The US H-1B program is typically reserved for highly educated and skilled foreign workers in fields such as technology and health care.
Big tech companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Meta or Apple all set aside a budget to sponsor thousands of candidates every year.
However, the trend of mass layoffs by technology companies in the world's number one economy has left highly skilled workers under the H-1B program "helpless".
“American employers have really let down highly educated and skilled foreign workers,” said Annie Beaudoin, a former Canadian immigration officer.
The US skilled worker visa has become increasingly competitive since its launch in 1990. As of 2024, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services received 758,994 eligible applications, but only 188,400 were selected for the final draw.
“The process was very stressful. It took me three tries to get the lottery,” said Harnoor Singh, a software engineer at Microsoft and H-1B visa holder from India.
Layoffs have been the buzzword across the tech industry since the start of the year. Giants like Microsoft laid off as many as 10,000 people in January, while Amazon laid off 18,000.
For H-1B visa holders, if they are fired, they have 60 days to find a new sponsor, change their visa status, or be deported back to their home country.
Frederick Anokye of Ghana, a former H-1B engineer specializing in real-time fault analysis at semiconductor company Micron, was among the unlucky ones.
“I am still looking for a job in the US. It is not easy at this time, when the trend of staff reduction is not over yet.”
"Unprecedented"
In that context, the Canadian government quickly developed and implemented a pilot program for up to 10,000 highly skilled workers with US H-1B visas, who can register for work permits of up to 3 years in the land of the "maple leaf".
Applications were immediately filled, and as of October, Canada had issued work permits to more than 6,000 H-1B visa holders entering from the United States.
“This is an unprecedented program,” said immigration consultant Kubeir Kamal of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants.
The program is part of Canada's Tech Talent Strategy, a multi-year master plan to recruit the world's top tech talent.
A CBRE study found that Canada's tech market has grown 15.7% since 2020, outpacing the US, which grew 11.4%.
The study also found that Canada now has 1.1 million tech workers, with Toronto and Vancouver ranking among the top 10 tech cities in North America.
(According to CNBC)
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