Here is all you need to know about Canada's digital nomad visa
Canada aims to change North America's job market landscape with digital visas
Canada announced rolling out the Digital Nomad Visa 2024 in response to the changing job market landscape, as North America is luring freelancers and digital nomads from across the globe. This new visa, considered the work visa, will allow the freelancers to have temporary residence in Canada besides working remotely, a move which is vowed to end physical permanent presence in major cities.
Ottawa coined the term 'independent contractors' for those individuals working from remote locations in Canada as the Trudeau government further simplified procedures to facilitate remote work. In the previous update, freelancers used to get a month's stay in Canada, but with the more extensive influence, the size of the Canadian workforce is increasing.
Canadian officials emphasized the contributions of freelancers' skills, saying the government is taking significant steps to facilitate digital nomads who are okay with staying in the country. With the new move, Canada will boost its highly qualified IT professionals, increasing the duration to 3 years.
As of early January, the government hinted at a new scheme, and the detailed remote work, Immigration, Refugees, and details about citizenship will be revealed in the coming months. It was learnt that the number of US citizens working as digital nomads soared to 17.3 million, increasing by 2 per cent in 2023.
This move could boost the Canadian economy via the motivation of freelance workers and help overcome or, to some extent, tackle the housing crisis. At the same time, this will boost the freelancers in Canada, motivating freelance workers from other countries to join in on the digital nomad visa.