part of would be Deloitte North America.

This aside you have reminded me that this might not even be an issue. If the 25% on-site work estimate is accurate then I should have no issues maintaining the 730 day residency requirement even with this time outside of Canada. I have already been here 3 years and 7 months with only a few weeks outside of Canada so this period is already covered.

Aviator

You've looked into the American side that you can do this work in the US? We sent some guys to a show in the US and while they could be on the booth answering questions, we had to employ Americans to make the sales. And US immigration did bother to come and check up on us.. that'll teach me to try and play by the rules and ask questions!

delsol79

Well it is kind of unknown for the company and myself. I guess the above deals with how it affects my PR status whereas you are stating from the perspective of am I allowed to work in the US specifically. To that I have no idea.

It would be performing consultancy, no sales etc. I know of PRs who work for Oil and Gas firms in Calgary who sometimes have to travel to offices in Texas.

Aviator

I have acted as a speaker and consultant in the US with no problem. From my understanding with US Immigration, anyone physically doing work has to be US resident. An accountant could consult, interpret accounts and give an opinion, but not perform bookkeeping or prepare accounts.

We have always called US immigration and got a ruling, it would cause a problem to be banished from the US for flouting work laws.

JAJ

Bottom line is that when you come to renew your PR, it starts with self-reporting on the residence requirement. If it doesn't matter either way, CIC will likely not look any further. If it is material to whether or not you meet the residence obligation, they might choose to investigate or they might not. If they did investigate, then it's a process that could end up in the Canadian courts.

If you want to become a Canadian citizen, also consider that even if this time outside Canada is acceptable for retaining PR, it will not necessarily be acceptable for meeting the residence requirement for Canadian citizenship.

As for working in the U.S. you should seek advice from a U.S. immigration attorney. Canadian citizens have access under the NAFTA treaty to both enhanced B1 status, and TN status. Neither of which are accessible to you as a non-Canadian citizen. Unless by some chance you also hold Mexican citizenship.