Today at Collision 2023, Sean Fraser, the federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, launched Canada’s first-ever Tech Talent Strategy.
According to a release, the “strategy includes new measures and improvements on existing measures to help businesses in Canada thrive in a competitive landscape.
These include:
- The creation of an open work permit stream for H-1B specialty occupation visa holders in the U.S. to apply for a Canadian work permit, and study or work permit options for their accompanying family members
- The development of an Innovation Stream under the International Mobility Program to attract highly talented individuals, options for which include employer-specific work permits for up to five years for workers destined to work for a company identified by the federal government as contributing to its industrial innovation goals, and open work permits for up to five years for highly skilled workers in select in-demand occupations.
- A return to the 14-day service standard for work permits under the Global Skills Strategy.
- The promotion of Canada as a destination for digital nomads.
- the creation of a STEM-specific draw under category-based selection to issue additional invitations to apply under the Express Entry program
- improvements to the Start-up Visa Program
“Folks, we’re living in an age of disruption,” said Fraser in announcing the new measures at Collision. “But that disruption creates extraordinary opportunities for anyone who is bold enough to seize the moment.
“The reality is over the last couple of years, we have seen new solutions I could not have imagined. We have seen new technological advances that are absolutely game changing. And people are more mobile than they have ever been at any point in world history.
“There’s no question that borders opened up, that we are in a global race for the same pool of talent with competitors around the entire world. Now, in my view, Canada’s winning that race, and we might be winning it, but I think we can win it by an even larger margin. So today, we are unveiling a new strategy.”
With Canada’s first-ever immigration Tech Talent Strategy, said Fraser, “we are targeting newcomers that can help enshrine Canada as a world leader in a variety of emerging technologies. I am grateful for the collaboration of the tech, start-up, and business communities, who have provided valuable insight to develop this strategy.”