Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER October 2, 2017 14 FEATURES IMMIGRATION Is Silicon Valley moving north? While the United States curtails its immigration, Canada introduces a pilot program aimed at highly skilled workers By Naumaan Hameed C anada and the United States are adopting dia- metrically opposed views on immigration policy, based partly on differing views of the impact of temporary foreign workers when it comes to do- mestic economic growth, job creation and skill transfer. While recent U.S. policy has gen- erally sought to curtail immigra- tion, a new Canadian immigration pilot program — which enables the expedited entry of high-skilled foreign workers holding unique or in-demand skills — has been in- troduced to assist employers to scale up and compete in the global marketplace. And a number of businesses, particularly in the technology in- dustry, are identifying Canada's progressive immigration pro- gram as a differentiating factor in securing critically needed foreign talent, so they are either establish- ing or expanding operations north of the border. Protecting U.S. jobs, wages Protectionism is a recurring theme of President Donald Trump's administration and is premised on the assumption that restricting the entry of certain for- eign workers will result in more job opportunities for Americans. A clear priority is to protect U.S. jobs and wage levels by increas- ing enforcement on immigration fraud and abuse, and changing the eligibility and procedural require- ments of the most popular work visa categories. e H-1B "specialty occupa- tions" visa program is a favoured path for U.S. companies to bring in highly skilled, professional foreign talent. While the H-1B program has been the subject of debate for many years, the present political leadership in the U.S. has dramatically ramped up scrutiny and criticisms of the program. Most notably, Trump's "Buy American, Hire American" ex- ecutive order unveiled last April directs immigration and labour regulatory agencies to focus on strict enforcement and total transformation of the program. Specifically, the administration, in tandem with congressional leaders, is promoting significant reforms to the H-1B program from a lottery to a merit-based system, which may result in visas being awarded primarily (or even exclusively) to those with ad- vanced degrees or receiving the highest wages. Many U.S. companies, par- ticularly those dependent on high-skilled foreign workers, are increasingly concerned about the ability to compete internationally, given the anticipated challenges and significant increases in wages, costs and compliance obligations associated with the proposed H-1B reforms. Strategic immigration policies to support Canadian innovation In contrast to the U.S., the Cana- dian government has created a new, innovative immigration pilot program that assists both high- growth and tech companies to scale up by accessing high-skilled foreign talent on an expedited ba- sis, while stimulating economic growth, job creation and skills development for Canadians. Employment and Social Devel- opment Canada (ESDC) intro- duced the Global Talent Stream (GTS) on June 12 as part of Can- ada's Global Skills Strategy, and it provides two new streams for employers seeking high-skilled global talent in Canada. e GTS facilitates the entry of highly skilled foreign workers possessing unique talent for high- growth companies (category A) or holding in-demand skills most notably in technology-related oc- cupations (category B). Participa- tion in the pilot program is condi- tional on an employer submitting a Labour Market Benefits Plan, which is a written commitment to create new jobs or training op- portunities for Canadians. A Labour Market Impact As- sessment (LMIA) processed under the GTS is not subject to ESDC's minimum advertising re- quirements and transition plan. In addition, the LMIA and work per- mit processing standard under the GTS is two weeks — a substantial improvement from regular pro- cessing times. e Global Skills Strategy also supports faster processing for LMIA-exempt work permit ap- plications under the International Mobility Program (IMP) for exec- utive, managerial and high-skilled occupations — reducing process- ing times from 12 to 16 weeks at certain visa posts to two weeks. Furthermore, eligible foreign workers are also able to obtain a work permit exemption enabling them to work without a work per- mit for up to 30 days within a cal- endar year. Considering the factors when attracting tech companies Given the various parallels be- tween Canada and the U.S. — such as geographic proximity, lan- guage, legal systems and cultures — the additional advantages from Canada's new immigration pilot is becoming a key factor in attract- ing tech companies to Canada. A comparison of the two pro- grams clearly highlights the stra- tegic advantages of GTS Category B vis-a-vis the H-1B as a mecha- nism for tech companies to quick- ly and predictably acquire global talent in order to scale up and compete internationally. It is worth noting that the min- ister of immigration recently an- nounced that the startup visa pi- lot — which was intended to help immigrants launch businesses in Canada — will become a regular part of the federal immigration program. This announcement was made shortly after the U.S. government announced it may delay or eliminate its version of the startup visa —the internation- al entrepreneur rule — altogether. e startup visa was intended to allow foreign-born entrepreneurs to remain in the United States. Naumaan Hameed is a partner and Canadian practice leader at KPMG Law in Toronto. For more information, visit www.KPMG.ca. Differences between the H-1B and Global Talent Stream programs H-1B Global Talent Stream (Category B) Quota Employers have to be strategic in their resource planning to ensure a sufficient number of foreign workers can be hired. Applications are currently selected by a random lottery system and there is only a 30 to 40 per cent chance of being selected. Last year, about 199,000 applications were submitted, with only 85,000 visas available. There is no quota or cap on how many foreign workers an employer can hire. The program is intended to fulfill employers' talent needs and the listed occupations are identified to address shortages in the domestic labour market. Timing There is considerable advanced planning required. Applications are accepted on April 1 of each year and visas issued are valid starting Oct. 1. This is almost an immediate solution. An application can be made at any time and processing time is expected to be two weeks by ESDC. A foreign worker may be able to complete her work permit application upon arrival in Canada or through a visa office with a processing time of two weeks. Occupations Certain entry-level IT roles are increasingly scrutinized as to whether they qualify as "specialty occupations," which increases the likelihood of requests for evidence, resulting in processing delays and increased costs, or denials for specific IT-related occupations such as computer programmers. The global talent occupations list clearly lists all eligible IT occupations, including the most common roles required by tech companies. Applicants are required to submit a detailed summary of job duties to demonstrate eligibility. Cost of resources Certain major hubs for tech companies in the U.S. are very expensive, primarily due to higher prevailing wage levels in particular areas. For example, in San Francisco, the average salary for a computer programmer is US$72,717 to $127,234, and for a computer systems analyst it's US$79,165 to $139,277. The executive order also contains serious reform intentions to raise the wages or grant visas based on the highest wages offered. Exchange rates and the comparably lower costs of living allow Canadian companies to offer lower wage levels. For example, in Toronto, the average salary for a computer programmer is $70,990 and for a computer systems analyst it's $76,793. Cost of application US$4,250 (maximum) $1,155 Credit: View Apart (Shutterstock)

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