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<p>The <a href="http://www.cic.gc.ca">Government of Canada's immigration website</a> crashed on Tuesday night as the US election results&#xa0;were rolling in.</p><p>The site went&#xa0;down around 10:30 pm&#xa0;ET Tuesday and with intermittent accessibility.</p><p>Republican nominee Donald Trump is leading in key battleground states.</p><p><div></div></p><p>&#xa0;<div></div></p><p>&#xa0;<div></div></p><p>Here is what the site looks like right now:</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Here is what it's supposed to look like:</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/moodys-analytics-predicts-hillary-clinton-win-presidential-election-2016-11">A model that has correctly predicted the presidential election since 1980 says Clinton will have a landslide victory</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="1paWY2NzE6h7mhySqrGrtAnvXK89a902" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Canada's immigration website just crashed

<ul><li><strong><keyword id="6356687" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="canada">Canada</keyword> implemented a series of measures, including the ban on entry to all travellers who are not Canadian citizens and permanent residents, to stem the spread of COVID-19 in mid-March.</strong></li><li><strong>The ban, which also allows the immediate family members of Canadian citizens, diplomats and aircrews to come into Canada, expired on Tuesday night.</strong></li><li><strong>The ban exempts the US, which entered into a separate agreement with Canada shortly after the halt on all other foreign travel.<br /><br /></strong></li></ul>Ottawa, Canada has extended the incumbent ban on international travellers until July 31 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to authorities.<br /><br />"The government remains committed to protecting the health and safety of Canadians and reducing the spread of COVID-19 in Canada," Xinhua news agency quoted the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) as saying on Tuesday.<br /><br />Canada implemented a series of measures, including the ban on entry to all travellers who are not Canadian citizens and permanent residents, to stem the spread of COVID-19 in mid-March.<br /><br />The ban, which also allows the immediate family members of Canadian citizens, diplomats and aircrews to come into Canada, expired on Tuesday night.<br /><br />The ban exempts the US, which entered into a separate agreement with Canada shortly after the halt on all other foreign travel.<br /><br />The agreement, which prohibits non-essential travel between Canada and the US, remains in effect until July 21. <br /><br />Under the agreement, essential workers, such as truckers and health workers, are allowed to cross the border.<br /><br />Tuesday's extension comes after the European Union agreed to allow tourists from 15 countries to enter the EU beginning tomorrow. <br /><br />Canada is one of the 15 countries on a safe list, while the US has been excluded.<br /><br />Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dismissed a proposal to relax the ban on international travellers, saying that moving too quickly could spark a second wave of the coronavirus in Canada.<br /><br />The Trudeau government has also renewed the Quarantine Act requiring travellers to isolate for 14 days upon their arrival in Canada. <br /><br />The act has been extended to August 31.<br />

Canada extends ban on international travellers to July 31

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Canada will reduce its target number of new permanent residents in 2025 from 500,000 to 395,000.</li><li>Justin Trudeau said the new target will pause population growth in Canada over the next few years.</li></ul><p>Canada has announced cuts in the number of immigrants it allows into the country after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he "didn't get the balance right."</p><p>At a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuFIwUQ6SgY">news conference in Ottawa</a>, Trudeau took the unusual step of acknowledging his policies had placed a strain on the economy.</p><p>He said Canada needed to "pause population growth and let our economy catch up," adding that while immigration was "essential" for Canada's future, it must be controlled and sustainable.</p><p>Under the new plan, the number of permanent residents arriving in Canada in 2025 will be reduced by 21%, from the initial target of 500,000 to 395,000.</p><p>The long-term goal is to reduce that number to 365,000 new permanent residents by 2027.</p><h2 id="80880aaa-7718-4595-8c66-00b430baa1bd">Slowing down population growth</h2><p>Canada's immigration policy is often offered up as a model for other countries, with foreign-born people making up nearly a quarter of its population, according to the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-canadas-immigration-policy">Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).</a></p><p>"Immigrants have helped the country counter aging demographics and fuel economic growth, though some Canadians have expressed concern about the increasing strain on housing and social services," the CFR report said.</p><p>Canada's population hit <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2024/10/government-of-canada-reduces-immigration.html">41 million in April</a>, with immigration accounting for almost 98% of population growth last year.</p><p>Since 2019, annual targets for new permanent resident admissions increased by nearly 41%, according to figures from the<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/annual-report-parliament-immigration-2024.html"> Canadian government.</a></p><p>While its population has been growing, Canada has been grappling with a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/canada-housing-crisis-bubble-imploding-real-estate-prices-rent-decline-2023-11">housing crisis</a>, increased costs of living, and rising debt.</p><p>Canada's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://tradingeconomics.com/canada/unemployment-rate">unemployment rate </a>was 6.5% in September. Meanwhile, housing prices increased prices by more than 355% between 2000 and 2021.</p><p>According to a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://assets.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/sites/cmhc/professional/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-research/research-reports/2023/housing-shortages-canada-updating-how-much-we-need-by-2030-en.pdf?rev">2023 report by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation</a>, Canada will need 3.5 million more homes on top of what's already being built to restore affordability.</p><p>"These pressures have required us to adapt our immigration levels planning to the current climate," said Immigration Minister Marc Miller.</p><p>"Our annual plans must take into account the capacity to settle, integrate, and retain newcomers—which varies across the country—and monitor system-wide pressures in critical sectors such as housing and health care. At the same time, immigrants make significant contributions to the labor market and are part of the solution."</p><p>In an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-10-24/canada-s-economy-won-t-take-a-hit-from-immigration-curb-minister-says">interview with Bloomberg</a>, Miller said he was not worried about the slowing population growth from immigration cuts having a negative impact on the economy.</p><p>"We do have an aging population and whatever you see in the next three years with the neutral population growth is counteracted by the quite large growth that we've seen in the last three years," he said. "If it goes on too long, you have a concern, but we're not in that situation, far from it."</p><p>The immigration cuts come as Trudeau faces challenges to his leadership. An Ipsos poll conducted between September 5 and 9 <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" class="" href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/approval-trudeaus-performance-just-33-canadians-call-parliament-focus-cost-living"><u>put</u></a> his approval rating at 33%. Two-thirds of Canadians disapproved of his leadership, citing disappointment with the cost of living and housing crisis.</p>

Justin Trudeau, a champion of immigration, says he overdid it and strained Canada's economy

