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immigration rules applicable to the crossbordermovement of employees and otherinternational business travelers intoCanada, to avoid unfavourableconsequences that could interfere with theoperation of your business.A best practice for any organization thatregularly relies on the cross-bordermovement of personnel is to develop andimplement an immigration policy thatcontemplates the many different groupswho may need immigration support,including short- and long-term transferees,new hires, third-party contractors (bothconsultants and specialized servicetechnicians) and business travelers.International Business TravelersInternational business travel has become socommonplace that many people will boardan airplane or drive to the Canadian borderfor meetings, to provide services to a client,or to visit an affiliate office without carefullyconsidering the immigration consequencesof their cross-border business activities untilthey are questioned by an immigrationofficer. Whether a business travelerrequires an immigration document (such asa work permit or visitor record) to engage inbusiness activity in Canada should becarefully analyzed before an internationalbusiness trip or secondment is arranged.There are a lot of misconceptions about theapplication of Canada’s immigration rules toshort-term business travelers. For example,many foreign nationals and the companiesbringing them to Canada incorrectly assumethat specialized service providers andconsultants who are coming to Canada for ashort period of time do not require a workpermit since they are not employed by aCanadian organization. This mistakenbelief often comes from a traveler’s pastexperience of being admitted to Canada asa visitor without fully disclosing (or beingquestioned about) the purpose of their trip.The recent changes to Canada’simmigration regime have led to a moreenforcement-minded approach of ensuringthat foreign workers will not negatively affectthe Canadian labour market. As a result,there is much more scrutiny at the border bythe Canada Border Services Agency in theassessment of both business visitor andwork permit applications. This means thatthose international business travelers whomanaged to slip into Canada without theproper documentation in the past areunlikely to be as lucky in the future.Consequently, failure to assess theimmigration requirements of a particularsituation in advance and implement theappropriate strategy can translate into losttime and money.Business VisitorsForeign nationals who enter Canada toengage in international business activitiesdo not require a work permit and will beadmitted as business visitors provided theywill not enter the Canadian labour market.Business visitors may enter Canada to takepart in business activities which areinternational in scope if their place ofemployment and source of remunerationremain outside of Canada. Activities allowedunder the business visitor category includeattending board of directors meetings,negotiating contracts, looking for officespace and giving or receiving intra-companytraining. Where a Canadian company hasBusiness Travel to Canada, Work Permits and Immigration Law 27