Bring business guests to Canada

You can avoid problems or delays when you bring your foreign business guests to Canada by following these guidelines:

Exercise due diligence

Before you enter any formal partnership, you should investigate your potential partner’s business track record, assets and liabilities, reputation and current legal status. This can protect your company’s interests and reputation. It will also help you decide if aspects of your potential partner’s background will pose problems when you bring the proposed partner to Canada for business.

Please see the Trade Commissioner Service for advice.

Know Canada’s entry requirements for business visitors

If your visitor is from a country that requires a visa to visit Canada, he or she must apply for a temporary resident visa just like any other temporary visitor to Canada. There is no separate application for business visitors. The temporary resident visa covers all visitors, including those in Canada on business. See Do you need a visa? to find out if your visitor must apply for one.

Present or past conditions in foreign countries, like war or political unrest, could affect whether your potential partner is admissible to Canada, and how long it takes to process a visa. You can see potential wait periods for visas under Application processing times.

You can find out more about Canada’s requirements for business visitors under Business visitors: Who can apply. To find out if your visitor will need a temporary resident visa, please see Do you need a visa?.

Have partners apply early and submit completed applications

Most properly completed applications are processed within a week of when the visa office receives them, with some exceptions for special circumstances. Delays and refusals will result if applications are not complete or if the required documents are missing or suspect. Find more details on processing times at visa offices outside Canada.

If your business partners or contacts are likely to visit Canada a number of times, they may want a multiple entry visa. This means they will not have to request a visa every time they want to enter Canada.  Multiple entry visas are granted whenever possible; however there may be circumstances where only a single entry visa is authorized. Some visitors may not be eligible for multi-entry visas.

Your company’s responsibilities

Give your potential partner a well-documented and factual letter of invitation. See Letter of invitation for guidelines on writing this letter.

Provide your business partner with your 24-hour contact details.

What to do if a visa is refused

If your potential partner’s business visa is refused, please see How do I get help if my application is refused?.

If there is new or additional information that should be considered, your partner can re-apply and submit this new information. There is no minimum wait to apply again.

What to do if your visitor is refused entry to Canada at the border or port of entry

Depending on what visitors say at the border and the documents they have with them, an officer may decide that more information is needed. If this happens, the visitor may be sent to “Secondary Processing” where he or she will be seen by an immigration officer.

Even if a visa is issued abroad, an officer at the port of entry could find that the visitor needs a work permit. This could happen if the officer finds the visitor’s circumstances have changed since the visa was issued, or new information is found during the interview.

If there is a business relationship in place, your letter of invitation can explain the reasons for a visit and help prevent this from happening. Also, when the Canadian business provides 24-hour contact numbers, they can answer questions about the visit.

If, for example, the visitor is coming to service a piece of equipment as set out in a contract, he or she should bring a copy of the contract or bill that states that this work is covered.