Canada Silicon Valley North benefits from delay in US immigration reform

Vancouver’s tech sector, known as Silicon Valley North, is beginning to benefit from the chaos and delay surrounding the USA’s immigration reform scheme.

As America’s stalled immigration reform plans moulder due to political controversy, thousands of the brightest and best in the international IT world are considering heading north to Canada. The present situation in the USA means that economic green cards are vastly oversubscribed and queues for admission are getting longer by the month.

As a result, many highly skilled professionals are heading to Vancouver’s version of California’s Silicon Valley rather than waiting until the US sorts out its priorities. Those already working with high-tech companies are pleased they made the choice, describing the city as beautiful and the tech community as thriving.

Vancouver’s Facebook downtown base, established in 2013, is now employing talented IT specialists who were tired of waiting for their green cards. Microsoft, Sony Pictures, Hootsuit, Imageworks and a clutch of other tech companies are also firmly installed and employing international talent, and Amazon is due to arrive soon.

According to a Facebook spokesperson, the protracted wrangling over immigration in the USA has played an important role in the opening of international offices by some of the world’s biggest international players. Canada’s approach to immigration, he added, is a strong point in its favour in an industry which can’t stand still for a single second.

Immigration minister Jason Kenney says the decision to exploit the USA’s dysfunctional system was deliberate. Another feather in Canadian Immigration’s cap is its permanent residency entrepreneurship visa, now attracting innovative start-ups from across the world.