Foreign nationals who are in <keyword id="6356687" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="canada" source="Orion">Canada</keyword> as visitors and who receive a valid job offer will be able to apply for and receive a <keyword id="177232" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="work-permit" source="Orion">work permit</keyword> without having to leave the country, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced.<br /><br />The move, an extension of a Covid-era temporary public policy that was set to expire today, has now been extended by two years, until February 28, 2025.<br /><br />Visitors applying under this public policy who held a work permit within the last 12 months will also continue to be able to request interim work authorization to begin working for their new employer more quickly.<br /><br />Prior to this temporary policy change, those applying to work in Canada would typically need to apply for their initial work permit before they came to Canada.<br /><br />If they were already in Canada with visitor status when they were approved for a work permit, they would need to leave the country to be issued their work permit.<br /><br />With this policy in place, leaving Canada isn't necessary.<br /><br />Those looking to benefit from this temporary public policy must have valid status in Canada as a visitor on the day they apply, and have a job offer that is supported by a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) or an LMIA-exempt offer of employment.<br /><br />An LMIA is an application that an employer makes to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to evaluate if hiring foreign workers will have a positive, neutral or negative impact on the Canadian economy.<br /><br />If ESDC deems the impact is negative, the employer will not be eligible to hire foreign nationals, according to CIC News.<br /><br />Under the policy, applicants must also submit an application for an employer-specific work permit no later than February 28, 2025.<br /><br />IRCC said that continuing this policy makes visitors an option for employers in Canada, many of whom are facing significant labour shortages during a period of economic expansion.<br /><br />There was an overall decrease in the number of vacancies to 848,000 from over one million, according to Statistics Canada data from December 2022.<br /><br />However, key sectors like healthcare, food and social assistance still need more employees to fill in-demand positions.<br />

Visitors can continue applying for work permits inside Canada

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Canada welcomed a record level of immigration last year and plans to top that in the coming years.</li><li>It's part of an effort to address the country's labor shortage, Canada's immigration minister said.</li></ul><p>Canada is on its way to having a much better handle on its labor shortage than the United States. </p><p>Thanks to Canada's immigration policies, the country's population grew by over 1 million for the first time in 2022, according to a report that Statistics Canada, the country's census agency, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230322/dq230322f-eng.htm?HPA=1&amp;indid=4098-1&amp;indgeo=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> this month. It was one of the world's fastest-growing countries, the agency reported.</p><p>That's just the start in a planned immigration boom. Canada had almost 1 million job vacancies in the second quarter of last year, according to a <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220920/dq220920b-eng.htm">release in September</a>. The government has been setting its sights on filling its labor shortage with an influx of new immigrants. Sean Fraser, the country's immigration minister, announced in November that one of the nation's aims between 2023 and 2025 would be to draw in nearly 1.5 million immigrants, per <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/01/world/canada/canada-immigrants.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>That's in contrast to the US. Even though it's seen a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/immigration-trump-biden-covid-pandemic-labor-shortage-title-42-border-2023-1">spike</a> in immigration recently, the country is not likely to sustain that growth in the long term unless it makes a concerted policy effort to welcome more immigrants, experts told Insider. President Joe Biden's current course of action could mean that the labor shortage in the US is never really solved.</p><p>"Look, folks, it's simple to me: Canada needs more people," Fraser <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/02/canada-immigration-plan-2025/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last year. "Canadians understand the need to continue to grow our population if we're going to meet the needs of the labor force, if we're going to rebalance a worrying demographic trend, and if we're going to continue to reunite families."</p><p>In Canada, immigrants made up nearly a <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/221026/dq221026a-eng.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quarter</a> of the population in 2021, the largest fraction in more than 150 years, according to the statistical agency. In 2022, the country welcomed more than 400,000 immigrants, plus roughly 600,000 non-permanent residents such as people with work or study visas, or asylum claims.</p><p>And Canada's immigration policies are getting increasingly ambitious. They <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/02/canada-immigration-plan-2025/">plan</a> to admit 465,000 this year and 500,000 in 2025.</p><p>"This increase is because of a combination of factors, including the aforementioned intent to leverage international migration to help fulfill employment needs across the country and the program created to welcome people fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine," the release stated about the net figure of non-permanent residents.</p><h2>Canada's immigration policies stand in stark contrast with those of other western countries</h2><p>The United Kingdom <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/09/uk/uk-immigration-refugees-echr-illegal-bill-gbr-cmd/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduced</a> proposed legislation this month that would discourage migrant boats from entering UK territory, a policy that might violate the European Convention on Human Rights. Last year, Italy's far-right government <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/08/italy-far-right-government-enacts-anti-migration-plan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">enacted</a> a similar law targeting asylum seekers that legal experts also say violates international law. The leaders of countries like <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/migrants-face-tougher-times-melonis-italy-2022-10-07/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Italy</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/anti-immigration-election-gains-divide-sweden-worry-rights-groups-2022-09-15/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sweden</a> have said that they want to limit immigration, and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/relatives-pay-respects-toll-italy-migrant-boat-wreck-rises-67-2023-03-01/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blame</a> immigrants for crime. </p><p>And then there's the US. Former president Donald Trump <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/four-years-change-immigration-trump">implemented many restrictive immigration policies</a>. In part because of those policies, as well as the collapse in international migration early in the pandemic, about 2 million fewer people immigrated to the US between 2016 and 2020 than would have if pre-Trump trends had continued, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/immigration-could-solve-labor-shortage-3-million-missing-workers-trump-2021-11">Insider estimated.</a> Some of these people could potentially have filled the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm">10.8 million job openings</a> in the US as of January 2023.</p><p>While the US has seen a recent upswing in net international migration, it is not necessarily sustainable. Giovanni Peri, professor of economics at the University of California, Davis, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/immigration-trump-biden-covid-pandemic-labor-shortage-title-42-border-2023-1">told</a> Insider in January that it was due to "a little bit of a backlog of immigrants who wanted to come into the United States and were essentially blocked because of all the Covid restrictions."</p><p>However, President Biden has pushed for some <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/2023/2/22/23610849/biden-border-asylum-app-transit">Trump-like rules</a> that are likely to hold immigration levels — and labor shortage recovery — back. </p><p>According to Peri, "the number of immigrants who can come in legally is constrained" by laws and procedures that haven't really changed. As Insider previously <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/immigration-trump-biden-covid-pandemic-labor-shortage-title-42-border-2023-1">wrote</a>, "the last major change was decades ago in <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2019/02/11/can-immigration-reform-happen-a-look-back/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1986</a>."</p><p>"This is not likely to change unless there is some change in legislation," Peri said. "And so in that respect, probably this slow decline or stagnation of immigrants will continue."</p><h2>Biden is replacing Trump-like anti-immigration policies with his own</h2><p>That's a major reason why the persisting labor shortage will <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/labor-shortages-immigration-retirement-covid-2022-12">likely never resolve</a>. </p><p>Biden characterized his immigration stance as the <a href="https://joebiden.com/immigration/#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opposite</a> of his predecessor's, but there remains some continuity in practice. While his administration <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/07/justice-department-immigration-supreme-court-00081668" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> last month that it will be shuttering a Trump-era policy that expelling asylum seekers at the border, it is <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/biden-will-block-migrants-rule-echoes-trump-miller-ban-rcna71629" target="_blank" rel="noopener">replacing</a> it with a similar plan that immigrants' rights groups have <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/biden-block-migrants-trump-era-stephen-miller-tactic-rcna71282" target="_blank" rel="noopener">likened</a> to Trump's "transit ban." </p><p>Alexis Lucero, an immigration defense attorney in Texas, <a href="https://kfoxtv.com/news/local/restrictive-travel-ban-could-replace-title-42-in-may-alexis-lucero">told</a> a local Fox News outlet that Biden's incoming rule was "equally restrictive" as the Trump-era rule he's getting rid of. </p><p>It's in direct opposition to the kind of policy changes that Peri said the US needs to make to address the labor shortage.</p><p>"I would say that we will need this type of immigration to stay at 1 million plus people net per year for the next four or five years to fill the gap," he said. "And my prediction is that that's not very likely to happen."</p><p>Additionally, David Kelly, chief global strategist of JPMorgan Asset Management, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reasons-for-labor-shortage-demographic-immigration-problem-jpmorgan-david-kelly-2022-4">previously talked to Insider</a> in April 2022 about how changes to immigration could help address the labor shortage.</p><p>"I think the problem is that both sides treat immigration as a political football, and therefore you won't get the kind of compromise necessary to increase the number of legal immigrants into the United States while we are suffering this massive labor shortage," Kelly said.</p>

