The Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (Canada-Peru FTA) simplifies entry of qualified persons to Canada through so called ‘Canada-Peru FTA Work Permit.’ 

Under certain conditions, Canadian employers may hire citizens and permanent residents of Peru without a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). This significantly shortens the application process.

How Can Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement Help My Business?

Similar to most of Canada’s free trade agreements, the Canada-Peru FTA is modeled on the NAFTA agreement. Consequently, there are four main groups of persons who are eligible to apply:

  • Business Visitors
  • Professionals/Technicians
  • Intra-Company Transferees
  • Trades/Investors

Canadian employers may hire citizens and permanent residents of Peru primarily through the Professional/Technician and Intra-Company Transferee categories. Although similar to NAFTA, there are some important differences. Continue reading for Canada-Peru specific requirements and then refer to the NAFTA agreement for the general requirements.

Professionals and Technicians

In order to qualify, professionals and technicians from Peru must seek a pre-arranged employment in Canada. In other words, applicants must have an employment offer from a Canadian employer to qualify.

As for the nature of the employment, one options is to become salaried employees of a Canadian company. Alternatively, a contract must be signed with the professional’s/technician’s employer in Peru, on whose behalf the person will provide services to the company in Canada.

Criteria for Professionals:

Criteria for Technicians:

  • a technician is a person whose occupation is included in the list (Positive List)

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Negative List - Professionals Not Covered

All Health, Education, and Social Services occupations and related occupations:

All Professional occupations related to Cultural Industries, including:

Other Professional occupations

Positive List - Technicians that are covered

Positive List - Technicians that are covered

Supervisors in the following:

Contractors and Supervisors in the following:

Intra-Company Transferees

In order to qualify for Canada-Peru FTA work permit as an intra-company transferee, the applicant must be employed by a Peruvian company and be transferring to a Canadian company that have a parent, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate relationship to its Peruvian counterpart. 

The Peruvian applicant must be employed continuously by the company in Peru for six months (as opposed to one year for NAFTA) within the three-year period immediately preceding the date of application for admission. 

Furthermore, the applicant must be employed in an executive or managerial position or one involving “specialized knowledge.” Compared to NAFTA, the Canada-Peru FTA expands the intra-company transferee category to include ‘Management Trainee on Professional Development.’

Management Trainee on Professional Development

Management trainee on professional development must be an employee of a Peruvian company. He or she must hold a post-secondary degree and intend to take a temporary work assignment to gain knowledge and experience in a Canadian company in preparation for a senior leadership position within the Peruvian company.