How To Immigrate To Canada As A Tech Professional?
In this prolonged climate of pandemic, there are many sectors that have been deeply affected due to government rules and policies, however the same cannot be said for the tech sector here in Canada. We can consider top of the mind tech and consumer companies powered by digital technologies like Zoom, Doordash, Skip the dishes, Square and others have impacted our habits to a large extent.
The province of Alberta has witnessed a great deal of success there. The Calgary Economic Development has seen huge successes from the tech industry during the period of 2020-2021. An investment deal worth $1.1 billion was secured by Benevity. In terms of venture capital investment, Calgary and Edmonton broke almost all records. On the other hand, Vendasta headquartered in the heart of prairies, Saskatoon announced a historic amount of $119.5 million in financing. The Canadian tech sector is resilient to say the least.
We have excellent talents in Canada who have made such achievements possible and there are innovative ideas in the minds of these wizards waiting to take shape. The executor with the right qualification, experience and skill sets are essential to the future of the tech industry. There is a definite requirement for foreign skilled talents and there are eligible skilled professionals who could meet the requirements of these positions. The overall process to immigrate to Canada through the process of Express Entry or Provincial Nominee is time consuming. It takes about 6 months to a year for the applicant to be physically inside the country. On top of that with Covid and travel restrictions, things are volatile. Let us look at two other ways relatively shorter pathways to start working in-person:
- Global Talent Stream – This stream which began in 2017, allows the employer to hire talents through an expedited process. The Global Talent Stream started as a two-year pilot program through a partnership between Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). Know more:
- What Is GTS – The GTS assists certain Canadian employers to hire highly skilled talent from around the world enabling them to compete on an international scale.
- Global Talent Stream Fee – The stream can be divided into Category A and Category B with an application fee of $1000.
- Processing Time – The processing time is an average of 10 business days from the day the application is received.
- Examples – Some of the positions that qualify for the Global Talent Stream are Web designers and developers, Software engineers and designers, Digital media designers, Computer programmers and interactive media developers.
- Tech Pilot Stream – The British Columbia provincial nominee tech pilot program was first launched in 2017 as a pilot for people in tech occupations and has gone onto becoming an indefinite program for now. Know more:
- 29 Key Occupations – This program offers people in 29 tech occupations a prioritized pathway to permanent residency, and an opportunity to contribute to the province’s tech growth.
- Suitability – The province of British Columbia’s futuristic plan not only caters to experienced and skilled workers but also provides a pathway for tech graduates and entrepreneurs leading to the growth of British Columbia’s tech.
- How it works– The government of British Columbia issues weekly invitations to qualified registrants who have valid job offers in the 29 key technology occupations.
- Job Offer – It is also imperative to remember an applicant applies with a valid job offer; the job offer must be for at least one year (365 days), and the job offer must have at least 120 days remaining at the time of application to the BC PNP.
The following is the list of 29 eligible occupations for BC PNP Tech Pilot Program:
