Canada wooes US H-1B holders: PM Carney says he will soon roll out an offer

Canada PM Mark Carney says his country will take foreign workers as US hikes H-1B visa fee.

Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney said his country will soon announce some proposals to take in foreign workers for whom the American dream is now too costly because of the $100,000 H-1B visa fee. “Not as many H1B visa holders will get visas in the US. These people are skilled, and this is an opportunity for Canada… We will soon bring a proposal on this,” Carney said, adding that these people are enterprising and willing to move for work.In a major overhaul of the employment-based visa system, the Donald Trump administration has imposed a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas which will make it difficult for companies to hire foreign workers, as tech companies will now have to pay this fee if they want to hire foreign workers. The move is aimed at saving jobs for Americans, while it will hurt foreign workers from India and China. Several countries, including Germany and the UK, have seized the opportunity and reached out to Indian talent.Read: Germany, UK, Canada roll out red carpet for India’s tech talentUK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is said to have started exploring proposals to abolish visa fees for top global talent even before Trump’s major H-1B move. Starmer has a global talent task force that has been developing ideas to draw the world’s best scientists, academics and digital experts to Britain. One option being weighed is a zero-fee system for applicants who have studied at the world’s top five universities or won prestigious prizes.German Ambassador to India, Dr Philipp Ackermann, recently made an open call to highly skilled Indians to work in Germany. “The average Indian working in Germany earns more than the average German. Because a high salary means Indians are contributing big time to our society and our welfare. We believe in hard work and giving the best jobs to the best people,” he said. Indians in CanadaIndians are already Canada’s top source of immigrants, as figures reveal that out of 32,000 tech workers who migrated to Canada from April 2022 to March 2023, around 15,000 were Indian. In 2024, about 87,000 Indians obtained Canadian citizenship, making them the largest group among new Canadian citizens.In 2022, about 118,095 Indians became permanent residents in Canada. That was about 27-30% of all new permanent residents.