Canada seeks foreign workers

By: Patrick Thibodeau On: 10 Jul 2007 For: Computerworld (US online) Creator
For Colin Hansen, minister of economic development in British Columbia, Microsoft's decision last week to open a software development center in Vancouver was proof that Canada's strategy to grow its economy is working.

O Canada, indeed. No H-1B visa cap. An immigration system that favors tech workers. 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.

For Colin Hansen, minister of economic development in British Columbia, Microsoft's decision last week to open a software development center in Vancouver was proof that Canada's strategy to grow its economy is working. And it's a strategy that is very dependent on foreign workers. Hansen said the economy in British Columbia is growing by as much as 4.5 percent a year, with technology being the fastest-growing sector. The province's total workforce is now at about 2.3 million people, and Hansen predicts that over the next 12 years, there will be approximately 1 million job vacancies in British Columbia -- half the result of retirements, and the other half due to the creation of new jobs.

But over that same 12-year period, the province's secondary schools are expected to graduate a total of about 650,000 students. "On the very face of it, we will be short 350,000 workers, which will have to come through immigration," Hansen said.

The Canadian government has specific programs for quickly bringing high-tech workers with certain skills into the country, a process that can take two to eight weeks, said Evan Green, an immigration attorney and partner at Toronto-based law firm Green and Spiegel.

The government "recognizes that these people don't exist" within Canada, Green said. He added that if an employer is seeking a worker who has a specific set of skills, education and work experience and will be paid a salary on par with what Canadians earn, a foreigner can successfully get a work permit. Unlike the annual cap on the number of H-1B visas issued in the U.S., there is no numerical limit on foreign workers entering Canada, according to Green.

Microsoft, which is been a vocal critic of the H-1B program's restrictions, announced July 5 that it plans to open the development center in Vancouver -- a mere 150 miles from the company's Seattle-area headquarters. The software vendor said it decided to set up the Vancouver facility, which is due to open in the fall, partly to help it "recruit and retain highly skilled people affected by immigration issues in the U.S."

It was a stick-in-the-eye announcement to opponents of legislative proposals to increase the H-1B cap, and it came as Congress prepares for the next round of that debate following the recent failure in the Senate of a broad immigration reform bill that would have raised the visa cap.

John O'Grady, an economic and statistical analysis consultant in Toronto, said he thinks Canada is becoming attractive to companies like Microsoft for more reasons than its immigration policies alone. "The pendulum is just beginning to swing in our favor," he said.

One thing that's helping Canada retain jobs and create new ones is the fact that the Canadian dollar now is trading at about 1.03 to the U.S. dollar -- much higher than in years past.

The Canadian Federal Immigrant Investor Program

All countries these days will be looking to their respective governments to inject money into crucial business sectors. Canada is no different in attempting to stimulate its economy via government spending; naturally the government will be looking for low-cost capital to fund things like infrastructure projects. This is where Canadian immigration can provide a source of investment capital. Individuals and managerial or entrepreneurial experience can qualify for a Canadian Permanent Resident Visa by investing with the Canadian government at zero interest for five years, under what is called the “Federal Immigrant Investor Program” (FIIP). It is one of three different categories of Canadian Business Class Immigration. They are Investor, Entrepreneur and Self-Employed Persons. Immigrants with a high net worth (in excess of 800,000 CAD) can expedite entry into Canada by investing 400,000 at zero interest with the Federal Immigrant Investment Program (FIIP) in return for a Permanent Resident Visa. The FIIP was developed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada to promote economic development by allowing well qualified business people to fast track their applications, reducing the processing time to around 16 – 18 months. Canada gets to use the Immigrant Investor’s money for five years with no interest. There is no risk to the immigrant investors; after five years they receive the full investment back. Less than 1% of potential immigrants to Canada apply for this program, possibly because they have to be invited to participate. They have to qualify so those who have revealed their net worth in the required amounts would be approached. There are normally about 7,000 Immigrant Investor applicants in queue in the FIIP awaiting assessment at any one time, all of whom are ready and eager to make their required 0,000 investment. They are simply waiting for their immigration processing to be completed. This translates to 2.8 billion in available capital that can be put to use in the funding of infrastructure projects.

Besides speeding up immigrant visa applications, there are other benefits to entering under the FIIP. Unlike the entrepreneur program where your business is monitored and reviewed by the Federal government, you are free to settle anywhere in Canada, take any job, go to school, or just enjoy life if your money supply allows it. None of the investor categories have language, education or business experience requirements. The Immigrant Investor and immediate family members gain Canadian Permanent Residency and in return Canada develops access to an inexpensive pool of capital to help fund its stimulus spending.

Canada has the world’s soundest banking system according to a survey by the respected World Economic Forum. Thanks to an economic system with institutions that most American politicians might brand as “socialist”, Canada will do much better than other Western nations to restore economic order. In fact many economists predict that Canada will be the first advanced country to come out of this worldwide economic crisis. Canada has a diversified economy with a low debt burden, flexible labor markets and proper fiscal management going back for more many years. Canadian banks have not needed the government bailouts that have become a necessity in the US and many European countries.

As far as immigration is concerned, Canada is a favored destination and consistently ranks as one of the top countries in the world for overall quality of life. And despite, or perhaps because of, the current global economic environment, many successful entrepreneurs and managers around the world are considering Canada as their destination of choice to begin a new life for themselves and their families.

Source: http://staringfrog.com/jobs/2010/04/the-canadian-federal-immigrant-investor-program/