Technology has been booming in Canada in recent years. The country’s favorable immigration policies are partly responsible for Canada’s success in the technology sector, and one of the reasons why tech companies see Canada as a hub.
According to a recent announcement by President Trump to suspend various employment visas, including H-1B, Canada is under consideration more than ever because it wants to help American foreign workers who want to relocate to Canada. Whether they are temporary or permanent.
Canada has a strong tech sector. It requires skilled workers in the information tech and communication tech (ICT) sectors. The highly skilled tech workers have the opportunity to obtain immigration and work permits via multiple Canadian programs. These workers perform well in Canadian leading broad economic immigration tracks with their qualifications and skills. They work at both federal and provincial or regional levels. Canada has developed innovative and specialized programs to attract and retain technicians, such as:
- Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)
- Alberta Opportunity Stream (AOS)
Like a host of provincial programs. In addition, the rest of the programs in Canada are as follows:
- Federal Skilled Worker Program
- Global Talent Stream
- CUSMA Professionals
- Intra-Company Transfer
- British Columbia
- Saskatchewan
- Manitoba
- Ontario
- Quebec
- Federal Skilled Worker Program
Express entry programs value tech workers, especially some of the provincial chains associated with express entry. The latest Express Entry report lists tech workers as one of the three popular occupations that received ad Invitation to apply.
- Global Talent Stream
Immigration and Refugee Citizenship Canada (IRCC) introduced the Canadian Global Talent Scheme” almost three years ago. The basic part of this project is the “Global Talent Stream” (GTS), which is a section of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) plan. GTS allows for 14 days of work permit processing for temporary high skilled workers
The Global Talent Stream consists of 2 types.
- Type A is for top-growth companies that can show a need to recruit specialized foreign talent. Employers in this type must be referred to the GTS by an appointed referral partner, which is normally a Gov. or quasi-governmental institution devoted to incubating business or developing in a given area.
- Type B is for employers who want to hire certain top skilled international workers for occupations found on the Global Talent Occupation List, which have been to fix to be in –demand and for which there is insufficient domestic labor supply. This may change periodically, but it is now composed of jobs falling within twelve NOC Codes, all of which are tech jobs.
For both types of GTS, the owner will pay the employee a salary that is equal to the average salary in Canada for that job. Type A owners will need to create jobs for Canadian citizens and permanent residents either directly or indirectly. Whereas type B owners will commit to expanding financing in skills and training for Canadian citizens and permanent residents. If you are in Canada and working there you can either extend temporary status or submit an application for permanent residence. Many permanent immigration programs place a high value on Canadian work experience, and some require it. So even as a temporary option to come to Canada, arriving as a tech worker is a great way to prepare for a permanent move.
3- CUSMA Professionals CUSMA
This program is is Canada-United-States-Mexico Agreement. Residents of the United States or Mexico with job offers in certain occupations may qualified for a work permit under the CUSMA. This is a further program for Canadian employers who appoint international workers, as they do not require a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) . There are 63 professions that may qualify under the CUSMA Professional Work Permit. Qualified professions in the field of technology include:
- computer systems analysts
- computer engineers
- graphic designers
- authors of technical publications
4- Intra-Company Transfer
This program is for people who are employed with an organization that has a qualifying relationship with a place in Canada. This typically means a secondary, affiliate, parent, or department. The Canadian owners do not require LMIA to recruit workers under this work permit program. The foreign worker must have been employed by the company for at least 12 months. There is no list of qualified professions, but workers must have managerial status, otherwise, they must show that they have specialized and proprietary information about the company or its products. This may include programmers and developers who have designed the company’s software products or computer engineers who have designed specific programs for the company’s internal use.
5- British Columbia
British Columbia Tech Pilot is a fast-track system for processing applications submitted in the current series – the program was introduced in May 2017. BC Tech pilot also fulfills specific pilot needs. In that sense, the BC Tech Pilot is very similar to the Federal Express entry system. The main difference is that BC Tech Pilot only handles tech workers, while Express Entry handles all applications for Federal Skilled Immigration. British Columbia tech program consists of five streams. In two of this Tech, Pilot is aligned with Express Entry and three are not. After every 7 days, BC Tech Pilot issues invitations to candidates who are competent. This program identifies 29 tech occupations that qualify. When we have a look at the benefits of these five streams we come to know that
- It issues weekly ITA draws
- It includes priority processing over other immigration applications
- Dedicated door service to guide employers
Requirements of BC Tech Pilot
You have to qualify for one of the 5 allied exiting streams. You also need to have a job offer in one of the 29 identified sections. Your job is valid for a minimum of 12 months with a minimum of 3 months left at the time of applications to be eligible for thisprogram.
6- Saskatchewan
Six months ago Saskatchewan issued ITA to 621 people who had applied to either the:
- International skilled worker
- Express Entry streams
- Occupations-in-Demand
The province has limited its invitations to workers who had work experience in 3 tech jobs. Saskatchewan does not have a dedicated tech worker immigration program as such. But the province can choose to restrict a significant round of ITAs for a provincial nomination to a specific job.
7- Manitoba
Manitoba Provincial Nomination Program organized a Tech talent recruitment mission to Buenos Aires in Oct 2019. This was a great experience for public and private organizations to attract tech talent. The other two partners on the trip were yes! The capital of Manitoba’s capital city, Winnipeg, and Boli Commerce, a private, Manitoba-based company, provides an online shopping platform.
8- Ontario
Ontario uses a specific tech talent enrollment procedure that operates in tandem with existing immigration categories. Last year Ontario issued more than 4200 ITAs via Ontario Immigration Nomination Program. Ontario’s Immigrant Nomination Program (OINP) is the province’s economic immigration program. It works in partnership with the Government of Canada through Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Ontario Immigration Nomination Program has found out work experience in specific tech occupations as being eligible for the periodic tech–only draws, applications selected in these tech draws benefit from the speedy procedure and enhanced service.
9- Quebec
A significant development in tech worker tracks arises in Quebec. The province already has a developing technology industry. To mark the occasion, Quebec announced a new immigration route for workers in the fields of artificial intelligence, information technology, and image effects. The annual intake for this entire pilot is 550 applicants. Even during the pandemic, Canada remains open to global tech talent who want to make the country their new home. If you are a tech company or worker and your options in Canada will be encouraged.