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Canada Hopes to Entice Remote Workers With New Visa Program

If you're a remote tech worker looking for a change, consider moving to Canada. The country is offering special six-month work permits to digital nomads with the chance to extend them. Applications for the program open July 16.

Michele Debczak|
Canada's visa program could make this scene a reality for digital nomads in the tech industry.
Canada's visa program could make this scene a reality for digital nomads in the tech industry. | Jake Wyman/The Image Bank/Getty Images

The perks of remote work go beyond saving money on gas and overpriced salads. With no obligation to come into the office, employees can theoretically do their jobs from anywhere on Earth. Now Canada wants more digital nomads from around the world to call the country home. As Thrillist reports, Canada is enticing workers in the tech industry to move there through a new visa program.

Beginning July 16, Canada is inviting H-1B specialty occupation visa holders in the U.S. to apply for a special work permit. Remote tech employees who qualify for the program will receive an initial visa to stay and work in the country for six months. Any immediate family members they wish to bring with them will be eligible for study or work permit opportunities as well. If tech workers receive a job offer from a Canadian company before their visa expires, they will have the chance to extend it. 

“With Canada’s first-ever immigration Tech Talent Strategy, we’re targeting newcomers that can help enshrine Canada as a world leader in a variety of emerging technologies,” Canada’s Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said according to Immigration.ca. Though the initiative is largely aimed at Americans, tech workers from around the world are encouraged to apply. Canada plans to offer the special visa for one year or until it receives 10,000 applications, with accompanying family members not counting toward the applicant limit.

Canada is one of many places looking for transplants with remote jobs to boost their economy. If moving out of the country sounds like too big a change for you, many states have offered cash incentives to digital nomads willing to relocate there. Before the work from home revolution, Vermont gave grants of up to $10,000 to remote workers coming from out of state in 2019. 

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