Seven years in total, ordinarily granted as an initial period of up to three years followed by extensions in two-year increments. The L-1B ceiling is five years. Because the limits count time spent in the United States, periods worked abroad can affect the arithmetic and may be recapturable.
Plan the exit from the category at the moment you enter it
The seven-year ceiling feels remote when a transfer is being arranged, and that is precisely why it causes trouble. A service business establishing an American operation is usually thinking in terms of two or three years, then finds after the second extension that the role has become permanent while the status has not. Étienne should decide early which of three endings he is aiming at: a return to Canada at the end of the period, a move to a different classification, or a permanent route, each of which has its own lead time and none of which is quick to arrange from a standing start in year six.
Two smaller timing facts matter for a cross-border operation. Days spent in the United States are what count against the ceiling, so a manager splitting the year retains room longer. And an initial petition for an established entity is not limited to twelve months, which is a distinction from a genuinely new office.