It’s been reported that tech companies in Canada are taking advantage of tightening immigration policies in the United States to lure skilled workers. Now Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau takes to the opinion page of The Boston Globe to tout the country’s tech prowess, current initiatives, and future opportunities. He doesn’t mention immigration specifically, but he concludes with an invitation for Globe readers to move north.
Trudeau points out that Canadians have created more than a half million jobs over the last two years, driving unemployment to its lowest level in 40 years, with wages growing at their fastest rate in six years.
“Thanks in part to investments in science, research, and innovation, we’ve built world-leading universities and colleges,” he writes. “We’ve also created a strong research environment—one that continues to draw top talent in emerging fields, from clean tech to artificial intelligence.” He reports that the latter is forecast to be a US$1.2 trillion global industry by 2020, adding, “…so we’ve established a Pan-Canadian AI Strategy to secure Canada’s foothold in AI research and training.”
He cites room for improvement. “When I look at some of the most pressing challenges facing Canada and the world—climate change, inequality, and the gender opportunity gap, to name a few—I know we must act quickly and accelerate our progress,” he writes. “To that end, our government is making smart, strategic investments in skills training and post-secondary education to prepare our workforce for the future.”
He cites several examples: teaching a million kids to code, creating nearly 60,000 paid internships, and investing $740 million—to be matched by the private sector—in an innovation superclusters initiative. He also notes that Canada’s most recent budget included the largest investment in fundamental research in Canada’s history, with nearly $3.13 billion in new funding giving the country’s scientists, scholars, and students new opportunities.
In addition, last week saw the launch of the “Women in Cleantech Challenge.” “McKinsey Global Institute found that fully closing gender gaps in work would add as much as $12 trillion to global GDP by 2025,” he writes. “The Peterson Institute for International Economics found that increasing the share of women in leadership positions from 0 to 30% translates into a 15% boost to corporate profitability. That means a feminist economic agenda is not only morally right, but it also holds tremendous global potential and comes with significant social and economic benefits for everyone.”
He notes that in addition to relying on Canadians, “Innovation requires an open and welcoming environment for foreign investors and companies.”
He concludes, “Here’s the bottom line: Canada is an amazing place to live, work, and invest. We’re open for business and creating more opportunity all the time. Come on up. There’s never been a better time to do so.”