Canada's plugging its labor shortage with 1 million people moving to the country last year, while Biden is maintaining Trump-like policies that keep immigrants out

<p class="source"><span>Chris Wattie/Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Ahmed Hussen.</p>Canada has a <a href="http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/refugees/timeline.asp">long history</a> of resettling people from war-torn countries, beginning with the US itself.<p>In 1776, black slaves found refuge in Canada during the American Revolution. At the turn of the 20th century, Jews fleeing Russian pogroms settled there. And within the last 50 years, the country has welcomed more than 60,000 refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, as well as another 40,000 from Syria.</p><p>"Canada is a nation of immigrants," Canadian Minister of Immigration Ahmed Hussen tells Business Insider. "We've always had immigration as a key tool for economic growth and nation-building."</p><p>But to hear Hussen celebrate Canada's attitude toward immigration - however <a href="http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-may-canada-immigration-policy-20161227-story.html">motivated by economic gain</a> it may be - puts in stark relief the changing sentiments in the US about immigration. A century after <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/yearbook/2015/table1">millions of European migrants</a> arrived on Ellis Island, a lot of US hopefuls - many of them well-educated, here on professional work visas - now fear deportation.</p><p>Some have even <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/28/521823480/deportation-fears-prompt-immigrants-to-cancel-food-stamps">cancelled</a> their food stamps, worried the government benefit could lead to <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/20/us/immigrants-catholic-charities-legal-advice/">an unexpected ICE raid</a>.</p><p>In Canada, immigrants often observe a different mentality. Over the past year, many of the Syrian refugees who shacked up with Canadian families - essentially their adoptive guardians - came to see the sponsors as kin.</p><p>"I'm not anxious because I know our sponsors love us. They won't leave us," one refugee, Wissam Al-Hajj, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/25/world/canada/syrian-refugees.html?_r=0">told the New York Times</a>.</p><p>"There's an understanding in Canada that immigration is a net-positive for our society," Hussen says, "and that we should continue to have a very robust immigration system that welcomes those in need of protection but also those that want to come and give us their skills and talents."</p><p>In the US, that's historically been true, too. Each year, the US issues 85,000 H-1B visas to highly skilled workers, many of whom find jobs at places like Google, Facebook, and other large tech companies. But critics, like President Trump, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-signs-order-targeting-h-1b-visa-program-2017-4">who recently signed an executive order</a> to overhaul the program, say it robs native-born Americans of jobs in favor of cheap, outsourced labor.</p><p>Proponents say the visas give immigrants the opportunity to live out their version of the American Dream, pursing a life that in many other cases would be impossible.</p><p>Recently, however, Silicon Valley firms <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-h1b-canada-immigrant-employees-2017-2">have started relocating workers</a> across the border to protect them from possible deportation. For $6,000, a firm can pay the Canadian-founded company <a href="https://www.thetruenorth.me/">True North</a> to fly their employee to Vancouver, house them for two nights, and have them meet with an immigration expert to sort out gaining residency.</p><p>Canada's government may have a greater incentive to be friendly to immigrants than the US, given the country's low fertility rate and small population. Immigrants represent a much more immediate economic benefit to a country of 36 million than one of 318 million.</p><p>Hussen concedes the fiscal upsides, but he says there are other benefits, too.</p><p>"There are very substantial contributions to our economic growth, our prosperity, to our social and cultural mosaic" that come from immigration, he says.</p><p>Canada's immigration process used to be lengthy and difficult, sometimes taking 8-10 years for applications to go through. But since 2015, Canada has offered a so-called <a href="http://www.canadavisa.com/express-entry.html">Express Entry</a> system. Modeled after the New Zealand and Australian models, people in the Express Entry program only wait at most six months to have their residency applications processed. People earn <a href="http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/reports/ee-year-end-2015.asp">certain scores</a> for the skills they bring, such as experience level, number of degrees, and so on.</p><p>For all others, there are <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-move-canada-2017-1">several routes</a> to gaining residency, and then full citizenship. The cost <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/19/americans-move-canada-trump-bush-immigration#comments">can run into the thousands</a>, but logistically the process is more straightforward than a lot of other countries.</p><p>The system isn't perfect, which <a href="http://www.cicnews.com/2017/04/canada-deserves-a-for-immigration-innovation-049058.html">the Canadian government freely admits</a>. Temporary foreign workers and international students may struggle <a href="http://www.cicnews.com/2017/04/canada-deserves-a-for-immigration-innovation-049058.html">to fully integrate</a> in the eyes of the law, for instance. But Hussen says the country is receptive to making the necessary changes.</p><p>And though he didn't want to comment specifically on what the US could do better, he emphasized what, in his opinion, has made Canada great for so long.</p><p>"Our immigration system welcomes everyone from all over the world," he says.</p>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/300-year-old-silms-river-vanished-in-4-days-canada-2017-4">300-year-old river in Canada vanished in 4 days - and scientists think it could happen again</a></h3>                                    Please enable Javascript to watch this video

Canada's minister of immigration explains what successful immigration policies look like

