Indian-origin tech leaders in Canada said that the controversial visa and travel restrictions imposed by US President Donald Trump will be an advantage boon for tech recruitment and investment in Canada.
“This provides a great opportunity for the best talent from India to come, live and work in Canada,” said Shafin Diamond Tejani, the CEO of Fantasy 360, a Vancouver-based global leader in creating immersive experiences and games using Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR).
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“We are already getting inquiries from Indian techies, both in India and in the United States, about relocating to Vancouver,” said Tejani, who is originally from Gujarat. Along with his partner Ray Walia, another NRI in Vancouver who runs the not-for-profit tech incubator Launch Academy, Tejani is working on streamlined avenues to attract top tech talent from India.
“In choosing to hire, train, and mentor the best people in the world, we can build global companies that grow our economy,” said the letter written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging him to provide visas to those caught by Trump’s executive orders adding, “By embracing diversity, we can drive innovation to benefit the world.”
“We are confident we will be able to this,” said Tejani, whose companies have launched over 40 start-ups in 21 different countries, employing over 350 people and generating over $100 million in annual revenues.
For Ray Walia, who want to become Vancouver’s top startup-incubator, the situation in the US has prompted his group to set up specialized services for Indian techies looking to relocate to Canada.
“We as leaders and peers need to ensure that the proper infrastructure, support and education is in place to help the next wave of young entrepreneurs around the world to build technology and global businesses that will help shape the future for all of us,” said Walia.
“The Launch Academy Startup Visa Program allows Indians to have the best of both worlds and build their businesses from Canada and continue to not only service the Indian market but also to continue to grow domestic operations in India as well.”
Three bills have been introduced in the US Congress seeking to revamp the H-1B visa program, which India’s IT sector uses to employ thousands of highly-skilled workers to America every year.
By Premji
