This new, vertical price for this American visa can be a blessing for Canadian technology
As the Trump administration proceeds to limit some skilled workers from entering the US on a particular visa, the Canadian technical field is shamping on the bit – hopefully the new restrictions will send talent to the answer.
The H -1B visa, whose champion includes Tesla founder Elon Musk, is a common immigration route for international technical talent recruited by American companies. But the White House is slapping $ 100,000 US fee on new applications for visas, forcing companies to pay fast for their recruitment or otherwise find workers in the US
The H -1B visa was already difficult, as thousands of foreign students learn every year on graduation from American universities, Baiki Fu von trap, an immigration lawyer and the founder participant at the von trap law PLC in Von Trap Law PLC, Von Trap Law PLC.
“They want to live in the US, but the lottery system and the visa border excluded them,” he said.
“Canada has created an entire industry by holding this talent. And with this $ 100,000 fee, the trend is going to be very strong,” he said. “This is almost a gift because every time America closes the door at the benefit of global talent, Canada.”
According to the immigration lawyers, talent recruitors and company officials who talk with CBC News, Canada will definitely benefit from the US move to limit the new H -1B visa. But some argue that the country cannot rely as a feeder for top technical talent on its southern neighbor.
“The board is going to have a net profit impact for Canada across the board,” said Andres Palmanur, an immigration lawyer and founder partner at the Borders Law firm in Toronto.
Changes in the H-1B skilled worker visa of the Trump administration, including a tag of $ 100,000, created major illusions and nervousness later this week. The White House clarified that the fee is only for new applicants – but the move has raised concerns about the possible impact.
Visa is not exclusive to the technical field, but 60 percent of the H -1B holders approved since 2012 have kept computer -related jobs, As Pew research – and the visa is used heavyly by veterans like Apple, Amazon and Google.
But even with an H -1B, the US permanent residence, or the route of a green card, is already long and difficult, sometimes leads to a decade.
“I think we will look at many people abroad who were planning to enter America in H -1B, now going towards Canada and try to see if they can get a job here,” he said.
He said that small and medium-sized businesses that cannot afford $ 100,000 fees, they can open open offices in Canada, they said-keeping the workers in the North American time areas, while facing low spending and paperwork for the same Canadian visa.
Canada’s technical talent problem
Some officials look at the new American policy as a silver lining for Canada’s technical industry.
According to Toronto CEO Martin Basiri, according to Toronto CEO Martin Basiri, “It is like a big game of music chairs. Top talent is looking for a place.”
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He wrote on Monday, “Canada can either look from the sideline as skilled workers for the remaining seats, or it can quickly add new chairs to the best players,” he wrote on Monday. A memorandum, published Think-tank build by Canada, which advocates a public policy friendly to technology.
But Basiri also warned that American companies may hurry to recruit Canadian workers under the TN visa, which allows Canadian and Mexican professionals to work temporarily in the US. Maximum three years With uncertain renewal.
This will not be the first time the US has withdrawn skilled workers for the benefit of Canada. Back in 2023, federal government launched A new work permit Hit America to attract H-1B holders after mass tech layoffs
The temporary program hit his cap almost immediately, with 10,000 applicants bid for a permit for more than 48 hours. Although something Hope that The program will be further expanded, this has not been done – and some analysts Doubt raised That the number of applicants finally further extended.
‘We must definitely bow down’
“In recent years, we have been making it a little difficult to bring tech talent here in Canada,” said Ilya Brotzaki, CEO and co-founder of Venhack, a tech recruitment company in Vancouver.
Members of the technical community of Canada have often said that the country Conflict To invest in their own industries and companies have difficult times in securing capital, making them more difficult to scale and attract skilled workers.
Meanwhile, critics of Canada’s immigration system argue that an epidemic Improvement Focus transferred away from skilled migrants. And when Ottawa tried to re -order some of those programs earlier this year, Provincial leaders are worried By doing this, the entry of skilled international workers will be further limited and the economy will be hurt.
On the heels of the US declaration of the US, Canada “must surely bend,” Brotzky said. “We can bring great software engineers who are going to connect their skills and work in Canada.”
The negative side of relying on American policy changes for talent is that it is not a permanent recruitment model for Canadian industries. The country is sometimes seen as a “holding pen” for skilled workers who are waiting to enter the US, calling the Canadian Artificial Intelligence companies incubator, XL Chief Executive Officer Daniel Wigdore.
He said, “People want to go to northern California to work and they are ready to take risks for their family, if it does not work in the company A, then they can walk on the road up to the company B,” he said.
The more Canada can draw international companies to its shores, the more we actually give people a lot of freedom to do some exciting work in Canada. “
