As Canada begins to drop most of its COVID-19 travel restrictions and Canadian businesses are beginning to gear up for in-person business once again, the Canadian Council of Innovators is pushing to give in-demand professionals a pathway to permeant residency without a job offer through the High Potential Tech Visa program, a part of a larger Talent & Skills Strategy. According to the CIC, employment in the digital economy will reach roughly 2.6 million or 11% in Canada by the end of 2025. That translates to roughly 250,000 new jobs, which in order to be filled, will require Immigration Canada to make significant changes to its current Skilled Worker Express Entry requirements.
These changes that are proposed include:
- Piloting a High Potential Tech Visa, to give the most in-demand professional path to Canada without a Job offer in hand.
- Launching a Digital Nomad Strategy to make Canada a destination for growing ranks of remote workers.
- Easing pathways to permanent residency within the Global Talent Stream visa program.
- Expanding the recognition of international and alternative credentials for Canadian visa applicants.
- Enhancing the Global Skilled Strategy immigration program with a targeted 48-hour visa processing time.
The Canadian Council of Tech Innovators is also pushing for better incentives for international Canadian post-secondary graduates to pursue their careers in Canada by:
- Incentivizing post-secondary institutions into developing better experiential learning opportunities, including co-op placements to establish a talent pipeline from universities to Canadian companies.
- Introducing a permanent 12-month student loan repayment grace period for graduates who work for Canadian technology firms.
As of March 30, 2022, many Canadian provinces have responded by launching Express Entry-linked PNPs to ease in-demand professional pathways to Canada. Among these, Ontario has experienced the biggest boost in new permanent residency issuing 2,400 Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program invitations in March alone! This number sets the record for the amount of new (OINP) invitations issued and includes a broader strategy of creating pathways to Canada including the Master Graduate, Employer Job Offer, Foreign Worker and Employer Job Offer: in-Demand Skills streams.
Canadian Immigration is also seeing a remarkable increase in invitations offered for the Skilled Trades Express Entry streams. As the Canadian economy is poised to recover from its pandemic-era recession, Canada is welcoming “the highest levels of immigration in its history.” Among the sectors that are in most demand of new international employees, Visa Time Immigration has identified the following as the best all-around Canadian Skilled Trades industries where businesses are most likely to issue a Labour Market Impact Assessed (LMIA) job offer to international Skilled Trades Workers seeking Express Entry programs into Canada. These include:
- Mechanical Engineering Technologists and Technicians [NOC 2232]
- Electronic Service Technicians (household and business equipment) [NOC 2242]
- Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades [NOC7204]
- Contractors and supervisors, other construction trades, installers, repairers and servicers [NOC 7205]
- Tool and Die Makers [NOC 7232]
- Ironworkers [NOC 7236]
- Industrial Electricians [NOC 7242]
- Carpenters [NOC 7271]
- Bricklayers [NOC 7281]
- Concrete Finishers [NOC 7282]
- Plasterers, Drywall Installers and Finishers and Lathers [NOC 7284]
- Painters and Decorators [NOC 7284]
- Construction Millwrights and Industrial Mechanics [NOC 7311]
- Heavy-duty Equipment Mechanics [NOC 7312]
- Home Support Workers [NOC 4412]
- Construction Trades Helpers and Labourers [NOC 7611]
- Woodworking Machine Operators [NOC 9437]
If you believe your experience matches any of the above job categories or if you are hoping to apply through any of the newly available Express Entry-linked PNPs, you can register for a free assessment here and begin your Canadian Journey with Visa Time Immigration.