Canada is all set to open its doors to remote tech professionals from across the globe through its new Digital Nomad Program announced recently as part of Tech Talent Strategy. Through this program, Canada is offering a unique opportunity to tech workers along with ensuring economic growth and long-term talent acquisition.
Led by Immigration Minister Sean Fraser, Canada’s new Tech Talent Strategy is set to lure temporary tech workers from the United States and beyond to meet the rising demand for skilled employees in the tech sector.
Canada – a destination for digital nomads
The new Digital Nomad program allows visitors to live in Canada for up to six months without needing a work permit and later, opens the door to permanent residence. Here are some key points revealed by Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) regarding the new Digital Nomad Program:
- A digital nomad is an individual who can perform job remotely from anywhere in the world.
- Under present immigration rules of Canada, a digital nomad only requires visitor status to relocate to Canada for up to 6 months at a time while they perform their job remotely for a foreign employer.
- In next few months, IRCC will work together with public and private partners alike to determine whether extra policies to attract digital nomads to Canada would be needed.
- The IRCC expect that some digital nomads who firstly enter Canada to work remotely will decide to look for opportunities with Canadian employers.
- Once they receive an employment offer from a Canadian company, they would be able to bring their skills to a Canadian employer by applying for a temporary work permit or even permanent residence.
Under this measure, digital nomads will be offered an opportunity to spend up to 6 months in Canada, working remotely in tech roles. By offering this appealing proposal, Canada aims to create a diverse pool of talented people who may ultimately choose to settle in the country permanently, becoming valuable contributors to tech industry of the maple leaf country for decades to come.
Minister Fraser stressed upon the significance of looking beyond short-term gains and election cycles, focusing rather on the far-reaching advantages of having an enhanced talent base for tech entrepreneurs and professionals. The long-term vision is to reinforce Canada’s position as a global tech hub, promoting innovation and job creation that will benefit future generations.
Key measures taken by Canada as part of New Tech Talent Strategy
As part of its new Tech Talent Strategy, Canada is developing new programs and improving existing ones to invite significant number of IT professionals from across the Globe.
New Programs being introduced to lure Tech Professionals
Find below the new programs Canada is introducing:
- Work permits for H-1B visa holders from 16 July 2023
Canada planning to offer international tech talent the opportunity to live and work in North America. Canada’s new Open Work Permit will allow current H-1B visa holders:
- work for almost any company in Canada for 3 years
- bring their immediate family with them
This temporary program will last for 1 year, or until Canada receive 10,000 applications.
- An Innovation Stream for IMP upcoming in 2023
The International Mobility Program (IMP) lets Canadian employers recruit foreign workers without a labour market impact assessment (LMIA). Later this year, IRCC will introduce a new Innovation Stream to bring talented workers to Canada to help build innovative businesses.
Digital Nomad Programs Canada is improving
Find below the list of programs being improved:
- Open work permit for start-up visa
The IRCC is improving start-up visa (SUV) program by:
- Tripling last year’s target by admitting 3,500 people in 2023
- prioritizing applications from start-ups with committed capital
- inviting all start-up members to apply for an open work permit of up to 3 years
- Two-week processing for Global Skills Strategy
The Global Skills Strategy (GSS) helps employers in Canada hire highly skilled workers without an LMIA. In the next 2 weeks, IRCC is returning to 2-week processing for complete GSS applications.
With such multiple immigration pathways open for the Tech Professionals, it is the perfect time to apply for Canadian PR Visa.
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