Retaining top talents is the goal of every organization looking to drive innovation and growth. BorderlessHR through the Canada Engineering Launchpad enables the relocation of professional tech talents to Canada while allowing them to continue working with your organization.
BorderlessHR facilitates the move through our Employer of Record (EOR) services. We handle the relocation process under our Canadian entity, ensuring a smooth transition for your talent and your business.
In this guide, we’ll share a brief overview of the program and how it can benefit your business in search of top talent.
Understanding the Canada Engineering Launchpad Program
The Canada Engineering Launchpad program operates under Canada’s Global Talent Stream (GTS). It allows you to relocate your engineering or tech talents to Canada.
Through this program, tech professionals can relocate to Canada with their family on a work visa valid for 12 months and renewable every year until you or your employee decides to terminate the work contract.
The visa granted under this program is a closed work permit, meaning that your employees can only work for you while in Canada.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible talents include Software engineers, data scientists, QA engineers, Product managers, and UI/UX designers who are currently working remotely from outside Canada.
Talents are required to earn a minimum salary of 60,000 USD annually (Gross) from a single employer to be eligible for this visa.
Your Responsibilities As An Employer
As part of the program, employers are required to fulfill specific requirements for their employees by providing required documents and paying the necessary fees as broken down below
Financial Requirements
These are 3 financial requirements you need to fulfill as an employer.
- Visa Processing Fee: This is a one-time visa processing fee of $1000 that covers the processing of work permits for the employee being relocated to Canada under the program.
- Refundable Salary Advance: A one-month refundable salary advance to the employee is required as part of the application process. This advance ensures that employees have financial support upon their arrival in Canada and can cover initial expenses before receiving their regular salary. For whatever reason, this advance payment will be refunded once the contract ends.
- Monthly Payroll Administration Costs: A monthly 1.8% fee of the employee’s gross annual pay is required to cover payroll, admin, unemployment insurance as well as other government costs and employee benefits.
Document Requirements
We will need the following documents to process each candidate’s application
- Employee’s employment contract that states their duties and responsibilities, as well as their gross and net income.
What changes for your employees
Your employee will continue working with you as they already do and there will be no changes to their responsibilities.
Here are some changes to expect:
- Your employees will be hired as BorderlessHR employees in Canada (only on paper) as they will still work for you.
- Employee monthly salaries will be paid to BorderlessHR – we will then pay them on your behalf.
- The 1.8% monthly fee you pay to us will be used to pay taxes, benefits, unemployment insurance, and other government fees so you won’t have to worry about this.
The Program Duration and Extensions
Your employees’ work visa under this program will be valid for 12 months and can be extended indefinitely. TFWs can also apply for permanent residency after one year of participation in the program.
Employers and employees should be prepared for a relocation period of 3-5 months, depending on the candidate’s location. Employees can continue working remotely with their employer during this transition period as we will be handling most of the processes involved.
Benefits of The Canada Engineering Launchpad Program
Improved Collaboration and Communication: Getting your employees in the same time zone as the majority of your team will have many benefits for you including improved collaboration and communication.
While remote work offers flexibility, having your engineering team members physically present in Canada under the umbrella of this program can facilitate closer collaboration, improved communication, and stronger team dynamics.
Retention and Engagement: Transitioning skilled remote engineering colleagues to on-site positions within Canada can potentially enhance employee satisfaction, improve retention rates, and foster a stronger company engineering culture.
Access to Canadian Talent Ecosystem: Once settled in Canada, these team members may tap into local training, networking opportunities, and further career development resources within the Canadian talent ecosystem.
Knowledge Transfer and Skill Development: Bringing experienced remote workers on-site can facilitate knowledge transfer and skill development for existing Canadian employees within the company.
Faster Processing Times: Compared to the standard work permit application process, this program offers significantly faster processing times (as low as 10 business days) for work permits for qualified applicants.
Zero Cost to you: The program minimizes upfront costs for you compared to the standard process. Thereafter the monthly fee towards your financial obligations of qualifying team members will be reimbursed annually as credits towards the following year’s fee, resulting in a net zero cost to you.
Wrapping Up
The Canada Engineering Launchpad program allows you to bring your top tech talents closer to you.
While officially a BorderlessHR employee in Canada, the program ensures they remain working on your current company projects, with the extra satisfaction of being in a country they love and being closer to their colleagues.
Contact us here to learn more about getting started.
