Canada PR Options for Immigration of Tech Talents

Express Entry Year-End Report noted tech occupations dominated among candidates who were invited to apply for Canada permanent residence. In more recent times, Canadian employers are looking for increased skilled immigration to fulfil the increasing job vacancies. This calls for the right opportunity to discuss various Canada PR options that are exclusively available for foreign tech talents willing to work & settle in Canada.

What are Canada PR Options for Tech Talents?

Foreign workers are not obliged to renew their work permit or LMIA after obtaining Canada permanent residency status. Here are a number of exclusive Canada PR options open to tech skilled workers:

• Express Entry
• Alberta Accelerated Tech Pathway
• British Columbia Tech
• Ontario Tech Draws
• Quebec Immigration Program
• Saskatchewan Tech Talent Pathway

Federal Pathway for Canada Immigration

Immigration in Canada means obtaining permanent residency. Aspirants choose Canada because of its direct permanent residence pathway. Any prospective candidate who seeks to obtain Canada permanent residency must register their profiles online on the Express Entry portal. All the registered profiles are then assessed and ranked based on a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).

Such profiles are evaluated on a total of 1200 points. The human capital criteria like

• age,
• education,
• work experience outside Canada,
• language proficiency in English/French,
• spouse adaptability,
• Canadian study experience, etc. are considered for evaluation purposes.

Tech workers qualify for any of the two federal programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) under Canada Express Entry. However, Canada has not invited any profiles to apply for Canadian immigration under these programs since 2021.

FSWP was the main source of foreign skilled immigrants to Canada without a job offer until recently when IRCC decided to focus on inviting only CEC & PNP candidates. CEC profiles mostly consisted of international student graduates who had gained at least one year of work experience and were eligible to apply for permanent residency.

Canada is expected to resume Express Entry draws for FSWP & CEC profiles in “early July”. 

Provincial Immigration Pathways for Canadian Permanent Residency

After receiving provincial nominations from any of the below provincial streams, you can apply to the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to qualify for permanent residency. Among various Canada PR options, provincial pathways are in most demand.

Between 2021 and now, Canada Express Entry draws have relied majorly on Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP). All the recent Express Entry nominees had a successful provincial nomination and were already registered in the Express Entry pool. For instance, in the latest Express Entry draws, Canada invited 787 PNP candidates to apply with CRS scores of at least 782.

Provincial nominees with active Express Entry profiles got 600 points over and above their usual Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score. This may guarantee an invitation to apply for Canada permanent residency in upcoming PNP-specific Express Entry draws.

Alberta Accelerated Tech Pathway

The newly launched Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) dedicated an expedited provincial nomination to eligible Express Entry candidates under the name Accelerated Tech Pathway.

Interested candidates needs to to meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Candidates need to meet the eligibility criteria for the Alberta Express Entry Stream.
• They need to either be currently working in Alberta or have a job offer in one of 23 eligible occupations.

Some eligible occupations include graphic designers and illustrators, mechanical engineers, and user support technicians.

British Columbia Tech

The British Columbia Tech stream is a priority pathway under BC Provincial Nominee Program. This PNP targets candidates who have job offers in one of 29 tech occupations.

To get an invitation in a BC Tech draw, candidates must be eligible for one of BC’s immigration programs and have a job offer of at least one year.

Ontario Tech Draws

Ontario conducts Tech Draws for tech workers who are eligible for the Human Capital Priorities (HCP) stream.

Interested candidates needs to to meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Eligible for either the Federal Skilled Worker Program or the Canadian Experience Class.
• They also need to have work experience in one of the following six tech occupations.

Six eligible occupations include software engineers and designers; computer engineers; computer programmers and interactive media developers; web designers and developers; database analysts, and data administrators; computer and information systems managers.

Saskatchewan Tech Talent Pathway

The newly launched Saskatchewan’s Tech Talent Pathway is an exclusive provincial pathway for Canada PR for tech talents.

Eligible candidates require at least one year of work experience in that occupation within the past five years or six months of work experience in the province. Language proficiency may vary between Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 5 to 7, depending on the case basis.

Some eligible occupations include software engineers, web designers, and user support technicians.

Quebec Immigration Program – Pilot for AI & IT Professionals

Quebec launched two immigration pilots in April 2021 to grow its tech sector. They include the Artificial intelligence (AI) stream and the Information technology (IT) & Visual Effects stream. Both french-speaking and non-french-speaking candidates are eligible to apply.

Take this free assessment to determine your eligibility to apply for Canadian immigration.

For more information, get in touch with a certified immigration consultant like CanApprove to determine your eligibility for various Canada PR options based on your work experience or academic profile.