Good afternoon, Chair and committee members. Thank you for the opportunity to appear today.
My name is Daniel Perry. I'm the director of federal affairs at the Council of Canadian Innovators. I am joined by my colleague Laurent Carbonneau, vice-president of policy and advocacy.
The Council of Canadian Innovators is Canada's 21st-century business council. We represent over 175 Canadian-headquartered, high-growth technology firms that are operating in sectors including artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, dual-use and defence.
The global race for highly skilled talent is fierce. For Canadian innovators, the challenge is simple: If they are unable to hire the right people, they cannot scale. This means that the jobs, companies and economic value that they are creating here in Canada are at risk of moving elsewhere.
Canada's immigration system must reflect this new reality. It needs to be fast, focused and agile, while also maintaining high standards and system integrity. Skilled immigration plays an important role for filling gaps and mismatched parts of our workforce. Seventy per cent of Canadian businesses in the tech sector have identified the shortage of skilled workers as a major barrier to their success. Bringing in specialized talent does not displace Canadians. Instead, it helps Canadian companies compete, grow and ultimately create more opportunity here in Canada.
Upscaling matters, but it cannot replace the challenges that we're currently seeing in the labour market. The people applying to come to Canada through the global talent stream and Canada's start-up visa are programmers, engineers, innovators and entrepreneurs. They are the people powering the 21st-century economy, and we need more of them in order for our economy to be successful.
CCI was a founding member of and is a current referral partner in the global talent stream. This program is one of the most practical tools allowing high-growth companies to access the specialized talent they need in order to succeed. Since the program's inception in 2017, over 32,000 highly skilled individuals have come to Canada to support these companies.
We might ask what this program means for Canadian innovators. One expert or one leader can shape whether a product makes it to market in time. It defines if they're able to win more customers and ultimately allows their team to grow here in Canada.
The global talent stream is a targeted and regulated program. It is used sparingly in comparison to other immigration channels. From 2017 to the first quarter of 2025, it represented just 2.6% of all positive labour market assessments.
As the government re-evaluates its immigration policies, the program should remain available for Canadian firms, with strong oversight. One area that does warrant closer scrutiny is how the program is being used by foreign multinationals. For instance, between 2017 and the first quarter of 2025, Amazon received nearly 1,500 positive global talent stream assessments. For context, this represents 22% of all global talent stream applications filed in British Columbia. The government should ensure that these requests are legitimate and that we do not have talent here in Canada that would be able to fill these openings.
At the same time, programs like the Canadian start-up visa are right in spirit but are effectively not capturing international entrepreneurs so they can come to Canada. As the government is considering the renewal of this program, it is important to understand what structural reform is needed in order to make it successful.
The Council of Canadian Innovators recommends a two-stage hybrid model where successful applications are first moved through temporary residency with a clear pathway to permanent residency if they meet measured business outcomes. This would move the program away from rigid upfront requirements and would allow IRCC to process applications faster and help prevent the significant backlog that has undermined the program to date.
Canada should also look at tax policy as part of its immigration strategy. Canada has a “missing” province of nearly 850,000 Canadians who live in the United States, many of whom are leaders in business, technology and industry. We should be competitive, and we should be just as ambitious as the United States when it comes to attracting the world's best and brightest minds, while also retaining our minds here in Canada. Canada should introduce a tax incentive that is modelled on America's qualified small business stock exemption. This tool helps incentivize entrepreneurs and brings capital into Canada.
Canada's immigration system and our talent have a strong foundation, but the challenge now is how we protect and sharpen the tools we have at our disposal to help Canadian firms that need highly skilled individuals to come to Canada so these companies can scale, compete and ultimately compete globally.
With that, I'd like to thank you. I look forward to your questions.