Canada: Favorite work destination for tech workers

If there is one country that is benefitting from the anti-immigration policies of the US is Canada. The tech industry in Canada is growing and much of the credit goes to the US immigration trends in the recent past.

In the war for recruiting global tech talent, Canada is winning the war, the highest number of tech jobs in North America went to Toronto in the past five years outpacing San Francisco, New York, and Seattle.

The country welcomed more than 40,000 tech workers from all over the world in the past two years. The streamlined visa system is in stark contrast to the tough immigration policies that have made it difficult for US companies to recruit foreign workers.

Canada’s gain:

With the approval rate for H1B visa applicants going down, Canada’s tech companies are reaping the maximum benefits.

According to a report by Envoy on the Global immigration trends for 2020, more than sixty percent of US employers who were part of their survey are keen on increasing their presence in Canada, either by sending more employees there or hiring foreign workers to work for them in Canada. The country’s immigration policies are considered more favorable to their business operations compared to the policies in the US.

More than 35% of companies are keen to expand in Canada while some have already opened offices here. Major companies in the US including Google, Microsoft, Intel and Uber have opened or are planning to set up offices in Canada.

A study by CBRE, a real-estate services firm which also analyzes the job market in North America, Toronto recruited for 80,100 tech jobs between 2013 and 2018, much ahead of Silicon Valley and Seattle. Toronto is the fastest-growing tech city in the region and is today home to nearly 150 tech startups.

Tech workers favor Canada:

Tech workers looking for opportunities abroad are looking at Canada because the higher rejection rate in the US for work visas has made it difficult to go through the process. This is in stark contrast to the faster processing of visas for Canada.

While the H1B process can take six months or more, the entire process for Canada from getting the job offer to moving to Canada takes less than two months. Canada also offers fast track immigration pathways like the Global Talent Stream (GTS) visa which lets Canadian companies bring in highly skilled talent to the country in just two weeks. The GTS scheme launched in 2017 has become a permanent feature now.

Tech companies in North America very well know that immigrant talent is crucial to their success. The US policies on immigration have acted highly in favor of Canada and its tech companies.