As Donald Trump hikes the fee for a popular skilled worker visa programme in the US, lawyers and business experts are urging Canada to seize the moment and open its doors.
But some caution that those looking north as an alternative may find that Canada’s immigration system has its own challenges.
The call to attract and retain talented workers left behind by the Trump administration’s changes to H-1B visa is one that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney appears to be paying attention to.
We’re in a nationwide housing shortage. It would be great to attract talent but we won’t be competitive to other countries if all the “affordable” homes near our city centres continue to cost seven figures and come with 1hr plus commutes.
The solution to the nationwide shortage is and has always been to build more houses at affordable prices, and frankly at this point this should be treated as the national security matter it is; it’s simply not sustainable for NIMBYs to continue to put their property values over the Canadian* people’s right to a roof over their heads.
*It’s particularly bad in Canada, but this applies to all developed countries with housing shortages.
The solution is to de-commoditize the housing market. Block all foreign and corporate ownership of single family homes. Throw out all the speculators.
In countries with undeveloped land (such as Canada) it’s not just “build more houses” it’s “provide infrastructure and incentives to invest in towns and cities other than Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal.” Expanding the suburbs (by converting farmland in a country which has, by far, more non-arable land than it has arable) in these communities is unsustainable.
In addition to new construction, “council housing” like England did before thatcher to force competition in the rental market would do wonders on the non-ownership side of housing
Even if you had houses and condos for days you don’t want H1B tech workers. They’re semi-skilled slaves, any job they can do a Canadian could do.
The H1B system is glorified slavery yes, but that doesn’t mean H1B workers aren’t valuable. You just gotta import them in a way that gives them human rights.
They’re semi-skilled slaves, any job they can do a Canadian could do.
Not sure if this is yrue, but either way that’s the thing about declining birthrates: There aren’t enough Canadians to go around. Until a structural solution to that is implemented, foreign labor in all sectors is necessary to keep the Canadian economy (and every other first world economy) from retracting.
I would love to move to Canada, but H1B just hurts locals unless there is an actual shortage of talent.
It’s not that they aren’t valuable it’s more they aren’t particularly skilled so they just further hollow out the middle class AI is already eating. You have a lot of better options that don’t purely profit mega corps
Canada can’t seize their balls back from the US, seizing an opportunity is a tall order.
In what way does the US have Canada’s balls?
Canada already removed software careers from their express entry program. Seems like they don’t want that.
That said, all my H1-B colleagues were always sent to Canada whenever they had a US visa issue that the company couldn’t sort out quickly. They called it “parking.” Once US visa issue was resolved they come back.
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We did last time. My company moved a bunch of H1B via holder’s to Canada from the US. Those people are now making good wages and paying Canadian taxes. Send them all up.
