Canada has officially launched its new Global Skills Strategy – designed to give Canadian employers a faster and more predictable process for attracting top talent and new skills to Canada.
As part of the Strategy, which includes four pillars, high-skilled workers coming to Canada on a temporary basis are now able to benefit from two-week processing of applications for work permits and, when necessary, temporary resident visas. Open work permits for spouses and study permits for dependants will also be processed in two weeks when applicable.
Employers, meanwhile, can now benefit from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s new dedicated service channel and the new Global Talent Stream. This will help them access temporary, high-skilled, global talent, scale up or expand their knowledge of specialised skills so that they can be more innovative and build their expertise.
“Employers that are making plans for job-creating investments in Canada will often need an experienced leader, dynamic researcher or an innovator with unique skills not readily available in Canada to make that investment happen,” explained Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. “The Global Skills Strategy aims to give those employers confidence that when they need to hire from abroad, they’ll have faster, more reliable access to top talent.”
Two new work permit exemptions have also taken effect. Highly-skilled workers who need to come to Canada for a very short-term assignment and researchers taking part in short-duration research projects being conducted in Canada will no longer require a work permit. The new work permit exemption for highly-skilled workers applies to all NOC 0 and NOC A workers. Eligible workers will be allowed one 15-day work permit-exempt stay in Canada every six months, or one 30-day work permit-exempt stay every 12 months.
First announced in November 2016, the Global Skills Strategy helps promote global investment in Canada and supports the Government of Canada’s Innovation and Skills Plan.
Article published 14th June 2017