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Trish Badger</span></p><p class="caption">Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Justin Trudeau and Jeff Bezos are set to meet on Thursday in San Francisco.</strong></li><li><strong><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/AMZN-Quote">Amazon</a>'s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/amazon-hq2">HQ2</a> will surely be among the topics of discussion.</strong></li><li><strong>The Canadian city of Toronto is on Amazon's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-hq2-top-cities-ranked-2018-1">20-city shortlist</a>, and Trudeau is sure to talk up his country's immigration policies in his pitch.</strong></li></ul><p><br />Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to meet with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in San Francisco on Thursday, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-canada-trudeau-amazon-com/canadas-trudeau-to-meet-amazon-ceo-bezos-during-u-s-visit-idUSKBN1FR2KT">according to Reuters</a>.</p><p>It's part of the Canadian leader's three-day tour of America to shore up support for NAFTA. </p><p>Trudeau will "meet with various business leaders and entrepreneurs in the technology sector to explore opportunities for growth in high-quality jobs and investment in Canada," during his trip, as his press secretary Eleanore Catenaro <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/02/07/trudeau-meeting-amazon-ceo-as-toronto-vies-for-new-hq.html">told the Toronto Star</a>.</p><p>If you read between the lines just a smidge, it's not hard to figure that Amazon's search for a place to put its second headquarters will come up in conversation. This is Trudeau's chance to pitch Toronto - the only city outside the US on <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-reveals-hq2-candidates-2018-1">Amazon's HQ2 shortlist</a> - directly to Bezos during a closed-door conversation.</p><p>HQ2, with its promise of 50,000 new jobs and $5 billion in investment, is big enough that it would matter not just to an individual city or state, but to an entire country the size of Canada.</p><p>Trudeau previously sent a letter to Bezos when the HQ2 project was announced, talking up Toronto's tech talent and cosmopolitan lifestyle, as well as Canada's lower cost to employers via universal healthcare.</p><p>Previously Ottawa's mayor said Canadian cities had an advantage because of Canada's more liberal policies.</p><p>"Amazon has something like 9,000 engineering jobs they can't fill. [Canada's] immigration policy is much more liberal," Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson t<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/technology/wooing-amazon-second-headquarters.html?_r=0">old the New York Times in September</a>. "That's where we have an advantage."</p><p>Canada is not as affected by political turmoil, and there's less uncertainty about changes coming to immigration laws than there is in the US. In an interview with<span> </span><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/critics-weigh-in-mayor-watson-amazon-trip-1.4296299">the CBC from September</a>, a former Amazon exec described Canada as "more welcoming" when it comes to immigration.</p><p>Toronto and Canada are hoping that Amazon weighs that advantage heavily, as the bid it submitted to Amazon did not emphasize tax and other financial incentives.</p><p class="tagline"><div id="categorypromo" style="border:1px solid silver; min-height:90px; padding:10px;vertical-align:top;box-sizing: content-box;"><a href="http://read.bi/retail-2018"></a><strong>EXCLUSIVE FREE SLIDE DECK:</strong><br>The Future of <keyword id="6354851" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Retail">Retail</keyword> 2018 by the BI Intelligence Research Team.<br><strong><a href="http://read.bi/retail-2018">Get the Slide Deck Now »</a></strong></br></br></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-healthiest-menu-items-breakfast-sandwich-big-mac-burger-filet-o-fish-fries-sodium-2018-1">The healthiest things you can get at McDonald's</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Canada just signaled it's about to escalate the $5 billion war for Amazon's HQ2

