Toronto A Magnet For High-Skilled Tech Workers: Report

Colin Singer
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Toronto A Magnet For High-Skilled Tech Workers: Report

Canada immigration news: A study released by a leading commercial real estate firm reveals Toronto is a magnet for attracting some of the brightest tech workers in North America.

In its 2021 Scoring Tech Talent report, CBRE again places Toronto high among the top cities for the tech sector. In the last five years, Toronto attracted 81,200 tech jobs and produced 26,338 tech degrees, meaning it attracted a net of 54,862 tech workers.

The CBRE report calls that the city’s “brain gain”.

“That shouldn’t be a surprise, given how much Toronto relies on international immigration,” said Marc Meehan, the CBRE’s director of research in Canada.

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Among the 50 North American cities in the annual ranking, Ottawa placed 10th, Vancouver 11th and Montreal once again came in at 16. The Waterloo region was ranked 21st, Calgary 28th, Quebec City 34th and Edmonton 38th. 

Toronto placed fourth in the ranking, making it once again the top city in Canada for information technology (IT) jobs. 

International job seekers looking for the best place to land jobs in IT would do well by checking out opportunities in those cities. 

“These locations possess the strongest combination of attributes that the technology sector requires to flourish including, and most importantly, a high concentration of tech employment,” reports CBRE Research.

Global Talent Stream a Fast Track Work Permit Pathway For Tech Workers

There are many pathways for highly-skilled tech workers to gain permanent residency in Canada, including the Global Talent Stream (GTS) of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) under which Canadian work permits and visa applications are processed within two weeks.  

In the past year, many North American IT industry watchers in the United States have been casting a wistful glance at Canada’s immigration processes and wishing they had the means to attract tech workers as easily as Canadian tech companies.

Canada’s open-door policy and easy access for tech workers is one of the reasons retail giant Amazon has recently announced it will hire 1,800 new corporate and tech employees in Canada this year alone to support its AWS, Alexa, Amazon advertising, and retail and operations technology teams in Vancouver and Toronto.

The tech-driven retailer, whose business is booming due to pandemic-fueled online shopping, already has more than 1,500 positions posted on amazon.jobs for:

  • software development managers;
  • senior software development managers;
  • software development engineers;
  • senior software development engineers;
  • data engineers;
  • program managers;
  • cloud computing solutions architects;
  • sales and marketing executives, and more.

“Amazon is proud to create good jobs that provide opportunities for employees to develop new skills and grow their careers while innovating on behalf of customers,” said Jesse Dougherty, Amazon vice-president and Vancouver site lead.

In its 2021 report, the research arm of CBRE used 13 metrics to measure each market’s depth, vitality and attractiveness to tech employers and potential employees, including the availability of talent, quality of labour and gross operating costs.

Halifax Showing Great Promise

Smaller cities tend to not make it into the top 50 markets due to the criteria set out by technology companies when choosing a site. In an attempt to provide a glimpse of how those smaller cities measure up, the CBRE also ranks the next 25 emerging tech markets, using a different set of criteria.

On that list, Halifax ranked seventh and London 10th.

“Larger markets do have an edge and that’s reflected in the site selection processes of many Canadian tech companies, but that’s not the end-all and be-all,” said Meehan.

The Waterloo region, which was ranked first on the emerging 25 list last year, is in the top 50 this year. Halifax is expected to do the same next year.

“They have a really good growth number on a five-year basis,” said Christina Cattana, the CBRE’s manager of research in Canada. 

“They grew by 24 per cent over the last year and they’re home to the Atlantic super-cluster for tech. There’s a lot of good stuff happening there right now.”

Why Canada International Students Should Get Healthcare Benefits and Settlement Services

Colin Singer
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0
Why Canada International Students Should Get Healthcare Benefits and Settlement Services

Two immigration experts claim Ottawa’s latest moves to help international students are not enough and the country should do more to make life easier for them.

“Canada should consider expanding universal healthcare coverage to include international students, placing caps on tuition fees for international students, and expanding the eligibility criteria for federally funded settlement services to include international students,” wrote Sara Asalya, founder and executive director of the Newcomer Students’ Association, and Alka Kumar, a research fellow at Ryerson University’s Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration, in the Toronto Star earlier this month.

In a column on July 8, Asalya and Kumar acknowledged that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has made important moves to help international students this year. 

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When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many international students became anxious about their status in Canada. Under the Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) program, they have to complete a full year of work before they can apply for permanent residency. 

But the economic blow dealt by public health restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19 shut down a lot of restaurants, hotels and stores. Many international students found themselves out of work. 

That threatened their status and prospects of being able to remain in Canada as permanent residents.

Immigration Minister Offers Open Work Permits

In January, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino kicked off the new year by offering a lifeline to those international students facing exactly that situation.

He offered PGWP holders the chance to qualify for an Open Work Permit so they could gather the experience they needed to qualify for permanent residence.

Candidates with a PGWP that expired on or after Jan. 30, 2020, and were still in Canada, were given six months to apply for an Open Work Permit to help them continue to seek the work experience they need to qualify to stay in Canada long-term.

“This new policy means that young students from abroad who have studied here can stay and find work, while ensuring that Canada meets the urgent needs of our economy for today and tomorrow,” Mendicino said. 

“Our message to international students and graduates is simple: we don’t just want you to study here, we want you to stay here.”

International Students Allowed To Complete 100% of Studies Online

The IRCC has also relaxed its rules about studying online, allowing international students who could not come to Canada due to the border closures the opportunity complete 100 per cent of their studies online and still be able to get a PGWP.

But Asalya and Kumar maintain Canada should do even more for international students, even though Canada is already one of the top destinations in the world for international students. 

