Canada attracts foreign skilled workers from the US.

The Canadian government seeks to attract skilled foreign workers from USAwith such success that it reached its goal of 10,000 applications in just two days.

The government launched a special work permit for foreign workers who have already obtained H-1B visas in the United States, who number nearly 600,000 and mostly come from India and China. The program’s goal of 10,000 workers was met in the first two days of the week, said a spokesman for Canada’s Immigration Minister, Sean Fraser.

“We had a promotional campaign and we had to abandon it”said spokesman Jeremy Bellefeuille.

It is unusual for one country to so explicitly seek to attract visa holders from another. Bellefeuille said the Canadian program was on trial and the minister would study the next steps.

Every year some 85,000 people get H-1B visas in the United States, a mainstay of big tech companies like Amazon, Google and its parent Alphabet, Facebook and its parent Meta, and IBM.

The H-1B visa allows companies to employ foreign workers in specialized positions in technology, medicine, and engineering. They generally last three years and are renewable.

If they are laid off from the US company that sponsored their visa, they have to get a new job and sponsor within 60 days.

Fraser promoted the Canadian work permit at the Collision tech conference in Toronto last month. The conference attracts workers in the technology sector from around the world.

In the United States, companies like Meta, Amazon and Google have reduced their staff. The Canadian permit also grants work or study permission for the immediate family. It is valid from July 16 for one year or until 10,000 applications are received.

Source: AP