Democratic congress members this week warned of a “reverse brain drain” where the U.S. is losing the race to attract smart, skilled, well-educated immigrants. The warnings were voiced at a hearing held by the House of Representatives' justice committee.
A news story carried by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp quoted House Rep. Zoe Lofgren, whose district includes Silicon Valley, citing a news article that said tech employment is growing slower in her area than in Toronto, Montreal and Edmonton.
Hearing witness Stuart Anderson, a former official Bush administration trade official, testified that more than half of America’s billion-dollar startups were created by immigrants. He also pointed out that all the key players who helped create Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine were immigrants to the U.S.
A written submission from Jennifer Grundy Young, CEO of the Technology Councils of North America, warned "… the Canadians have come to compete," She told about a skilled colleague who spent 18 years in the U.S. on work visas, never managed to get permanent residency, and finally moved to Toronto where they're recruiting others like him to come to Canada.
Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York said "Those who have been failed by the U.S. immigration system are now turning to Canada.
"The results are paying off — with Toronto earning the moniker 'the Silicon Valley of the North.'"
Nadler specifically referred to Canada's visa program for startup companies modelled on part of a decade-old U.S. bill that stalled in Congress.
He also alluded to Canada's Express Entry visa and two-week visas for coveted workers, and its Global Talent Stream program for companies.
On a personal note, my wife and I run a bed and breakfast in Canada, and about a quarter of our guests are skilled immigrants who stay with us for a month or two while getting settled. These people are typically engineers or otherwise highly skilled. When I ask them “Why Canada?” and why not Puget Sound (an hour south by car) or Silicon Valley (three hours south by plane) the answers are always similar:
- They don’t trust the U.S. immigration system will permanently welcome them to the country and are afraid that they will suddenly be asked to leave just as their hoped-for American careers start to soar
- Most are of Chinese or Indian descent, and are wary of what they see as widespread racism hardwired into the American character
- They think the USA has “gone crazy,” and don’t really want their kids (or future kids) growing up there.
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ADDENDUM: Quoting from one of the commenters below — highly-skilled immigrants are not the full picture of Canadian immigration policies:
Nonlinear: No country on Earth takes more [untalented and poorly educated] refugees per capita than Canada. And some untalented and poorly educated immigrants [also] arrive through sponsorship.