August 28, 2018 – Canada’s targeting of the best skilled workers and international students in the last two years is having a significant impact.
In the competition with the U.S. for top foreign talent, Canada is making ground in important areas:
- University enrollments from international students are up.
- The technology industry is growing.
- Applications from foreign skilled worker applications are rising.
In these three measures, Canada has gained huge ground on America in the last 24 months.
Canada’s continued emergence as a top destination for the best international students and foreign talent comes as Donald Trump’s anti-immigration stance takes hold south of the border.
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The statistics are there to back it up.
- International student enrollments at Canadian universities were up 20 per cent in 2017.
- In Toronto, the technology industry added nearly 29,000 jobs in 2017. This was more than the combined total of established U.S. tech cities such as San Francisco Bay, D.C., Washington and Seattle. This backed up a 2016 total of 22,500 jobs.
- Meanwhile, a significant number of Toronto companies are reporting vastly increased interest from international applicants.
Since the current Canadian federal government was elected in 2015, they have spoken about wanting to attract more international students and technology talent.
A number of policies have been introduced aimed at achieving this outcome.
Trump’s election as president of the U.S. has likely also pushed candidates towards Canada.
And now the statistics are starting to support the shift in focus.
Flagship federal government policies include Express Entry and the Global Talent Stream.
How Express Entry Has Streamlined Canada’s Immigration System
Although Express Entry was introduced under the previous Conservative government, it has hit full swing under the Liberals.
The innovative selection tool allows the best candidates to be prioritized for Canada immigration.
Video: What Are the Top 2018 Express Entry Jobs?
If a foreign technology worker has a job offer from a Canadian technology company, they can score 50 or 200 Express Entry points.
How Express Entry Helps Attract International Students
The Liberals wasted little time in introducing points under Express Entry for international graduates with a Canadian education.
Video: How International Graduates Can Become Canadian Permanent Residents
It was a move intended to show international students that coming to Canada to study can lead to the opportunity to build a life here.
How the Global Talent Stream Gives Important Edge to Canadian Businesses
In response to businesses complaining of too many delays in hiring international talent, Canada introduced the Global Talent Stream.
The headline offering of GTS was two-week work permit processing for the most in-demand foreign workers.
Video: How Does Canada’s Global Talent Stream Work?
Work permit processing that could previously take more than a year now takes 10 working days.
This represents a key weapon for Canadian businesses in the competition for the best hires.
Once technology workers are here on a GTS work permit, they can instigate an application for permanent residence by entering the Express Entry Pool.
How Canada Plans to Increase Skilled Worker Immigration
A combination of these policies is giving Canada the edge in attracting international students and technology workers, as the statistic show.
Meanwhile, the government has also taken the step of introducing a multi-year immigration levels plan. It allows for a total of nearly a million immigrations to be welcomes between 2018 and 2020.
Of that total, the significantly more that half are expected to be skilled workers. The government is telling businesses the flexibility is there for them to use immigration to grow their workforces over the coming years.
What Is Canada’s Economic Immigration Targets?
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | Total |
| 177,500 | 191,600 | 195,800 | 564,900 |
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