The Global Talent Stream (GTS) is part of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, and enables Canadian employers to hire foreign workers for a vacant job opening that cannot be filled by either a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
This program is divided into two categories:
- Category A: for employers who have been referred by one of the Stream’s designated partners.
- Category B: for employers who are hiring highly-skilled foreign workers to fill positions in in-demand occupations found on the Global Talent Occupations List. A referral is not required to be eligible for Category B.
Eligibility for Global Talent Stream
There are some common criteria across the two categories:
- Processing fee: Employers are required to pay CAD $1,000 for each position requested under the Global Talent Stream. This fee covers the cost to the Canadian government of processing your application. It must be paid by employers and cannot be paid by nor be recovered from the temporary foreign workers.
- Business Legitimacy: All employers submitting applications to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) must provide documentation which shows that both the job offer and their business are legitimate, including a valid Labour Market Impact Assessment application.
- Labour Market Benefits Plan: Employers intending to recruit via the Global Talent Stream are required to work with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to develop a Labour Market Benefits Plan that demonstrates their commitment to activities that will have lasting, positive impacts on the Canadian labour market.
- Wage: Wages offered to temporary foreign workers should be similar to wages paid to Canadian and permanent resident employees hired for the same job and work location, and with similar skills and years of experience.
- Labour Market Impact Assessment: you must have applied for a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment before you can proceed to apply for this program.
Category A
In order to be eligible for Category A of the Global Talent Stream, an ‘innovative company’ must have be referred by a designated referral partner, who should confirm that the vacant position for which they are seeking a foreign worker requires unique and specialized talent in order to assist the business’s growth.
The designated referral partner must confirm that the requesting company:
- currently operates in Canada;
- is focused on innovation;
- has the potential, motivation and ability to scale up or grow;
- wants to use the Global Talent Stream to fill a ‘unique and specialized position’ in the company; and
- has already identified a foreign worker they wish to hire who is qualified for the position being offered
A ‘unique and specialized position’ must:
- pay a minimum hourly rate of CAD $38.46 per hour ($80,000 annual base salary) or the prevailing wage for a similar position in that occupation, whichever is higher;
- require advanced knowledge of the industry the role will be operating in;
- require an advanced degree in a relevant specialism; and/or
- require a minimum of 5 years’ specialist experience
By way of guidance, an innovative company that is eligible to be referred to Category A should usually only be looking to fill a small, specific number of specialist roles per year. They will be seeking to utilise the Global Talent Stream to fill genuine talent gaps in the existing Canadian labour market which are unavoidable due to the specialised nature of the role and/or business.
Category B
Applications for Category B of the Global Talent Stream will only be considered from Canadian businesses which require foreign workers in order to fill speciofic occupations which are listed on ESDC’s Global Talent Occupations List. The occupations on this list have been pre-determined as in-demand and currently unable to be filled by relying solely on the Canadian labour market.
Examples of occupations on the Global Talent Occupations List include:
- Computer and information systems managers
- Computer engineers (except software engineers and designers)
- Mathematicians and statisticians
- Information systems analysts and consultants
- Database analysts and data administrators
- Software engineers and designers
- Computer programmers and interactive media developers
- Web designers and developers
- Computer network technicians
- Information systems testing technicians
- Producer, technical, creative and artistic director and project manager – Visual effects and video games
- Digital media designers.