IN THIS GUIDE · Show that the Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier manager directs people and decisions, not just a shop floor
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Count the subordinates who are actually employees
Hypothetical example: a millwork manufacturer in Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier proposes to send its production manager to run a U.S. subsidiary's plant. Her Québec organization chart shows six people under her, but four are contractors invoicing through their own companies. A manager in L-1A terms supervises and controls the work of other supervisory, professional or managerial employees, or manages an essential function at a senior level. Contractors can be part of the story, but the file must explain who directs them and how, rather than presenting the chart as settled proof of a managerial role.
Establish the relationship with paper the group already has
Parent, subsidiary, branch and affiliate relationships are proven with share registers, incorporation documents, shareholder agreements and, where ownership is held through individuals, evidence that the same people own and control both entities in the same proportions. If the family recently reorganized, include the before and after ownership and the dates. The U.S. entity's activity must be shown with contracts, invoices, a lease and payroll. A dormant U.S. company registered years ago is not doing business until it has a record of doing some.
Reconstruct the year abroad from payroll
The one continuous year of qualifying employment must fall within the three years immediately preceding the petition, and time spent in the United States for the group does not count toward it. Pull the Québec employer's payroll records, employment contract and any promotion letters for the period, then align them with the manager's duties over the same months. A maternity or sick leave does not necessarily break continuity, but it should be explained. The petition is stronger when dates in the payroll, the contract and the résumé agree without correction.
Decide whether the U.S. role is management or production
Ask what the transferred manager will do on a Tuesday afternoon in the U.S. plant. If the honest answer is setting up machines and training operators for the first months, say so and address it, because a new operation may require hands-on work initially. The petition must show that the role will be primarily managerial or executive, and for a new office, that the operation will support such a role within one year. A plan that hides the hands-on phase reads worse at extension than one that named it and showed the hires that changed it.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.