Will the brand new $100,000 H-1B visa charge within the U.S. drive tech firms to look to Canada for a less expensive solution to make use of AI expertise — and encourage extra Canadians to remain house?
With President Donald Trump’s govt order shaking up the visa system that many U.S. tech firms use to rent expert immigrant staff, Canadian officers are seizing the chance to pitch their nation as a extra welcoming and reasonably priced various.
In British Columbia, the place each Microsoft and Amazon have already got a big presence, Minister of Jobs and Financial Progress Ravi Kahlon jumped into the fray with a LinkedIn put up referencing the H-1B modifications, stressing the province’s dedication to science and innovation.
“We’re inviting tech expertise, innovators, and scientists to return to B.C. and be a part of constructing the financial engine of Canada’s new financial system!” he wrote, including a maple leaf emoji for emphasis.
Chatting with the Council on Overseas Relations in New York on Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney steered that the modifications might see fewer Canadians leaving to work for U.S. tech firms. Whereas Canadian universities graduate many proficient college students with experience in AI and quantum computing, he famous, most find yourself working in Silicon Valley and Seattle.
“I perceive you’re altering your visa coverage,” Carney instructed the U.S. viewers, with a smile. “So we’re going to dangle on to some of these.”
The thought isn’t nearly holding Canadian graduates at house. With the brand new $100,000 H-1B charge elevating the price of hiring international staff within the U.S., tech firms might discover it cheaper to deliver abroad expertise to Canadian hubs like Vancouver or Toronto as an alternative.
Actuality examine on visa impression
However whereas Canadian leaders see a gap, immigration consultants warning that the impression could also be narrower than it first appeared. In an alert for employers, attorneys Megan Vogel and Diane Butler at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP within the Seattle space famous that the $100,000 charge applies solely to new H-1B petitions, and that the associated fee will fall on employers — not staff.
On the identical time, for Canadians eager to work in the US, the H-1B just isn’t the one possibility. They’ll apply for a USMCA Skilled (TN visa), which gives most of the advantages of the H-1B. It doesn’t, nevertheless, present a path to everlasting residence.
For non-Canadian and non-US residents who’ve been working for an American firm in Canada for a 12 months or extra, there may be additionally the choice of an L-1A or L-2A visa. These permit for “inside transfers” of staff between the 2 nations below sure situations.
Cross-border collaboration
Whereas the brand new H-1B prices might heighten competitors between Canada and the US for tech expertise, Washington state and British Columbia are nonetheless on a path to collaborate carefully on a long-held regional imaginative and prescient: the Cascadia Innovation Hall.
The initiative, which additionally consists of Oregon, is supported by Microsoft President Brad Smith and led by former Washington state governor Chris Gregoire. Each Smith and Gregoire will likely be talking on the group’s annual convention in Seattle subsequent month.
The group is promising an replace on its imaginative and prescient for a high-speed rail hyperlink by way of the area. The Cascadia high-speed rail initiative acquired $54.5 million in federal and state funding in late 2024 to plan future rail service connecting Seattle with Portland and Vancouver.
It isn’t clear what impression the Trump administration’s finances priorities might have on future funding for the high-speed rail hyperlink. However there’s clearly sturdy curiosity on each side of the border in enhancing transportation between the 2 nations — even when the brand new visa charges imply fewer tech staff could be making the journey within the brief run.
