Read the general business expansion overview
Hypothetical example: a Picture Butte livestock-genetics company is opening its first American sales office and wants to send a manager. Where the U.S. operation has been doing business for less than a year, the petition is treated as a new office and is approved initially for one year. Alongside premises and a plan, it has to show that the entity has the financial ability to commence doing business and to support the role.
Capitalise the American company before filing
An entity with a registered name and an empty bank account cannot commence doing business. Fund it properly and document the funding: the transfer from the Alberta company, the share subscription or intercompany loan agreement recording it, the opening bank statements and the accounting entries on both sides. Where funding will arrive in stages, show the schedule and the commitment behind it. This is the evidence that the plan is capable of being carried out rather than merely written down. A company funded properly at the outset also finds the extension conversation easier, because the money spent in the first year can be shown against the money that was there to spend.
Connect the funding to the first year's plan
The business plan should show what the money will be spent on and when: premises, the manager's salary, the first hires, sample inventory, travel, marketing. A plan whose projected spending exceeds the funding available invites the obvious question, and a plan with no spending detail cannot demonstrate capacity to support the role at all. Have the accountant prepare a first-year cash flow with monthly detail, and keep the assumptions visible so the figures can be defended rather than merely asserted. Update that cash flow as the year progresses and keep the earlier versions, since the comparison between plan and outcome is precisely what the extension review will be looking at.
Remember the parent company has to keep trading too
The qualifying relationship requires both entities to be actively doing business, so the Alberta company cannot be left dormant while everyone concentrates on the launch. Keep its own operations, payroll and financial records current, and be able to show them at the extension stage as readily as the American company's. Where the Picture Butte operation depends heavily on the person being transferred, name who will run it in his absence, because a parent that quietly stops trading takes the entire structure down with it. Keep the Alberta company's financial year-end and filing obligations on the same calendar as the American company's, so neither is neglected while attention is on the other.
What else is on your mind?
Does being a business owner or director qualify me for L-1A?What employment history should an L-1 transfer review cover?What makes a new-office L-1A case different?Why does an L-2 spouse’s admission record matter for work?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.