O Canada, indeed. No H-1B visa cap. An exchange rate that puts the Canadian dollar almost at parity with its U.S. counterpart. And now an endorsement from Microsoft Corp. as a place to develop software.
On July 5, Microsoft announced plans to open a software development center in Vancouver, partly to help it “recruit and retain highly skilled people affected by immigration issues in the U.S.”
Evan Green, a partner at Toronto-based law firm Green & Spiegel LLP, said the Canadian government’s process for quickly bringing high-tech workers with certain skills into the country can be completed in two to eight weeks. And there is no limit on the number of foreign workers who can enter Canada, Green said.
Canada’s technology sector needs immigration. Paul Swinwood, president of the Information and Communications Technology Council in Ottawa, said the number of available high-tech jobs is expected to increase by about 100,000 over the next several years. But Canadian universities graduate only about 15,000 students with tech skills each year.
Swinwood said employees brought in for temporary work can usually get permanent residency. “When you have a job here in Canada,” he said, “that’s a pretty fair indication to the immigration department that you are of value to the country.”