10/03/2017
Canadian Fast Track Visa to Launch June 12th!
March 9, 2017
As the U.S. border tightens for both political and bureaucratic reasons, the federal government is launching a new stream of its temporary foreign worker program to entice highly skilled workers to come to Canada and help domestic companies innovate and compete globally.
The program’s new “Global Talent” pilot stream was announced Thursday morning in Toronto by Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development, and Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour.
The new stream, set to launch June 12, will let companies applying for workers use a new streamlined labour-market impact assessment program that will let workers have permits processed within 10 days, and guide employers through the application process in the same timeframe.
“This will result in timely, responsive and predictable service that allows companies to attract top talent to scale up, create good middle-class jobs at home, and remain globally competitive,” the ministry said in a statement.
The move comes just days after United States Citizenship and Immigration Services said it would be suspending “premium-processing” applications for highly skilled workers for up to six months starting April 3 to catch up with a high-volume backlog. While this would force delays for many Canadians hoping to work in the U.S., Canadian tech companies suggested it was an opportunity to instead lure global talent here. The federal government has hinted at the need to speed up work-permit processing for skilled workers for several months, and Minister Hajdu told The Globe last month that new reforms would be announced in tandem with the upcoming budget.
Source: The Globe and Mail
