Under this programme, processing of applications filed by sponsoring employers takes just two weeks. The icing on the cake is that those hired under the GTS route gain valuable work experience in Canada, which gives them an edge when applying for permanent residency under the Express Entry Route, which is a point-based system.
“We are attracting some of the most highly skilled people of the world, through our global skills strategy,” Ahmed Hussen, minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship Canada (IRCC), stated in the budget document, tabled recently.
The proposal to make the two-year pilot project permanent follows calls to do so from Canada’s burgeoning tech sector. Since its launch in June 2017, more than 2,000 workers have been
The GTS programme has two categories. Category A requires that the sponsoring employer (an innovative company) must be validated by a designated referral partner (such as regional development agencies).
The employer must be seeking to hire ‘unique and specialised talent’. In Category B, the sponsoring employers must demonstrate that they are seeking to fill in occupations on the ‘Global Talent Occupation List’ and need to hire highly skilled international workers. The stipulated wage requirements must be met in both the cases.
“Category A cases relate primarily to new or start-up business with a rapid upward growth pattern. There are a greater number of applications under Category B, as this relates to employers with intending applicants in occupations considered to be in short supply – many of them being IT related,” explains David Crawford, Toronto based partner at Fragomen, a global firm specialising in immigration laws.
A country-wise break up of those who were allotted visas under GTS during the pilot period is not available. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a significant number of them were Indians, including H-1B workers in US who were tired of the green-card backlog and had migrated to Canada. The occupations eligible under GTS are wide ranging from web-developers to scientists.
“The maximum duration that an employer can request for a work permit under the GTS is two years.
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