The Demise Of NAFTA: Creating Uncertainty For Foreign Workers

For more than 20 years, the North American Free Trade Agreement ("NAFTA") has facilitated cross-border mobility between Canada, the United States and Mexico. From an immigration perspective, a key feature of NAFTA is Chapter 16, which sets out the categories of business persons who are eligible for expedited temporary business immigration to Canada. Those categories include: (1) business visitors; (2) intra-company transfers, and (3) professionals.

With recent rounds of NAFTA talks ending in threats by both the U.S. and Mexico to withdraw from the tripartite agreement, the future of NAFTA is uncertain. While the demise of NAFTA would create considerable uncertainty for Mexicans and Americans living and working in Canada as NAFTA professionals, it would not necessarily mean the end of expedited cross-border business immigration to Canada by Mexicans and Americans who qualify as business visitors and intra-company transfers.