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Associated Press/Evan Vucci</span></p><p class="caption">President Donald Trump meets with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the G-7 summit on June 8, 2018, in Charlevoix, Canada.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Tens of thousands of skilled, educated foreign workers are rushing to file their <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/h-1b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">H-1B</a> visa applications when processing opens on April 1.</li><li>But many of them will be rejected - either by the highly selective lottery, or by delays that lawyers and experts attribute to the Trump administration's crackdown on legal <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/immigration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">immigration</a> to the US.</li><li>Alex, a temporary foreign worker who spent much of his life in the US, told INSIDER he could face rejection for an H-1B visa for the third time.</li><li>But this time, he says he'll be moving to Canada if that happens, and he's already started the immigration process up north and is astonished by how different it is to the US system.</li></ul><p>Alex still remembers the gut punch he felt when he was told he might have to leave the country he grew up in.</p><p>After nearly a decade in America - first attending a Massachusetts boarding school, then a Connecticut college - Alex walked into an immigration lawyer's office near the end of his senior year, thinking it might finally be time to inquire about switching from his temporary student visa onto some sort of permanent status.</p><p>He thought it would be easy.</p><p>He was floored when the lawyer explained to him that it didn't matter how long he'd lived in the US, how quickly he'd adapted to American life, or even how excellent his grades were in school.</p><p>If he couldn't convince a company to sponsor him for an <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/h-1b-specialty-occupations-dod-cooperative-research-and-development-project-workers-and-fashion-models" target="_blank" rel="noopener">H-1B visa</a> - a painstaking process that randomly selects winners from a lottery, takes months, and often costs thousands of dollars - there was likely no other alternative for him. At one point she joked that if Alex had a serious girlfriend, he should consider marriage instead.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Drew Angerer/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Children wave American flags and hold their certificates of citizenship after becoming U.S. citizens during a citizenship ceremony at The Bronx Zoo on May 5, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"Not to be dramatic, but I was honestly completely devastated," Alex told INSIDER. "I don't mean it to come across as entitled, or that I thought it would be a guaranteed in. But when she told me that and explained to me how it works, I was completely devastated."</p><p>Alex said the meeting went so poorly that the lawyer took pity on him and waived his entire consultation fee.</p><p>"It was a really rough meeting," he said.</p><p>Not long afterwards, he sat down at his computer and Googled <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-move-canada-2016-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how to move to Canada</a>.</p><h2>'You have to fight for it'</h2><p>Alex is one of an untold number of skilled, highly educated foreign workers who have tried to get a coveted H-1B visa in recent years, failed, then turned to Canada as the next-best option.</p><p>He asked INSIDER to identify him only by his first name and refrain from publishing identifying details, in case publication negatively affects his case or his ability to cross the border while traveling.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">The US United States Citizenship and Immigration Services' field main office entrance in Virginia.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>After the disappointing meeting with the immigration lawyer, Alex ended up finding a company willing to sponsor him for the H-1B visa in 2016 - but the US government denied him two years in a row. He was only able to stay in the US by enrolling in an MBA, from which he graduated in December 2018.</p><p>In a final Hail Mary pass, Alex will file his third H-1B petition on Monday, joining about 200,000 others in an annual rush to submit paperwork when processing opens on <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/h-1b-specialty-occupations-and-fashion-models/h-1b-fiscal-year-fy-2020-cap-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">April 1</a> each year.</p><p>Of the tens of thousands of applicants like Alex, only 85,000 will ultimately be drawn in the lottery.</p><p>But because of what immigration lawyers and experts call a crackdown on the H-1B process by the Trump administration, even those who win the lottery are guaranteed nothing.</p><p>Many workers are ultimately denied an H-1B visa months after they win the lottery, typically on the grounds that their jobs aren't technically considered "specialty occupations."</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/h1b-visa-foreign-worker-says-trump-immigration-crackdown-doomed-american-dream-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump said he wanted more 'highly skilled' immigrants to come to the US. But skilled, educated foreign workers are leaving the US dejected, saying Trump doomed their American dreams - leaving businesses in the lurch.</a></em></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Reuters/Eduardo Munoz</span></p><p class="caption">People rally to demand that Congress fix the broken immigration system at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey on April 6, 2013.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Reaz Jafri, an immigration lawyer at the international law firm Withers, told INSIDER that US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has become much more challenging to work with under the Trump administration.</p><p>He estimated that more than half of his H-1B cases nowadays are stalled by "requests for evidence," or RFEs, a complicated request for additional documents that can take months to resolve and often end in denials. He's receiving at least twice as many RFEs than he received even just five years ago, he said.</p><p>"And not just H-1Bs - I'm talking every single visa case. I've been doing this for 26 years," Jafri said. "Every single case I file it seems to be getting pushback from the government and you have to fight for it, when it should be very straightforward."</p><p>A USCIS spokesperson told INSIDER in a statement that the agency evaluates all H-1B petitions on a "case-by-case basis," adding that petitioners can file motions for reconsideration or appeal the decisions if they believe they were wrongly rejected.</p><h2>'It's not some blind, computer-generated lottery'</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Associated Press/Rebecca Blackwell</span></p><p class="caption">The sun sets over the Toronto skyline.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Alex is bracing himself for another RFE on his H-1B petition - but if it doesn't work out this time, his backup plan is Canada.</p><p>He's already retained an immigration lawyer there, scoped out Toronto, and begun the application process. His first step is submitting his English-language test results and having his university transcripts evaluated.</p><p>Already, Alex said he was astonished by how much easier Canada's immigration process is.</p><p>"It seems like it would be really favorable for someone like me. It seems like the way their system's designed has common sense," he said. "Everything that I'm going through in the US is for a 3-year visa that's tied to a company. In Canada this is a residency to live, permanently. They have a pretty advanced system, in my opinion. It's basically merit-based. It's not some blind, computer-generated lottery."</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-move-canada-2016-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How to move to Canada and become a Canadian citizen</a></em></p><p>Unlike in America, skilled immigrants in Canada don't need jobs before they arrive, nor employers to sponsor them. Under the country's <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/works.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Express Entry program</a>, prospective immigrants are evaluated under a points-based system. If they earn enough points, they can then apply for permanent residence - the Canadian equivalent of a green card - which sets them on a path to citizenship.</p><p>The youngest, most educated, and English-fluent candidates are awarded more points under the system, and then they're ranked against other candidates. The people who rank above the cut-off score are invited to apply for permanent residency.</p><p>Beyond that, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/check-processing-times.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">processing times</a> for permanent resident cards under the Express Entry program are often speedy, and can take as little as a few weeks, or up to six months.</p><h2>'Top global talent will take their skills and ambition to a different country'</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Associated Press/Aaron Favila</span></p><p class="caption">Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Canada has rushed to greet the influx of immigrants America has rejected, taking advantage of Trump's increasingly strict immigration policies and luring young talent away from the US.</p><p>Though it's unclear exactly how many failed H-1B applicants have also tried their chances in Canada, America's northern neighbor has accepted an influx of skilled immigrants in recent years, with plans to bring in far more.</p><p>Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also been vocal about bringing in global talent, and his government is on pace to accept 330,000 immigrants in 2019, and bring Canada's immigrant population up to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/canada-wants-more-than-1-million-new-immigrants-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1% of the country's total population</a> by 2020.</p><p>Many American companies, meanwhile, are infuriated that they've faced so many bureaucratic hurdles to hire talented workers they've sought out, only to see countries like Canada step in and fill the void.</p><p>Some US companies are even considering expanding to Canada, in part due to its immigration policies. According to Envoy Global's <a href="https://trends.envoyglobal.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2019 immigration trends report</a>, 65% of American employers believe Canada's immigration policies are more favorable than America's.</p><p>That's not just a small setback - it's a trend that could seriously damage American businesses and decrease the country's global competitiveness in the long run, according to Peter Leroe Muñoz, the vice president of technology and immigration policy for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.</p><p>A number of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-letter-trump-administration-immigration-policy-changes-2018-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Silicon Valley CEOs have spoken up</a> since Trump took office, warning that his administration's immigration policies, and its changes to the H-1B process in particular, were disrupting businesses and inflicting "substantial harm" on US competitiveness.</p><p>"It's a problem on two levels: You're denying American companies what they need to compete in a global economy … and you are sending a signal that it is becoming more and more difficult to work as an immigrant in our immigration economy," Leroe-Muñoz told INSIDER. "That makes our innovation economy less attractive. There is a risk that top global talent will take their skills and ambition to a different country."</p><p>For many, that's Canada. Alex says his top choice is still America, the country he's lived in since he was 13. He's happy at his company, and he loves his friends and their families - many of whom have welcomed him with open arms, knowing he was alone in America and his parents were so far away.</p><p>"I really feel like immigrants who are in the same situation as me are really dealt a big injustice, because we invest so much time, we create these entire lives for ourselves, we spend so much time away from our families, we develop all these friendships," Alex said. "You have all these people and these connections and these relationships, and you start to develop a sense of place … It's more of my home than my actual home."</p><p>Alex said he's terrified at the idea that after all his effort, and the years he's spent here, he'd have to return to his home country, where jobs are scant and opportunities are rare.</p><p>"I've built my life in the US," he said, "and I don't have anything to show for it."</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/migrants-detained-under-el-paso-bridge-border-patrol-surge-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">Hundreds of migrants are being detained under a bridge in El Paso amid a surge of families crossing the border. Border Patrol agents say there's nowhere else to put them.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/us-citizenship-process-foreigner-to-american-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">A brand-new US citizen walks us through the 'hell' it takes to go from foreigner to American</a></li><li><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/immigration-courts-brink-of-collapse-aba-report-warns-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">The American Bar Association is sounding the alarm that US immigration courts are 'on the brink of collapse'</a></li><li><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/why-migrant-families-crossing-us-mexico-border-in-record-numbers-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">4 reasons the number of families crossing the US-Mexico border illegally is soaring, and how Trump may have made the problem worse</a></li></ul>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/shaq-financial-advice-for-nba-players-money-personal-finance-investing-tips-million-savings-contract-2017-11">Shaq is joining the board of Papa John's - here's his simple piece of advice for NBA players who don't want to lose their millions</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Skilled, foreign workers are giving up on their American dreams - and turning to Canada