“Our governments should also provide additional funding to colleges and universities to make it easier for international students to access better institutional support,” wrote Asalya and Kumar in the Toronto Star. 

“Decades of government cuts to post-secondary funding (have) arguably made these institutions far too reliant on international tuition fees.

International Students An Important Revenue Source For Schools

“International students are a diverse group: Their cultural contexts, economic backgrounds, enrolment status and intersectionality are all factors that shape their needs and aspirations, so government policies should be flexible. And though they want to contribute to Canada, these students can’t just be seen as cash cows. They need holistic support services, as well as responsive and inclusive policies, to fully support their transition and permanent settlement in Canada.”

In a typical year, more than 400,000 international students come to Canadian colleges and universities with a Canadian study permit and gain valuable work experience at the same time. Upon graduation, many of them get a post-graduation work permit and then apply for permanent residence in Canada through the Express Entry program.

Canada Offers Refugee Status To Afghans Seeking Refuge From Taliban

Colin Singer
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Canada Offers Refugee Status To Afghans Seeking Refuge From Taliban

Canada has offered refugee status to Afghani interpreters who worked with the Canadian Armed Forces and also cooks, drivers, cleaners, construction workers, security guards and other staff who worked at the Canada Embassy in Afghanistan and their family members.

“Canada has a responsibility to protect the brave people in Afghanistan who have helped us carry out our mission over 20 years to advance human rights, education, health and security in their country,” says Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau. 

“As violence spreads, ensuring the safety and security of all of our personnel, whether Canadian or Afghan, past or present, and the people who are helping us on the ground, is our top priority.”

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Canada has been out of the region for seven years. But the United States only pulled out its troops from Bagram Airfield, the centre of its military operations in the country, earlier this month.

Since then, thousands of Afghans have been trying desperately to leave the country.

“Wow. Thousands of Afghans (are) lining up at foreign embassies for visas to leave country, as (the) U.S. withdraws and (the) Taliban advances,” tweeted senior correspondent Joyce Karam earlier this month. “Over 1,000 troops fled to Tajikistan already. The unraveling of #Afghanistan (has been) quicker than expected.”

Afghans Who Worked For Canada Face Taliban Threats

Fearing for their lives at the hands of the Taliban, dozens of interpreters and aides to the Canadian mission in Afghanistan called on Canada to accept them into the country as refugees.

Canada listened – and now it has agreed to take in these Afghans as refugees.

“So many Afghan citizens put themselves at risk to assist Canada, both during and after our military mission in Afghanistan,” says Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino. 

“Now, they face even greater threats from the Taliban, and we are doing everything possible to bring them to safety. Lives hang in the balance, which is why we’re taking timely and decisive action to support the Afghans who supported Canada, and offer them a future in this country. 

“Canada will do right by those who did so much for us.”

Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and the Department of National Defence (DND) are already identifying and helping those eligible for resettlement to Canada. Operational teams from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), GAC and DND are on the ground in Afghanistan to support those efforts. 

Canada’s immigration officials say they will immediately begin processing individuals referred to them by GAC and DND under a special immigration policy that will offer a path to protection in Canada for those at risk due to their work for Canada during the war.

 “I know first-hand about the important work of those who helped the Canadian Armed Forces while Canada was in Afghanistan,” says Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.

“We owe it to those who served alongside our members in uniform to make sure that they and their families are safe. That is why the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence have been working with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada from the beginning. 

“We will continue that work until the Afghans who were integral to our work in Afghanistan are safe here in Canada.”

Human Rights Watch Calls For Expedited Refugee Processing

In a report released last month, Human Rights Watch noted those countries who relied on help from Afghans should speed up their visa processing and relocation efforts.

On Twitter, American student Charlotte Evergarden agreed.

“The United States and other NATO member nations have a moral obligation, not only to evacuate anyone that aided them, but to take in as many refugees as they can from Afghanistan and other regions,” Evergarden tweeted. 

Even before the U.S. withdrawal, the desperation among many Afghan asylum seekers was palpable. The British Broadcasting Corporation reported in April of one young man, still only in his twenties, who ended his life after waiting almost eight years to be resettled by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

“He was a very bright person,” his friend, Mujtaba Qalandari, is reported as saying.  “He’d always wished to settle abroad one day to support his mother, who is in Afghanistan. He always said, ‘I want to make a future for myself – have a wife and children’.”

In the roughly six months ending on May 29 this year , Canada accepted 4,345 applications for permanent residence from pending and unsuccessful refugee claimants who worked in Canada’s health care sector and provided direct care to patients in Canada during the pandemic. 

In 2018, Canada committed to resettling 10,000 refugees from Africa and the Middle East over the next two years and delivered on that promise despite the pandemic travel restrictions and other challenges.

Last year, the country welcomed 9,200 refugees.

On June 18, Ottawa announced it was going to do more with changes to the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP), the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program, and an increase in the number of protected persons allowed to come to Canada.

Canada Ups Refugee Quota Under Private Sponsorship Program

Canadian immigration officials have already promised to settle 500 refugees and their families through the EMPP and improve the program by:

  • expediting the processing of permanent residence applications for EMPP applicants in several streams, so they can start working and contributing faster;
  • making it easier for refugees under EMPP to get settlement funds;
  • waiving fees for permanent residence applications;
  • making the application process more flexible, and;
  • providing pre-departure medical services to assist with immigration medical exam.

The Canadian immigration department is also going ahead with measures to improve existing pre- and post-arrival support services for private sponsors of refugees and ensure those refugees can take full advantage of the assistance offered to them. 

“As a result of this process, up to $3 million over two years will be invested in supporting nine organizations,” states the IRCC.

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