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Calgary immigration lawyer Evelyn Ackah explains how Canadian employers can hire highly skilled foreign tech workers through the Global Talent Stream.
- The Global Talent Stream (GTS) is a fast-track program for employers in Canada to hire foreign workers in the Information Technology (IT) industry.
- To be eligible for the GTS, employers must offer a competitive salary, a position that requires a master's degree or more, and a labour market plan that outlines how they will train and develop Canadians.
- The GTS process is much faster than the regular LMIA process, and can be completed in as little as two to three weeks.
- There is no minimum or maximum number of employees that can be hired through the GTS program.
- Employers who are interested in using the GTS can contact Ackah Law for more information and assistance.
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On the podcast, Evelyn discusses some of the key benefits of the GTS for employers:
- Faster processing times
- Ability to hire foreign workers with specialized skills
- Opportunity to train and develop Canadians
- Reduced costs
If you are an employer in the IT industry and are looking for ways to hire highly skilled foreign workers, the GTS is a great option. I encourage you to listen to the podcast, and contact Ackah Law to learn more about how we can help you navigate the GTS process and bring the best talent to your company.
About Evelyn Ackah
Evelyn Ackah is the Founder and Managing Lawyer at Ackah Business Immigration Law. We work with individuals and business owners from all over the world who want to cross borders seamlessly. For more information on immigration to Canada or the United States, Ask Evelyn Ackah at Ackah Business Immigration Law today at (403) 452‑9515 or email Evelyn directly at contact@ackahlaw.com.
The Ask Canada Immigration Lawyer Evelyn Ackah podcast by Calgary Immigration Lawyer Evelyn Ackah was named #1 Best Canada Immigration Podcast in 2022 by Feedspot.
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Transcript
Evelyn Ackah:
Hi everyone. It's Evelyn Ackah on the LinkedIn Live for Ackah Business Immigration Law. I hope you're well. I wanted to talk today about the Global Talent Stream. If you haven't heard about it already, this is the category for highly skilled technical workers in the Information Technology industry to come to Canada on an expedited basis. So there's very much a need for highly skilled, experienced IT workers that have usually a master's degree or more. And so, these companies in Canada were given this stream where they could attract and try to expedite the processing of bringing foreign workers to Canada much faster. The typical route for getting this Labor Market Impact Assessment could be anywhere from two to four months, and that's just the LMIA stage before even the work permit, which they would need to get at the consulate if they're from a visa-required country.
The benefit of the Global Talent Stream, however, is that it allows employers in Canada to expedite the LMIA process by outlining a few things that they need to show that they are paying at a highly competitive salary and that the position is one that requires a master's degree or more in anything from software engineering and other technical skills, and that they put together a business plan, a labour market plan where they're going to train and also develop Canadians and permanent residents so they can also be training and developing Canadians as part of their work.
The other piece of the Global Talent Stream is that employers commit to labour market plan and also hiring more Canadians. They commit to that as a part of getting this expedited programming to get their LMIAs done. And normally, under the Global Talent Stream, it could be two to three weeks instead of two to three months to get the LMIA first. And then, depending on where the person's coming from, if they're American or visa exempt, they can literally come to the airport, get their work permit, and they can start working for that employer right away.
So, this is a really wonderful program if you are an employer looking for highly skilled IT workers, whether they were in the US, under H-1B visa, and they no longer qualify in the US and you want to bring them to Canada or you want to hire them from India or China or wherever, this is the stream for you. I want to go through some of the eligibility so that you can get as much information as possible. The Global Talent Stream has two different streams. One is Talent Stream One or A, we call it, where people are focused on a designated partner. So there could be things like incubators and other designated partners where they may basically sponsor that technical worker to come and work for you.
The main one we do here at Ackah Law tends to be the one under Category B, which is the Global Talent Occupations List. So, so long as the job you're looking for and the job duties are under that Global Talent Occupations List, you would be eligible to bring them to Canada with the application. And so long as the salary met, the requirements is usually above 80,000 to $85,000 minimum, if you were to bring them under that category, then you can get the expedited LMIA. I also want to talk to you about this. There is that Labor Market Benefits Plan. You need to show what the plan is to benefit the Canadian labor market by hiring this person. So, usually, the Global Talent Stream officers will work very closely with employers and their legal counsel to put together a plan that shows job creation, that shows training, and that shows the development of our own IT industry in Canada.
So if you can show all of those things, then you're going to likely be approved for the LMIA under the Global Talent Stream. One thing I just want to go over as well is what you need to do. One of the benefits of the Global Talent Stream as well is you don't have to advertise. Unlike a regular Labor Market Impact Assessment where you must have at least one month of advertising. For the Global Talent Stream, you do not have to advertise. You can bypass that because we all know in Canada, anybody that's working with the labor market, you know that there's much need for foreign workers in this area, in this field. So some of the job categories, as I said before, the base cannot be less than $80,000 salary and it can go up to a salary of $150,000 based on the category A program.
So there are two different things. You have to be able to guarantee the salary. You have to be able to show that you can afford to pay the salary and that this is a genuine job for somebody that's coming to Canada. There are a list of designated partners for referrals to Category A under the Global Talent Stream, and I'm going to go through a few of them. One of them is the Business Development Bank of Canada. One is Global Affairs Trade Commissioner Service, Invest in Canada and Tech Nation. These are all across the country and every province has a Global Talent Stream partner that's designated. So if you meet the criteria for Group A, then you can use that and they'll basically give you that approval. If you don't, and you fit into the category B of the occupations list, that's what you would use to hire the foreign worker.
Again, at Ackah Law we do the Global Talent Stream work quite consistently. It's a fabulous program. We have great relationships with the ESDC Officers and we can help make sure that your application is successful because we have to paper everything and make sure it's right. The other piece is, you must make sure that you've chosen the right NOC code. This is the National Occupations Classification. You have to choose the right job classification, so you can be considered for this.
There's also a $1000 government fee for the LMIA under the Global Talent Stream. It's the same price as for the regular LMIA, and this pays the government for the process of doing this and reviewing and approving the application. So if you'd like to learn more about the Global Talent Stream and how you may be able to use it in your organization and how we can help you with expediting getting the LMIA and bringing the workers to Canada, we'd love to help you. Also, you should know there is no minimum or maximum number of employees for this program under your corporation. You just need to be able to show you can afford to pay their salary as outlined.
So to learn more about the GTS and the LMIA process, please do contact us at the numbers and email above. We'd love to help you. I hope you've had a great day and I hope it's been informative. Take good care. Bye-bye.
