Canada's Play For Immigrant Tech Talent (axios.com)

An anonymous reader shares an Axios report: When it comes to high-skilled immigration, the U.S.'s loss could be Canada's gain. Canada recently launched a Global Skills Strategy visa program to make it easier for its companies to bring in foreign workers with specific technology or business skills. The program allows firms to have a position pre-approved and get visas within two weeks -- a stark contrast to the months-long U.S. visa process. Why it matters: The Trump administration has moved to restrict the number of immigrants coming into the U.S. on work visas, which worries big tech and consulting firms that use the H-1B visa program to fill technical and specialized jobs. Canada's government is seizing the moment to provide an option for engineers, executives and other tech talent who may no longer qualify for an H-1B visa or who simply don't feel comfortable staying in the U.S. Open for business: Navdeep Bains, Canada's Minister of Innovation, told Axios that Canada wants to be open to ideas, open to trade, and "more importantly, we want to be open to people" in order for companies to grow. Bains stopped short of framing the program as a way to poach talent from Silicon Valley, instead saying that the government is "open to whatever region has talent."

Comments

Re:All those Americans who want to leave can now g

[computational super]

Yeah, the article and the summary seem to be anti-Trump, pro H1B, but I'm left scratching my head as to exactly who this is/ever was supposed to be good for. It's definitely good for the immigrants, because they have massively expanded employment opportunities. Is it good for Canadians? I guess it's good for the Canadians who own tech/engineering companies but aren't themselves much interested in tech/engineering and just want the money. Not so good for the Canadian techs/engineers who are suddenly competing with the entire world, strictly non-reciprocally. So I guess I'm supposed to be empathetic to the immigrants who have expanded job opportunities but not empathetic to the Canadians who have reduced job opportunities?