FRUSTRATED FOREIGN TALENT HEADS NORTH.

• Author: Harrigan, Fiona

MUCH LIKE THE United States, Canada is grappling with an aging population and an economy ravaged by government-imposed COVID-19 restrictions. But Canada has crafted an immigration system centered on the idea that foreigners are critical to economic growth and social progress. As a result, talented newcomers are increasingly heading for Canada rather than the United States.

While the U.S. tends to set immigration "caps," Canada prefers immigration "targets."

Thanks to Canada's broad immigration pathways, about one-quarter of the country's population is foreign-born, more than in any other G-7 country. The comparable figure for the U.S. is about 14 percent.

In November, Canada released a multiyear "immigration plan to grow the economy" that would welcome 1.5 million immigrants from 2023 to 2025. A press release describing the framework calls immigration a "strategy" that will help businesses find workers and "manage the social and economic challenges Canada will face in the decades ahead."

Canada introduced its points-based immigration system in 1967. Foreigners qualify for visas by scoring points based on their language skills, past employment, and job offers. A 1976 initiative led to refugee targets and established Canada's private refugee sponsorship program.

The American approach to green cards, meanwhile, is based on family ties more than employment prospects. And while the U.S. has private refugee sponsorship programs, they are limited to specific nationalities.

International students are gravitating toward Canada rather than the U.S., partly because of more...