Canada’s Tech Talent Strategy includes a fast-track work-permit program to attract 10,000 H-1B visa-holding tech workers from the United States to come to Canada. However, the program’s cap of 10,000 permanent residence applications was reached within just 48 hours of its launch, and tech employers are now requesting Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to expand the program. Although H-1B visas allow skilled foreign workers to work in the US temporarily, visa holders face several immigration-related grievances, including severe restrictions for their spouses and other family members pursuing their own employment and educational opportunities in the US. H-1B visa holders also face hurdles in launching new businesses and are being laid off in droves from leading American multinationals such as Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, and Twitter.
