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TORONTO/OTTAWA – In 2017 Canada launched a fast-track visa program attracting several Tech workers. Trump’s latest immigration crackdown sees a spurt in the intake after the relaxation of Corona restrictions, says a lawyer.
According to the data provided by the IRCC number of successful applicants to Canada’s Global Skills Strategy program, it had 5 times more than 23,000 workers in the first 3 years approved under the top five tech categories. For the same top 5 tech roles, 2,300 applications were approved form January to March 2020, ahead of COVID-19 border closure and a sharp drop in immigration.
The program boasts a 2 week processing time. We are broadly in favor of the program, which some of the described as transparent and consistent, an instance of how Canada has taken advantage of Trump’s immigration stance since he entered the White House in 2017 says Immigration Lawyers.
Kyle Hyndman, a partner with McCrea Immigration Law in Vancouver, who was contacted this week by a major company about bringing employees to Canada, said that there are employers with Non-US employees in the US, definitely looking directly at Canada.
On Monday Trump issued a presidential proclamation that temporarily blocks foreign workers from entering the US on certain visas, it would create 525,000 jobs for U.S. workers says Trump’s administration official.
The next day people started contacting me itself is a suggestion that there are going to be more people interested,” says Hyndman.
U.S. technology companies like Amazon.com Inc, Alphabet Inc, Facebook Inc, and Netflix have expanded their Canadian operations in recent years. Most of them declined to comment regarding GSS usage or how Trump’s immigration crackdown will impact their hiring plans.
Tobi Lutke, CEO of Canadian e-commerce company Shopify, Following Trump’s immigration move, touted Canada’s attraction. Shopify senior lead on the global mobility team, Sandeep Anand told, the program has made it possible to hire top talents beyond our borders as well it has helped relocate employees to Canada.
The IRCC data shows, computer programmers and interactive media developers, followed by information systems analysts and consultants were the majority of the approved applicants to the fast track program.
Successful applicants of the fast track program are 62.1% of Indian citizens, followed by Chinese citizens and 1,000 U.S. citizens have seen their applications approved.
Before Canada’s broader immigration fell off a cliff due to border closures to control coronavirus, GSS data covers the period up to March of this year. however, Lawyers don’t expect it to last.
Program is going to see a surge of applications, says Betsy Kane, one of the founding partners of Capelle Kane Immigration Lawyers in Ottawa.
“Whenever one door closes, another door is opened.”