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Yoon Suk-yeol, <a href="https://theweek.com/donald-trump/1011122/why-some-say-south-koreas-new-president-yoon-suk-yeol-is-like-trump">who has been likened to Donald Trump</a>, has been elected <keyword id="11944254" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="south-korea" source="Orion">South Korea</keyword>'s new president. </li><li>Among his controversial pledges is a promise to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.</li></ul><p>"Immigration to Canada" was trending on South Korean Twitter on Thursday as a conservative candidate <a href="https://theweek.com/donald-trump/1011122/why-some-say-south-koreas-new-president-yoon-suk-yeol-is-like-trump">likened to Donald Trump</a> was elected the country's new president.</p><p>In <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/9/south-korea-presidential-election-in-dead-heat-as-polls-close">one of the closest presidential elections</a> in recent history, Yoon Suk-yeol, 61, a former top prosecutor with no prior political experience, beat liberal ruling party candidate Lee Jae-myung, 57.</p><p>Yoon's win led some South Koreans to consider their immigration options — at least according to Twitter, where the term "immigration to Canada" was trending on Thursday. <a href="https://getdaytrends.com/korea/trend/%EC%BA%90%EB%82%98%EB%8B%A4%20%EC%9D%B4%EB%AF%BC/">Twitter analytics site GetDayTrends</a> reported close to 16,000 tweets about the topic in the early hours of the day.  </p><p>The tweets were reminiscent of the 2016 US presidential elections when <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/canadian-immigration-site-crash-election-2016-11">Canada's immigration website crashed</a> as Trump swept key states. </p><p>A user with the handle @Im_not_pencil tweeted in Korean: "I have to study English and save money to immigrate to Canada. I can't stay in this stupid place anymore."</p><p>Another user, <a href="https://twitter.com/Allow_opinion/status/1501726577150685185">@Allow_opinion, wrote</a>: "Let's all do our best, let's immigrate, let's meet in Canada or anywhere else. In our protest, let's meet."</p><p>User <a href="https://twitter.com/1013653778_/status/1501597774801891332">@1013653778_ shared tips</a> on having a better chance at immigrating to Canada. "Must have — steady English learning — it is good to have IELTS 5.5 or higher," they wrote, referring to the standardized IELTS (International English Language Testing System) English test. </p><p>Critics have called Yoon "the South Korean Trump." A recent <a href="http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20220228000935">Korea Herald</a> editorial noted that both "have made remarks that would be offensive to other countries, praised heavily controversial political figures, gone after foreigners and shown a poor understanding of feminism." </p><p>Yoon's controversial <keyword id="6359590" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="campaign" source="Orion">campaign</keyword> pledges included a promise to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, claiming that women do not suffer systemic gender discrimination, <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220309-anti-feminist-political-novice-south-korea-s-new-president-yoon">per AFP</a>. He is an "avowed anti-feminist," the <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">news</keyword> agency said.</p><p>South Korea is at the bottom of <a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/glass-ceiling-index?gclid=CjwKCAiAvaGRBhBlEiwAiY-yMAO5j0I4HBM-brhWi3btnWJiaVK8MwpSmBIod1MVRZkgbNaBr9jPnBoC4yAQAvD_BwE&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds">The Economist's glass-ceiling index</a> that measures the role and influence of women in the workforce, ranking the lowest among 29 OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) member nations. </p><p>During his campaign trail, he also made "a string of gaffes," AFP reported, "from praising one of the country's former dictators, to belittling manual labor and Africans."</p><p>Yoon has said he would launch pre-emptive strikes on North Korea if necessary, comments which critics said were overly provocative, <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3169890/south-korea-election-yoon-suk-yeol-projected-win-mandate-tackle">according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP)</a>. Describing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a "rude boy," Yoon said he would make Kim "snap out of it" upon winning the election, <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220309-anti-feminist-political-novice-south-korea-s-new-president-yoon">per AFP</a>.</p><p>Tapping into growing anti-China sentiment in his home country, he has also pledged closer relations with the US, SCMP said. </p><p>Biden called Yoon to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/us-congratulates-yoon-south-korean-president-elect-says-alliance-ironclad-2022-03-09/">congratulate the president-elect</a> on Thursday.</p><p>"The alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea, our economies, and our people is ironclad," said a White House spokesperson.</p>

'Immigration to Canada' is trending on Twitter in South Korea as 'K-Trump' candidate is elected new president

Ottawa, Canada's capital, is planning on submitting a bid to <keyword id="18635" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="amazon">Amazon</keyword>.<br /><br />When <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/AMZN-Quote">Amazon</a> put out its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-announces-hq2-2017-9">call for cities </a>to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-headquarters-cities-in-a-bidding-war-2017-9">submit bids</a> to be the site of the company's second headquarters, the wording was deliberate: Amazon would be considering proposals from not just cities in the US, but from all North American cities.<br /><br />Many Canadian cities - from <keyword id="29196" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="toronto">Toronto</keyword> and Ottawa to Vancouver and Calgary - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-headquarters-cities-in-a-bidding-war-2017-9">are all planning on placing bids</a> to host Amazon's next headquarters.<br /><br />While some see the complications that would come with Amazon placing its HQ2 across the border, some Canadian cities like Ottawa see an opportunity to distinguish themselves.<br /><br />"Amazon has something like 9,000 engineering jobs they can't fill. [Canada's] immigration policy is much more liberal," Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/technology/wooing-amazon-second-headquarters.html?_r=0">told the New York Times.</a> "That's where we have an advantage."<br /><br />Canada is not as affected by political turmoil, and there's less uncertainty about changes coming to immigration laws as there is in the US. In an interview with <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/critics-weigh-in-mayor-watson-amazon-trip-1.4296299">the CBC</a>, a former Amazon exec described Canada as "more welcoming" when it comes to immigration.<br /><br />Tech companies in particular have come out strongly against proposed immigration law changes in the US, as it <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-visa-immigrant-order-tech-companies-h1b-chart-2017-1">directly affects their business</a>. In April, more than 160 companies, including Amazon, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/19/162-tech-companies-file-brief-against-the-latest-immigration-executive-order/">filed an amicus brief</a> in support of a lawsuit challenging President Trump's March immigration orders. On Sunday, a new immigration ban was announced, and experts say it <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-trumps-new-travel-ban-could-be-harder-to-fight-in-court-experts-2017-9">will be harder to fight in court</a>.<br /><br />There is also a large degree of uncertainty about the future of the H-1B visa program, which tech companies often use to hire foreign nationals to work in specialized areas. In April, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-signs-order-targeting-h-1b-visa-program-2017-4">Trump signed </a>the "Buy American, Hire American" executive order which required agencies to suggest reforms to the H-1B program "as soon as practicable."<br /><br />Ottawa's mayor's comments are just the latest in a series of moves by city officials in towns across the continent to lure Amazon to their neck of the woods. Watson also <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/mayor-jim-watson-amazon-trip-1.4293997">made a visit to Amazon's hometown of Seattle</a> earlier in September, to try and gather support for his cause and get a sense of what the company needs from a hometown.<br /><br />"It's like 'The Amazing Race,'" <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/technology/wooing-amazon-second-headquarters.html?_r=0">Watson said.</a> "You've got this cast of characters running toward the Holy Grail."<br /><br /><br /><br />
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Canada just escalated the $5 billion war for Amazon's second headquarters

