A few weeks after tech leaders in BC penned an open letter urging the provincial government to address the shortage of talent in Canada through more streamlined immigration and concrete education policies, VanHack launched a petition echoing the sentiment of fixing Canada’s immigration system for entrepreneurs.
VanHack, an organization dedicated to helping international tech talent find work in the Canadian tech ecosystem, launched the petition that has 797 supporters at the time of publication.
“Whether it’s immigrants already here or waiting and wanting to be here, you’ll find people in this broken and backlogged system who are senior software developers with 10, 15 or even 20 plus years experience. They dream of living in a safe, secure, progressive country in order to expand their careers and work with great companies,” the petition reads.
VanHack cites several articles touching on struggles with Canada’s immigration system, including a 32-page report detailing how Canada missing out on highly-skilled international talent is making Canada less competitive, and an article on the “growing pains” of Canada’s Express Entry program.
“There’s no question we’re a country blessed with vast resources, but the Canadian economy has to be more than extracting,” the petition reads. “A knowledge economy is about creating, and that takes putting the human into resources. It’s time to be thinking in human terms about what it means make Canada the destination.”
VanHack plans to deliver the petition to Minister of Immigration John McCallum.