As part of its tech talent strategy, Canada allows digital nomads to come to the country for up to six months and work remotely in tech roles.

This aligns with what former Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Minister Sean Fraser called a generational opportunity for economic growth.

“We are actually creating a pool of talented people who can stay in Canada for the long term,” he said last year.

“When I think about the 10, 20 and even 30 year horizon, rather than the next few months or even the next election cycle, there is no doubt in my mind that having more talented entrepreneurs and professionals of technology in this country is going to be a very good thing in half a generation.

The Tech Talent Strategy is a strategic immigration initiative aimed at attracting temporary technology workers to the United States north of the border to find jobs that report a shortage of qualified employees. Canada is also reaching out to digital nomads from around the world to come and work here.

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“(This digital nomad strategy) will allow people who have a foreign employer to come and live in Canada for a maximum period of six months, to live and spend money in the communities of this country and, if they receive a job offer while they’re here, we’re “going to allow them to continue to stay and work in Canada,” Fraser said at the Collision Conference in Toronto in June 2023.

A digital nomad is a person, according to IRCC, who “can carry out their work remotely from anywhere in the world”.

They only need visitor status to come to Canada for a period of 6 months at a time while they perform their work remotely for a foreign employer or, if already employed, while they work for themselves or provide services to clients outside of Canada.

A person can come to Canada as a digital nomad to work remotely, but apply for a work permit if they find a Canadian employer after entry.

If the intention to find a Canadian employer is declared, they must be informed that a work permit will be required before commencing work for such an employer.

Digital nomads do not need additional documentation, but they must convince the officer that they will leave at the end of their authorized stay in the country.

If the digital nomad finds a Canadian employer willing to hire them, they will need a work permit.

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Family members of digital nomads who intend to work or study in Canada must apply for a work permit or study permit.

Canada is a top destination for digital nomads.

In 2022, UK-based Circle Loop, a provider of a cloud-based VoIP solution that provides phone systems accessible via desktop and mobile devices, released itsDigital Nomad Indexand ranked Canada as the number one destination for digital nomads.

There is supposed to be no cap on the number of people who can come to Canada under the digital nomad strategy.