Canada Becomes Latest Country To Offer Digital Nomad, Remote Worker Visa

The United States' northern neighbor has just joined the growing list of global nations instituting special visa programs for remote workers, hoping to recruit skilled employees from abroad and expand upon its homegrown talent base.

In statement, titled ‘Canada’s Tech Talent Strategy’, the government of The Great White North outlined its intentions and plans for a so-called new ‘Innovation Stream’ under its existing ‘International Mobility Program’.

“The Government of Canada is embracing Canada’s emerging role as a leader in global tech talent recruitment and attraction to ensure Canada is not only filling in-demand jobs today, but also attracting the skills and business talent to create the jobs of tomorrow,” says the statement.

The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, announced an approach that includes four key pillars involving additions and improvements to programs offered by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).”

Those four proposed pillars consist of:

1. Developing a new Innovation Stream under to the ‘International Mobility Program’ to attract highly talented individuals.
2. Promoting Canada as a destination for digital nomads.
3. Improving labour mobility in North America by creating a streamlined work permit for H-1B specialty occupation visa holders in the US to apply to come to Canada.
4. Improving existing programs that cater to workers in high-skill tech occupations, including the Global Skills Strategy and the Start-up Visa Program.

Downtown Toronto, Ontario facing West along Front street. (Source: Steven_Kriemadis / iStock / Getty Images Plus)

While the specifics of such special remote-worker initiatives have yet to be determined and approvals are pending, it’s clear that the program will target mainly professionals serving in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) occupations, “to help high-growth employers and talented workers in support of Canada’s innovation priorities and high-tech industries”.

Based upon feedback from tech industry stakeholders, which indicates persistent labor shortages for key tech positions, the IRCC is considered a couple of options that aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive:

1. Employer-specific work permits for up to five years for workers destined to work for a company identified by the Government of Canada as contributing to our industrial innovation goals.
2. Open work permits for up to five years for highly skilled workers in select in-demand occupations.

The IRCC added that its goal is to officially launch the newly expanded visa program, aimed at allowing non-resident workers to remain in Canada longer, by the end of 2023.

According to immigration assistance site CitizenRemote, more than 50 countries now offer digital nomad visas or special permits to encourage recruitment of non-national remote workers, and over 30 of those started up their programs after the of the COVID-19 pandemic’s onset in 2020.

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