This week, Sean Fraser, the Federal Minister for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, unveiled Canada’s first Technology Workforce Strategy as part of Collision 2023.

According to a statement, the “strategy includes new actions and improvements to existing actions to help businesses in Canada thrive in a highly competitive environment.”

These include:

• Creating an open opportunity for H-1B visa holders for skilled occupations in the United States to apply for a Canadian work permit and provide study or work permit options for their family members accompanying them
• Developing a stream of innovation under the International Mobility Program to attract highly talented people. Options include employer-specific work permits for up to five years for workers assigned 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 certain in-demand occupations.
• A return to the 14-day work permit service standard as part of the Global Skills Strategy.
• Promoting Canada as a destination for digital nomads.
• The creation of a STEM-specific raffle as part of a category selection to send additional invitations to apply for the Express Entry program.
• Improvements to the start-up visa program.

“We live in a time of upheaval,” said Minister Fraser when announcing the new measures. “But this disruption opens up extraordinary opportunities for anyone brave enough to seize this opportunity. »

“The reality is that in the last two years we have seen new solutions that I could not have imagined. We have seen new technological advances that are absolutely groundbreaking. And people are more mobile than at any time in world history. »

“There is no doubt that the borders have opened, that we are in a global race for the same talent pool with competitors from around the world. I think Canada is winning this race and we might win it, but I think we can win it by an even bigger margin. That’s why we’re introducing a new strategy today. »

With Canada’s first-ever tech immigration strategy, said Sean Fraser, “we are targeting newcomers who can help make Canada a global leader in a variety of emerging technologies.” I’m grateful for the collaboration of the tech, startup and corporate communities, which provided valuable insights for the development of this strategy. »

The original article is available at IT world Canadaa sister publication of computer science direction.

French adaptation and translation by Renaud Larue-Langlois.