Tech Skills Are Needed in Canada. Here Are Two Ways to Move To Canada If You’re A Skilled Tech Worker In The U.S.

Silicon Valley — long considered the top destination for tech companies and talent — is at risk of losing its crown to America’s northern neighbor, Canada. Thousands of tech workers from across the globe have flocked to Canada in recent years, making it the fastest growing tech scene in North America.

What happened to Silicon Valley’s tech giant status?

First, Silicon Valley has an incredibly high cost of living, even when compared to at least somewhat more affordable Canadian cities like Toronto. Second, the U.S. has been essentially chasing immigrants away. The American immigration system is laborious to navigate, and the number of H-1B visas handed out each year are limited. 

Canada, on the other hand, has rolled out the welcome mat by creating a fast-track immigration pathway that gets some skilled foreigners' work authorization in as little as ten days.

For tech workers in the U.S. or anywhere abroad, Canada is a tempting destination worth serious consideration, and there are two clear and easy paths to consider.

The first is to stay with your current U.S. employer and have them re-hire you in Canada with the help of a PEO. Your second option is to find a new job with one of the many Canadian employers who are desperate for skilled tech workers. 

We’re going to get into these two options, but first, a bit of background on Canada’s immigration system.

Global Talent Stream: How this Canadian immigration process works and who can apply

If you’re starting from scratch and looking for a brand new job in Canada, the Global Talent Stream is the best route. Canada started the Global Talent Stream (GTS) in 2017 as a way to attract highly skilled workers. Since its founding, many thousands of skilled foreign workers have moved to Canada via GTS. 

The Global Talent Stream is a popular immigration pathway for two main reasons: expedited processing means that you can have a work permit in approximately 10 days, and the program is an excellent pathway to permanent immigration to Canada.

The GTS — part of Canada’s Global Skills Strategy — empowers Canadian employers to speed up the process of hiring foreign workers to fill specialized jobs. In less than two weeks you can get authorization to work in Canada through GTS, which is hands down Canada’s fastest immigration pathway for workers.

Unfortunately, an individual can’t directly apply to GTS. In order to be eligible, you must have a job offer from a Canadian employer that is seeking workers for a unique, specialized, or high-skilled and in-demand occupation. There is a Global Talent Occupations List that is updated frequently, so double-check that your skillset matches Canada’s needs.

The Global Talent Stream is a popular immigration pathway for two main reasons: expedited processing means that you can have a work permit in approximately 10 days, and the program is an excellent pathway to permanent immigration to Canada.

Sure, GTS is only a temporary work permit, but you only need one year of Canadian work experience in order to qualify for permanent residency. Once you have a year of experience, chances are you’ll be in a great position to pursue Canadian permanent resident status.

The Global Talent Stream has helped Canada remain competitive in the global job market. GTS has enabled Canadian companies to grow with specialized talent from all over the world, and it has drawn thousands of highly skilled professionals to Canada, including from the U.S.

Indeed, in recent years, many tech workers who might have considered the U.S. in the past, or are currently in the U.S. on an H-1B or similar visa but aren’t eligible for permanent residence anytime soon, are instead opting for Canada because of America’s complicated and often confusing immigration policies for the H-1B visa and beyond.

So, if you’re a tech worker, there are two main ways to use your skills to move to Canada - keep your U.S. job and work remotely from Canada or get a job with a Canadian employer.

Let’s explore the first option.

Move to Canada but keep your U.S. tech job and work remotely, with the help of a PEO 

Do you love your U.S. tech job but wish you lived in Canada, whether for immigration or other reasons? Here’s how you can do it: with a PEO.

A Professional Employer Organization — commonly referred to as a PEO — enables employers to outsource their HR, payroll, benefits, compliance, and more. PEOs are powerful tools for employers. A PEO can help a U.S.-based company to remotely hire international professionals abroad without needing to have an office there. 

...the original U.S. employer would still be in 100% control of the job, would be the one paying the salary, can offer stock options, other perks, and more.

For example, in this case, a Canada-based PEO - like Syndesus - would be the legal employer of a tech employee coming from the U.S. They’d have them on their Canadian payroll, handle all the technical aspects of employment such as issuing paychecks, managing employee benefits, HR issues, and more. But the original U.S. employer would still be in 100% control of the job, would be the one paying the salary, can offer stock options, other perks, and more.

On the surface, the job will feel like any other remote work. The U.S.-based company chooses the workers through a traditional interview process, and they manage these workers like any other employee. Essentially, it’s as if the U.S. company had an office in Canada. So you get to keep your American job, but get all the perks of living in Canada.

If your U.S. employer hasn’t ever hired anyone remotely in another country, this might not be a run-of-the-mill conversation to have with your employer. Which means you need to make a case for it, and a strong one at that. Lucky for you, we’ve written a playbook with five reasons that you can present to your employer to make the case that they should let you move to Canada and work remotely. 

But, if you’d rather get a fresh start with a new Canadian job, there’s no shortage of tech job openings in Canada. Let’s explore this option.

If you’re a tech worker based in the U.S., a Canadian tech job is waiting for you!

Path to Canada — a service that’s powered by Syndesus — helps tech workers find a job with a Canadian tech company that’s actively hiring, and helps with the Canadian immigration process too. It’s basically a recruitment platform, specifically geared toward tech workers based in the U.S. (including both U.S. permanent residents and citizens as well as individuals with U.S. work experience who are on H-1B or some other temporary work visa).

Getting started is easy too. Fill out a short application on Path to Canada’s website to determine if you might qualify for a Canadian work visa and if you should also start the Canadian permanent residence process. Currently, Path to Canada can only assist people living in the U.S. with an American tech degree and more than four years of work experience, or those who have all of the above but left the U.S. within the last year to return to their home country.

Syndesus and Path to Canada can help you find the perfect tech job in Canada

So, if you’re looking to give your tech career a big boost? Move to Canada! America’s neighbor to the north is a booming tech hub and all signs point to it continuing to grow. 

If the Canadian immigration process seems overwhelming, don’t worry, Syndesus and Path to Canada can help. If you’d like to keep your current job, it’s possible for your employer to simply keep you employed, but in Canada and through a PEO. Syndesus would help you apply for the right Canadian visa, relocate to Canada, and continue to work for your American company.

Are you ready to take the next steps in exploring your immigration and employment options in Canada?

1. Do you have the support of your current U.S. employer to move to Canada to work remotely? Get the process started with Syndesus and find out if you qualify here.
2. Do you want to get matched with a Canadian company that is eager to have talented employees join their team and will support your move? Get the process started with Path to Canada and find out if you qualify here.

Have questions? Join myself and Canadian immigration lawyer, Daniel Mandelbaum for a FREE Live Info Session for highly skilled tech workers on U.S. work visas.

In this free session, you'll learn about two pathways for qualified tech workers to relocate to Canada either with their U.S. job or with a new Canadian employer. 

Each one-hour session will also include a Q&A period to answer your burning questions. Register today: https://bit.ly/h1b-opt-info-session

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Originally Published on the Syndesus Blog