Global Skills Strategy
Overview (February 2017)
PURPOSE
Rationale
Attracting talent is critical to economic growth, but employers face barriers to
accessing talent, necessitating the development of new measures
Our Strengths
Our Challenges
Canada possesses a managed system
of temporary work migration that
includes a balance between
facilitation and protection of the
domestic labour force
The pace and competitiveness of the
global market necessitate
improvements to our Temporary
Foreign Worker and International
Mobility programming
The Global Skills Strategy
 Increase processing speed to get workers to Canada faster
 Increase employer access to top talent by reducing barriers and
administrative burden
 Help attract foreign investment through dedicated immigration service
channel
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BACKGROUND

On November 1, 2016, the Minister of Finance announced the Global
Skills Strategy as part of the Fall Economic Statement:
Canada needs to be able to access the skills and expertise of talented
workers from around the world to enable Canadian firms to succeed in
the global marketplace.

Although much progress has been made in the advancement of these
priorities, IRCC has put forward an ambitious organizational approach to
deliver the Global Skills Strategy.
“In an economy driven by innovation, knowledge and culture, money
follows talent”.
-Financial Times, July 2016
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FACILITATING TALENT – THE PLAN
Two Week
Service Standard
to support economic
growth & improve
predictability
Simplified Process
For short duration, high
value work
Dedicated Service
Channel
For employers bringing
significant people and
investment to Canada
Work permits for low-risk, high skilled talent will be
processed in two weeks or less.
Skilled workers and top research talent able to come
work in Canada for short periods with less red tape.
Departmental staff ready to guide employers through the
immigration process to help meet their specific needs.
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II. Background
TWO WEEK SERVICE STANDARD
CURRENT PROPOSAL
 Provide two week work permit processing to high-skilled* workers under
the International Mobility program, including those qualifying for the
Dedicated Service Channel.
EXPECTED RESULTS
 The immigration processing network will be calibrated to process low-risk,
high-value work permits in weeks, not months.
 Employers will have faster access and greater predictability in meeting their
high-skill labour force needs.
NEXT STEPS
 External consultation to make sure we’ve identified the right workers.
 Determine how this will be operationally implemented and assess impact
of changes on network.
*National Occupational Classification major Group 0 and A
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II. Background
SIMPLIFIED PROCESS FOR SHORT TERM WORK
CURRENT PROPOSAL
 Simplify process for short-term entry (less than 30 days, TBD) for highskilled* workers through work permit exemption or simplified work permit
process (TBD).
 Provide similar facilitative measures for brief academic stays (e.g. 120 days
or less).
EXPECTED RESULTS
 Less administrative burden for employers that need workers on a short-term
basis to meet deadlines, expand operations and grow their business.
NEXT STEPS
 Engage with stakeholders to determine eligibility; broad or more focused,
balanced against labour market considerations.
 Determine maximum duration. What constitutes “short term”?
 Define frequency of use. How often should workers be eligible to receive this
benefit?
*National Occupational Classification major Group 0 and A
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II. Background
DEDICATED SERVICE CHANNEL
CURRENT PROPOSAL
 Provide selected employers who are creating jobs or making significant
investments in Canada with a dedicated client service representative at IRCC
and tools to facilitate their immigration needs (e.g. Labour Market Impact
Assessment exemptions).
EXPECTED RESULTS
 More international firms are incentivized to invest in and relocate to Canada.
 Guidance through the immigration system and flexibility afforded to
employers to meet their scale-up needs (e.g. time limited Labour Market
Impact Assessment exemptions).
NEXT STEPS
 Engage with outside experts and stakeholders and refine as needed.
 Finalize eligibility and referral criteria (e.g. what companies qualify and who
conducts company assessments on IRCC’s behalf.
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III. Discussion Questions
•
Two Week Service Standard:
– Have we identified the right workers to benefit?
•
Simplified process for short-term work:
– Have we identified the right workers to benefit?
– What constitutes short-term work?
– How frequently should workers be eligible to receive this benefit?
•
Dedicated Service Channel
– What kind of immigration services do new or expanding companies
need that could be served by the dedicated service channel?
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IV. Next Steps and Timelines
• The Global Skills Strategy Hub is meeting with officials from key government
departments to advance policy design.
• National and cross-Canada consultations with employers, labour, and
provinces and territories, beginning in January 2017, will provide feedback on
and allow refinement of initial proposals.
• IRCC will begin roll-out of the new measures by mid-2017.
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