A top financial strategist says the election of Donald Trump as US president could be a huge benefit to Canada in terms of immigration.
Matthew Barasch, Equity Strategist at RBC, believes Canada could witness a ‘brain gain’ from the US as a flipside to the ‘brain drain’ it traditionally battles against.
Instead of losing its brightest minds to the lure of major US companies, instead the best and brightest will be minded to move the other way – and international talent will also start to favour Canada over its southern neighbour.
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With Trump also claiming he will clamp down on all types of immigration, including deporting illegals and building a wall along the Mexican border, Canada could also see a boost in the market for lower skilled workers, Barasch says.
“Under Mr. Trump’s plan, the immigration divide between Canada and the US figures to widen even further,” he wrote.
“Not only would Canada stand to benefit from increased access to lower cost unskilled workers, but also from increased access to skilled immigrant labour as the US market is potentially viewed as less hospitable to immigrants overall.”
Technology Talent
Canadian Federal Immigration Minister John McCallum says one of his top priorities is to streamline the process for bringing in technology talent.
That was one of the messages he heard loud and clear during several meetings with businesses and provincial officials over the summer.
Under proposed changes, expect increased LMIA exemptions. One suggestion being considered is to only apply the LMIA to certain professions, although it remains to be seen how Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada would pursue this route.
Another suggestion is to pull certain technology jobs that are known to be difficult to fill, out of the FSWP altogether and create a sub visa stream aimed only at the most sought after IT talent in the global market.
A new technology talent immigration stream would need to be clear on exactly the aims, goals and criteria to qualify. It is important to form clear requirements and guidelines so the program is not open to abuse. That would mean defining a clear list of eligible professions with no room for manoeuvre.
It has become clear that a growing need exists for Canadian employers. The Information and Communications Technology Council predicted recently that by 2019, 182,000 high-paying Canadian technology jobs would be vacant.
Carl Rodrigues, CEO of Mississauga software company SOTI, recently described Canada’s immigration policies as ‘archaic’ and called on the government to make changes to help companies grow.
Google Searches
While policies towards Mexico – and also China – have featured heavily in the US presidential campaign so far, Canada has been mentioned significantly less.
The major headlines have focused around the potential for US citizens to move here should Trump make it to the White House.
The US saw a spike in Google searches on the day Trump won a swathe of Super Tuesday states in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Trump was initially seen as an unlikely candidate to win the nomination, but as the prospect of him challenging for the White House became real, many Americans began looking for a way out.
Canadian Immigration Lawyer Colin Singer, Managing Partner of immigration.ca, was recently quoted in a CNN Money article about what it takes for an American to move to Canada. Watch him being interviewed on the subject here.
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