Canada’s Thriving Tech Scene: Immigration to Fuel Innovation
This article is brought to you by our friends at MobSquad – on a mission to solve the growing tech talent shortage across North America.
Canada’s technology industry has seen remarkable growth over the past decade. Cities like Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary have become vibrant tech hubs, attracting global investment and creating a thriving ecosystem of start-ups. According to a report by CBRE, the Toronto-Waterloo tech ecosystem recently joined the ranks of London, New York, Paris, San Francisco, and Tokyo as among the largest markets outside of India and Mainland China for tech talent workers.
Several factors have contributed to this growth in Canada, including a robust education system, government support for innovation, access to capital, and an inclusive cultural environment. However, one of the most significant drivers of this success is Canada’s forward-thinking approach to immigration.
Immigration Policies: The Backbone of Canada’s Tech Ecosystem Success
Canada’s immigration policies are designed to be welcoming, efficient, and responsive to the needs of the Canadian labor market and Canadian companies. On a recent episode of Freakonomics Radio, MobSquad board member and Harvard Business School Professor, Bill Kerr explained how Canadian immigration policy is designed to favor needed skills: “The Canadian system as a whole favors more of a points-based structure built around an individual.”
Key immigration programs and initiatives that have had a profound impact on the Canadian tech industry include:
1. Global Talent Stream (GTS)
Introduced in 2017, the Global Talent Stream is part of Canada’s Global Skills Strategy, aimed at helping companies attract highly skilled workers in fields where there are nationwide labor shortages (e.g., tech talent). The GTS provides a fast-track process for eligible and qualified employers to bring in international talent, fully processing work permit applications in as little as four weeks.
2. Express Entry System
Launched in 2015, Express Entry is a points-based permanent residency (PR) pathway that scores candidates based on factors such as age, education, work experience, and language proficiency. This program has helped to expedite Canadian PR for highly skilled workers and their families, where those who are selected can become Canadian permanent residents in as little as six months.
3. Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs)
Provinces have been highly responsive to their labor needs as well, introducing programs such as the Alberta Accelerated Tech Program and the Atlantic Immigration Program, both of which accelerate the PR process for qualified applicants and have been effective recruiting tools for companies to hire the best global talent.
Success Stories: How MobSquad Supports Canada’s Highly Skilled Newcomers
At MobSquad, we employ highly skilled tech professionals across Canada and support newcomer employees in finding a stable, long-term solution to North American immigration.
Take Raja Jeyachandran, a Senior Information Technology Consultant, who had been working from his home country of India. Raja wanted to immigrate to the United States but was not selected to receive a US H-1B work visa (the US work visa designed for tech professionals). Rather than using a merit or points-based system, H-1B visa applicants are chosen in an annual lottery, where applicants have a 20% to 25% chance of being selected in any given year. Thanks in large part to Canadian skills-based immigration policies aimed at attracting the most highly skilled tech talent, MobSquad was able to hire Raja and resettle him (and his family) in Canada.
“When I was not chosen in the H-1B lottery, I was worried about what that meant for my career and my family’s future,” he said. With MobSquad, Raja now has a chance to grow his career in North America in one of the fastest growing tech ecosystems in the world.
The Future: Continuing to Attract Top Talent
Maintaining a skills-based immigration system involves continuous improvements and an emphasis on efficiency. As the tech sector continues to accelerate and the global competition for tech talent intensifies, responding to the evolving needs of this tech talent and the labor market will ensure that Canada continues to attract and retain the world’s best tech talent.
For MobSquad board member Bill Kerr, Canada has strategically positioned itself as a destination for talent: “I think Canada and other countries see this exceptional talent that is being spurned out of the US system and says, ‘Man, we want some of that! Why don’t you come here?’”
ABOUT MOBSQUAD
MobSquad is a Canadian company solving the technology talent shortage by relocating skilled professionals from around the world to Canada, including foreign national technology talent facing US work visa issues. MobSquad directly employs and manages all immigration and resettlement processes for technology professionals, ensuring a smooth transition for these individuals and their families to build a life and career in Canada.
