Fly to Canada with visa from B'luru

You can travel to Canada without having to go to New Delhi or Mumbai for visa.

The Canadian Consul General in Bengaluru has commenced issue of visas in the IT capital itself. The service was launched recently after recruitment and relocation of new staff for the Bengaluru consulate at the World Trade Centre in Malleswaram. The visa section is also issuing temporary resident permits. A senior official told Deccan Herald that the services at the Bengaluru consulate were crucial because the City would be the entry point to South India for ties in business, trade, education, tourism and other services. The visa services from Bengaluru will be crucial not only for students but also industry and in particular owners of small and medium business establishments, hundreds of which are located in the City.

On the other hand, given Bengaluru’s strength in information technology, the frequency of travel to Canada will be high. Typically young IT professionals are deputed to Canada, the USA and Western Europe on IT projects. The four main cities Bengalureans travel to Canada are Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Indo-Canadian ties traditionally have been very strong. Of 650 Canadian firms in the country, Bengaluru is host to 30. Canada and Bangalore collaborate in the fields of aero, defence, ICT and life sciences. Canada has a strong IT presence in Bengaluru.

Of the worldwide staff strength of 72,000, an estimated 9,500 professionals work for the Canadian and IT technology company CGI, spread across Bengaluru and three other cities - Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai, in India. Canada plans to make Bengaluru part of the overall supply chain of services, not limited only to products. Bell labs and CAE, companies with worldwide reputation have presence in Bengaluru, working in the area of aero-engineering and helicopter services. Canada currently hosts 30,000 Indian students in graduate and postgraduate studies, double the number in 2008.