<ul><li>Indians were the top immigrant group to take up residence in <keyword id="6356687" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="canada" source="Orion">Canada</keyword> this year (January to March).</li><li>The country also plans to welcome over 4,32,000 new immigrants this year, as per an Economic Times report.</li><li>The <keyword id="151242" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Canadian-government" source="Orion">Canadian government</keyword> announced on April 22 that Express Entry draws will soon resume and applications for candidates to apply for permanent residents will begin early July.</li></ul>Canada is one of the most popular choices among Indians to either work or for higher education. According to the figures of the first quarter, which was released earlier in April by the Canadian government, Indians were the top immigrant group to take-up residence in Canada this year (January to March). In the first three months of this year itself, the country had welcomed 1,08,000 migrants including Indians. In 2021, nearly 100,000 Indians became permanent residents of Canada as the country admitted a record 405,000 new immigrants in its history so far.<br /><br />The country also plans to welcome over 4,32,000 new immigrants this year, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/migrate/indians-top-as-canada-admits-108000-new-immigrants-in-the-first-quarter/articleshow/90587538.cms?from=mdr">as per</a> an Economic Times report.<br /><br />To hit its target number, the country announced on April 22 that Express Entry draws will soon resume and applications for candidates to apply for permanent residents will begin early July.<br /><br />Express Entry is a programme for permanent immigration for <keyword id="7701922" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Canadian-Experience-Class" source="Orion">Canadian Experience Class</keyword> (CEC), <keyword id="1040205" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Federal-Skilled-Worker-Program" source="Orion">Federal Skilled Worker Program</keyword> (FSWP), and <keyword id="10218776" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Federal-Skilled-Trades-Program" source="Orion">Federal Skilled Trades Program</keyword> (FSTP). <br /><br /><strong>Eligibility for CEC —</strong> Skilled workers with 3 years of Canadian work experience before applying for Express Entry.<br /><br /><strong>Eligibility for FSWP —</strong> Skilled workers with foreign work experience must meet education and other criterias.<br /><br /><strong>Eligibility for FSTP —</strong> Skilled workers who are qualified in a skilled trade and must have a valid job offer or a certificate of qualification.<br /><br />Canada has rolled out new policies to address the labour shortage in the country.“ As Canada continues to recover from the pandemic, employers are actively looking to fill hundreds of thousands of vacant positions in all sectors across the country. Immigration is more important than ever to fuel Canada’s economy, as our strong economic growth is now outpacing our ability to find and keep workers,” said the press release rolled out by the government of Canada.<br /><br />International immigrants whose stay visa is soon to expire can stay a little longer through this new temporary policy. <keyword id="5792642" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sean-fraser" source="Orion">Sean Fraser</keyword>, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship said in the release, “ A new temporary policy that will give recent international graduates with expiring temporary status an opportunity to stay in Canada longer, so that they can continue to gain work experience and have a better chance at qualifying for permanent residency.”<br /><br />He further said, “Starting in summer 2022, former international students who are in Canada and have a post-graduation work permit expiring between January and December 2022 will qualify for an additional open work permit of up to 18 months. We are exploring a simplified, expeditious process for this, and details will be made available in the weeks ahead.”<br /><br />The Federal High Skilled processing inventory has been cut in half, decreasing from 119,000 people in September 2021 to just 48,000 people in March 2022, said Fraser.<br /><br />According to the ET report, over 95,000 post-graduation work permits (PGWPs) are going to expire in 2022 and around 50,000 of them could enjoy the benefits of this new open work permit.<br /><strong><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Getting a permanent residence is easier now" comment="subhead" text="Getting a permanent residence is easier now"><span data-til="noop">Getting a permanent residence is easier now</span></cmsannotation></strong><br />In order to attract more foreign immigrants to fill up the job vacancies in Canada, the country has doubled the number of permanent residence decisions made in the first quarter of 2022, compared to the same time period in 2021. “ From January 1, 2022 to March 31, 2022, we have made over 156,000 final decisions on permanent residence applications and, through these efforts, Canada welcomed over 113,000 new permanent residents in the first quarter of 2022,” revealed the release.<br /><br />Canada also rolled out a ‘limited-time pathway’ programme for temporary residents to apply for permanent residence in 2021. Currently, new applications are closed for now and the processing of the applications that came in 2021 is going-on for now. <br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/swiggy-to-upskill-delivery-boys-to-become-company-employees/articleshow/91069593.cms">Swiggy to upskill delivery boys to become company employees</a><br /></strong><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/top-universities-producing-the-most-number-of-ceos-guess-which-indian-institute-is-included-in-the-list/slidelist/91066313.cms"><strong>top universities producing the most number of CEOs — guess which Indian institute is included in the list</strong></a><br />

Planning to study in or migrate to Canada? Know about the new immigration policies announced by the country

