Canada wants to become the next hub for digital nomads who work in tech as more U.S. companies require workers to return to the office

The COVID-19 pandemic paved the way for many people to do their jobs from home, or if rules permitted, from an entirely different country. Even though the digital nomad life had existed previously, the greater acceptance of it by companies gave people more incentive to try it—so much so that from 2019 to 2022, the number of digital nomads in just the U.S. more than doubled.

Now, Canada wants a slice of the digital nomad pie. The country is seeking to lure this pool of professionals through new immigration programs.

The current system allows digital nomads to move to Canada for up to six months while working for employers based elsewhere. The new system, the details for which are still being worked out, will aim to ease that process further and will be launched later this year. 

“We expect that some digital nomads who initially enter Canada to work remotely will decide to seek opportunities with Canadian employers,” a government press release said Wednesday. “When they receive a job offer from a Canadian company, they would be able to bring their skills to a Canadian employer by applying for a temporary work permit or even permanent residence.”

The main motivation behind Canada’s push to attract digital nomads is the labor shortage it faces in “key tech occupations,” according to Canadian Immigration Minister Sean Fraser. Other countries have launched such programs previously—including Portugal, Germany, Brazil, and Thailand. It’s seen as a way to boost the local economy and even pump new talent into the country, as in the case of Canada. 

Canada also announced two additional initiatives to draw overseas talent—one that is aimed at individuals who can contribute to the country’s innovation industry and another that will allow work permit holders in the U.S. to migrate easily to Canada for work.

Calling all digital nomads

Employees have sometimes become digital nomads in stealth mode by traveling without telling their employers while continuing to work remotely. 

To be sure, digital nomads are different from remote workers–or rather, they are a sub-category. They work remotely, sure, but they also travel while doing it, and differ from the traditional worker since they have geographic mobility. Nomads could be engaged in a range of occupations—whether that’s entrepreneurship or freelance work. Data from MBO Partners, a talent provider, shows that since 2019, there has been a dramatic year-on-year increase in the number of people adopting a digital nomad lifestyle. 

Countries with strong tourism industries saw their economies battered during the pandemic, when people’s ability to travel was limited. In an effort to rebound from that slump, popular travel destinations like Bali kicked off programs supporting the new era of work. The Indonesian island had a healthy tourism industry before, but its new visa that allowed foreigners to stay for five years attracted a different breed of tourist.

Companies have had to adapt too. Airbnb, the short-term property rental company, turned its model to a permanent “work from anywhere,” which saw a surge in interest from prospective employees. Meanwhile, e-commerce company Shopify offered new hires the option to work from anywhere worldwide for 90 days.

As enticing as it sounds, there have been downsides to liberal digital nomad programs. Portugal’s Golden Visa program was so popular that close to 12,000 investors and 19,433 family members had tapped it as of March, since it was rolled out in 2012, according to consulting firm Global Citizens Solutions. But the influx of wealthy residents caused real estate costs to soar in Portugal, making it hard for locals to afford homes. This ultimately led the program being scrapped in February.