Government plans to ‘align measures for permanent residency to retain the talent Canada recruits’
The federal government has committed to fast-tracking the immigration of skilled artificial-intelligence workers, and to retaining them once they arrive, under its new national strategy.
Under “Canada's National Artificial Intelligence Strategy: AI for All,” the federal government will "double down on the programs and institutions that anchor world-class researchers, while making it faster and easier for global AI talent to come here, work here, and build their careers here." It frames the move as a response to intensifying global competition, noting that "the country's best AI talent faces constant recruitment pressure from abroad."
The central immigration commitment in AI for All is an expansion of an existing channel. The government pledges to "expand the Global Talent Stream to accelerate entry and onboarding of highly-skilled AI workers, and align measures for permanent residency to retain the talent Canada recruits." The Global Talent Stream is the federal government's existing expedited work-permit channel for high-skilled occupations.
The strategy does not specify revised processing timelines, occupation lists, or eligibility thresholds for the program, and HR teams planning around it should confirm current service standards with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada before setting hiring timelines.
Ottawa launched AI for All: Canada's new national artificial intelligence strategy last week, pledging more than $2.3 billion and targeting an additional $200 billion in economic growth to reshape how the country works and competes.
The federal government has made numerous changes to its immigration policies in the past couple of years.
Retention, domestic build-out
The national AI strategy strategy treats retention as a policy goal alongside recruitment, with its pledge to "align measures for permanent residency to retain the talent Canada recruits."
The immigration measures sit alongside a larger funding commitment. The strategy states that its talent efforts "will complement the Government's broader $1.7 billion talent attraction strategy announced in Budget 2025."
The strategy pairs its immigration commitments with a domestic talent build-out. It pledges to grow the Canada CIFAR AI Chairs program "from 130 to nearly 200 researchers" and to anchor talent through the national institutes — Mila, Amii, and the Vector Institute.
The program is the cornerstone of the research organization CIFAR’s Pan-Canadian AI Strategy. Its goal is to “recruit the world’s leading AI researchers to Canada, while retaining our existing top talent,” according to the think tank.
On the demand side, the strategy projects that "over 250,000 new AI-relevant jobs will be created across the Canadian economy by 2031," alongside up to 90,000 AI-related job and work-placement opportunities for young Canadians.
The federal government will also "continue to review and update this plan," according to the strategy document.
Canada could significantly expand its workforce by removing barriers that prevent internationally trained professionals from working in their fields, according to a report by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC).
"In the short term, as Canada tries to develop a domestic AI industry, we undoubtedly need skills that are in short supply domestically. However, workers and unions need to be consulted on the kinds of skills that employers need. This would help ensure that employers do not game the system to bypass domestic workers that could be providing the skills required," said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress, in an emailed statement to HRD.
She adds that the Global Talent Stream "should be used only when qualified Canadian citizens or permanent residents are not available to fill a position," and that employers participating in the AI Worker Stream "should actively support pathways to permanent residence for migrant workers".
"If Canada is seeking to attract highly skilled workers to help build our AI sector, those workers should have a meaningful opportunity to build their lives and futures in Canada as well," said Bruske.