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Many people in the tech industry are choosing to move to Canada over the US because of the US' restrictive <keyword id="50403" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Immigration">immigration</keyword> laws.</li><li>Since 2013, <keyword id="29196" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Toronto">Toronto</keyword> has added more <keyword id="625018" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="tech-jobs">tech jobs</keyword> than any other place in North America, including <keyword id="6357722" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="silicon-valley">Silicon Valley</keyword>.</li><li>25% of Canada's overall workforce are immigrants, and in the tech space that number is even higher — 40%.</li></ul><p>Silicon Valley's reputation as the world's leading tech hub could be in jeopardy because of the United States' restrictive immigration laws.</p><p>Tens of thousands of immigrant tech workers have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/remote-work-could-accelerate-silicon-valleys-migration-to-canada-2020-5">flocked to Toronto</a> in the past few years, making it the fastest growing tech hub in North America.</p><p>Many of them are deliberately avoiding the US as the Trump administration clamps down on immigration. In June, President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-executive-order-work-visas-immigration-2020-6">temporarily suspended visas</a> known as H-1B visas, which are awarded to thousands of skilled immigrant workers each year.</p><p>The visa suspension is prompting some immigrants, like former Silicon Valley product manager Asim Fayaz, to move north to Canada. </p><p>"There is a whole world out there, and you are probably better off going somewhere else because you'd be treated more human," said Fayaz, a Pakistani immigrant who now runs an <a href="https://thecharcoalgrillca.square.site/">online restaurant business</a> in Toronto. "You don't need to be, like, pleading for your existence all the time."</p><p>Every year, the US government reserves 85,000 H-1B visas for skilled foreign professionals — people like Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa and started companies such as Tesla and SpaceX in the US.</p><p>Fayaz came to the US to attend the University of California, and landed a job after graduating with a master's degree in 2016. As an immigrant, trying to find work in the US was tough — he needed an American employer to not just hire him, but also sponsor his H-1B work visa.</p><p>This year, immigration laws suddenly changed as Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-suspending-entry-aliens-present-risk-u-s-labor-market-following-coronavirus-outbreak/">suspended the program</a>, citing "an unusual threat to the employment of American workers" during the coronavirus pandemic. The move left thousands in limbo.</p><p>But while the US is closing doors, Canada has been rolling out the welcome mat. Since 2013, <a href="http://cbre.vo.llnwd.net/grgservices/secure/2019%20US%20%20Tech%20Talent.pdf?e=1596133272&amp;h=09e04601f6264c5c3c7d134c5aeb99899989">the number of tech jobs in Toronto has skyrocketed</a> from about 148,000 to 228,000, an increase of 54%.</p><p>"We have over 100,000 people immigrate to the Toronto region each year, which is twice as many as San Francisco Bay Area," Jason Goldlist, cofounder of <a href="https://www.techtoronto.org/">TechToronto</a>, said. And we don't just attract the quantity. It's also quality because a fifth of these immigrants already have a STEM degree before they even arrive here.</p><p>Canadian e-commerce giant <a href="https://www.shopify.com/">Shopify</a> is trying to capitalize on the opportunity. Following Trump's announcement, CEO Tobias Lutke — himself an immigrant from Germany — <a href="https://twitter.com/tobi/status/1275406372411146245">tweeted</a>, "If this affects your plans consider coming to Canada instead."</p><p>Sandeep Anand, the company's senior mobility lead, echoed Lutke's call for talent: "Whether they're already in Canada, whether they're globally present, we're looking to really expand our diverse workforce. And in some cases it does mean that we would need to relocate and provide immigration support, which we're happy to do," she told <keyword id="9054837" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="business-insider-today">Business Insider Today</keyword>.</p><p>According to a <a href="https://www.ictc-ctic.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Digital-Economy-Supply_The-Immigration-Stream.pdf">2016 study</a>, 25% of Canada's workforce are immigrants. And in the tech space, that number is even higher — 40%, or 350,000 workers.</p><p><div type="image" title="donald trump oval office" height="4000" width="6000" msid="77272964" hostid="261"></div>And there's still room for more, says Ilya Brotzky, the founder &amp; CEO of VanHack, a Canadian firm that helps place global talent in tech jobs across North America. Brotzky cited Canada's <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/724672/canada-ict-sector-employment-vs-overall-economy/">3% unemployment rate in the tech sector</a>, well below its overall unemployment rate. </p><p>"It's not like there's a bunch of Canadians waiting to take these jobs," Brotzky said. "The unemployment rate is really, really low. We can't find the people."</p><p>Brotzky argues it makes economic sense for US companies to open offices in Canada, as well.</p><p>"You have these people that can basically work in the same time zone, quick flight from you, really easy laws, super fast to set up, and you have the benefit of Canadian dollar salaries," he told Business Insider Today. "But more importantly, you have access to the global talent pool. So you can bring in any developer from around the world that's good."</p><p>That's why Canada is trying to attract highly skilled foreign professionals through visa programs like the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/foreign-workers/global-talent/requirements.html">Global Talent Stream</a>, launched in 2017. Immigration experts say it is like the H-1B program, but a lot better. </p><p>"It's a very fast processing time. It takes anywhere from roughly around two weeks to complete the first stage. And then the second stage, which is the work permit stage. It takes another two weeks. So you could be in Canada as quickly as a month," Blayne Kumar, founder of the immigration services company Bright Immigration, said.</p><p><div type="image" title="Toronto" height="2000" width="3000" msid="77272965" hostid="261"></div></p><p>For Fayaz, the decision to move from the US to Canada came after he was laid off from his Silicon Valley company, when he and his wife became fed up with constantly worrying about their legal status.</p><p>"It's not even like in 10 years, I will get it," he said. "It's like maybe, maybe not. Who knows, who cares. We don't need you in this country."</p><p>And the recent suspension of the <keyword id="6358066" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="h-1b-visa">H-1B visa</keyword> program only confirmed his worst fears.</p><p>"You know that scene in movies where the actor is leaving the scene and the world is blowing up behind you, right? I feel like that — that I kind of managed to exit the scene somehow, magically," he said. "And I look back and the US is just blowing up."</p><p>"So many of my friends, people that I worked with, went to school with, they're all impacted. And whenever I get a phone call, I just feel so sorry for all those people."</p>

Toronto is emerging as a tech superpower as immigrants choose Canada over the US

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>A record number of US citizens applied for asylum status in Canada in 2017.</li><li>Canadian government data from the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship department show they received 2,550 applications for asylum in 2017.</li><li>That's six times more than the country received in 2016.</li><li>US citizens were third on the list of total asylum applications, after Haitians and Nigerians.</li></ul><p>A record number of US citizens applied for asylum in Canada during 2017, the most since 1994.</p><p>A total of 2,550 US citizens applied for asylum Canada in 2017 - six times more than in 2016, according to data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada cited <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/14/us-citizens-seeking-asylum-canada-increases-immigration-refugees">by The Guardian.</a></p><p>That's the largest number of applications Canada has ever received from American citizens since the dataset started reporting the numbers in 1994, they said.</p><p>US citizens make up the third-largest group of asylum-seekers in the 2017 dataset, after Haitians and Nigerians, the Guardian reported.</p><p>The majority of US asylum seekers in Canada are citizens who naturalized via "birthright citizenship" as they were born on US soil, Stéphane Handfield, a Montreal-based immigration lawyer told the Guardian. Many of them fled to Canada with their parents, who aren't US citizens.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-birthright-citizenship-14th-amendment-immigration-naturalization-act-2018-10">Trump plans to end birthright citizenship - here's what the law says about that</a></em></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></p><p>In early 2017, Canada started receiving a larger-than-expected number of asylum applications after <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/trump-has-ended-temporary-protection-status-for-4-countries-2018-1">US President Donald Trump said he was going to scrap a scheme offering temporary protected status to immigrants</a> from countries like Haiti, <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/fact-check-are-a-majority-of-asylum-seekers-to-canada-doomed-to-rejection-1.3994539">CTV wrote.</a></p><p>In October 2018, Trump <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/trump-plans-to-end-birthright-citizenship-with-an-executive-order-2018-10">said he wanted to end "birthright citizenship,"</a> which he called a "ridiculous" practice of granting citizenship to children born in the US to non-citizen parents. He hasn't made an official policy move on that plan yet.</p>

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