As our neighbour to the south grows increasingly insular, Canada has gone the opposite way \u2013 welcoming newcomers, which has led to a boom in our tech industry. Toronto had the biggest growth of technology jobs of any North American city between 2013 and 2018. Vancouver also placed top five. <\/p>\n
Today, roughly 40% of Canadian tech workers are immigrants. And thanks to the Global Talent Stream fast-track immigration program, Canada has brought in nearly 24,000 high-tech workers since 2017.<\/p>\n
But the COVID crisis has disrupted the very core of immigration \u2013 the movement of people. Canada will need to think about how to maintain the momentum we’ve built to jump over the hurdles of protectionism and continued border closures to connect with the world.<\/p>\n