How to help the latest H1-B visa movement in Canada

The software maker, a long -standing supporter of more visas for skilled foreigners due to lack of talent, said at the time that the Vancouver facility “will allow the company to continue to employ and remain affected by the skilled persons of its different issues in the United States” after seven years. AmazonAnd Facebook and Salesforce The facilities opened in the city of the Pacific Coast.

For this reason, many expect that $ 100,000 fees On the new H-1B requests announced by US President Donald Trump last week, the unintended result can be to send more technical jobs to Canada. This can also be a clarity of other countries, such as India and China, with more skilled workers who reside or return to their homes instead of working in the United States after graduation. Indian and Chinese citizens make up 85 % of H-1B visa recipients, according to Analysis by PEW Research– Many of them choose jobs at home.

“Cities like Vancouver or Toronto will flourish instead of American cities,” will feel Gary Tan, CEO of prominent Biranscu, the start of Yombinator. Book earlier this week In the X deleted post, according to Bloomberg.

And CEO of Royal Bank of Canada Dave Mckay He said Bloomberg Tuesday The new H-1B base “will help Canada to keep some great students we brought” instead of losing them to the Silicon-Luzhl and the recruitment of others.

The H-1B visa program is mainly used by the technology sector, as well as financial institutions and consulting. According to the United States Government, the largest H1-B visa users are Amazon, the technology giant in India Tata Consultance ServicesMicrosoft, Definition platforms Apple Inc. companies Other than technology that employs many H-1B workers, including Jp Morgan Chase and Wal Mart a company.

It is difficult to obtain visas: Every year, companies must submit petitions to the United States government on behalf of potential employees by March, for the lottery held in April, with only 65,000 visas available. (There are 20,000 others for master’s graduates in the United States.) In 2025, more than 470,000 requests were submitted. While other visas are present, such as the “O” visa for distinguished skills, many of them are difficult, or even more difficult, to get it.

To get H-1B, companies must show that the foreign worker will fill a “specialized profession” that the company cannot find a qualified factor for the United States. The visa holder must pay at least the prevailing wage, so that he does not compete unfairly with American workers, leads their salaries, or replaces them with the cheapest work.

H-1B has always had critics, as many companies that they use say to bring the cheapest foreign employment to skilled jobs. Over the years, there was a periodic withdrawal of the program by the American government. In 2004, the government Reduce the lid on the visas granted From 195,000 to 65,000 a year, it has not been raised since then, unlike the addition of the ruling to master’s owners in the United States. (An analysis was found in 2020 that The move led to an increase of 27 % In employment in international offices for employers.)

During his first term in 2017, Trump signed the “Buy America, Hire American”, which led to the high H-1B denial rates to 15 %, an increase of 4 % two years ago. (The class was still accessed.)

Trump’s latest announcement started from frenzy in many large technology companies: Microsoft, JP Morgan and Amazon have advised urgently with H-1B visas to stay in the United States or return quickly after Friday announcement. (The White House quickly made it clear that the fees applied to new requests only.)

In the midst of uncertainty and chaos, the company’s friendly approach in Canada may become more equal. In recent years, the Canadian cities seem to have benefited from an environment less welcome to migrant workers in the United States: in 2022, a New York Times report Toronto is found the third largest technical center in North America – B and Silicon Valley only and New York, and the largest of Seattle, Austin and Chicago. MRecently, Montreal and Edmonton, Alberta, have emerged as main artificial intelligence centers.

Although government talents, government incentives, and the weak Canadian dollar often contributed to the emergence of the country as the language of an option for American technology giants, the restrictions imposed on H-1B visas were one of the largest contact points for employers in the United States in the United States

Canada is often a better choice for American technology companies that open satellite offices because of its technology -friendly cities (Vancouver is only 150 miles from Seattle, the home of Amazon and Microsoft) and because immigration policies in Canada have historically allowed more foreign workers with livestock.

The Canadian government, along with the provinces and city governments, was never shy of trying to tempt foreign technology talent from the United States to Canada, with high -skilled temporary visas and there are no limits for permanent residence on the basis of each country. We have seen it with the Woo Microsoft campaign in 2007, with promises of incentives and assistance in site services.

This does not necessarily mean that the H-1B disorders will make Canada home to the next silicon valley. These are regional offices after all, not the main headquarters. “You don’t really see a lot of local ecosystem, and certainly do not get out of these background offices,” Kevin Brian, Associate Professor at Rutman College at the University of Toronto at Rutman College of Management.

Whether Canada is trying to take the new rules of H-1B applicants as an opportunity to attract more foreign technology workers. WildCard is the public opinion in Canada, which also cools for migration. The goal of the Canadian government for the new permanent population this year is 395,000 people – less than 500.00 last year, with more declines in the next two years.

But if this is the case, it is possible that there is great interest: in 2023, the Canadian government presented a new work permit that directly targets H-1B holders who are tired of immigration procedures. The maximum permits requests were hit 10,000 on the first day.