A business visitor comes for international business without stepping into the Canadian job market, which is why no work permit is needed. Buying Canadian goods or services for a foreign company, taking or giving training inside a Canadian parent or subsidiary, and selling goods to businesses rather than to the general public all fit. Two tests keep it honest: your pay has to come from outside Canada, and your employer's real place of business has to stay outside Canada.
(1)For the purposes of paragraph 186(a), a business visitor to Canada is a foreign national who is described in subsection (2) or who seeks to engage in international business activities in Canada without directly entering the Canadian labour market.
(2)The following foreign nationals are business visitors: (a)foreign nationals purchasing Canadian goods or services for a foreign business or government, or receiving training or familiarization in respect of such goods or services; (b)foreign nationals receiving or giving training within a Canadian parent or subsidiary of the corporation that employs them outside Canada, if any production of goods or services that results from the training is incidental; and (c)foreign nationals representing a foreign business or government for the purpose of selling goods for that business or government, if the foreign national is not engaged in making sales to the general public in Canada.