Affordable universities in Canada?

Should Canada recruit foreign science, technology, engineering and math graduates of U.S. universities more aggressively?

• Canada has long sought to welcome a large number of skilled immigrants for economic reasons and this is reflected in its immigration policies. It seems to me that the current hurdles foreign graduates of U.S. universities face in immigrating to the U.S. represent a unique (and perhaps short-lived as policies evolve) opportunity for Canada to easily acquire scarce english-speaking  STEM workers. I know that Alberta already has a program in place for U.S. H1B visa holders. Should the Government of Canada be doing more to lure some of these individuals to Canada, perhaps through increased advertisement of opportunities in Canada, and streamlining of immigration procedures for this group of workers? Can the Canadian skilled labor market actually sustain the resulting influx in the short-term?

• Answer:

  Not necessarily because on average Canadian grads are better qualified than american grads (bar some exceptions). Further the Canadian job market is highly inefficient at integrating foreigners to suitable opportunities due to an excessive bureaucratic burden. However Canada should try harder to prevent its own graduates from leaving Canada to seek opportunities in the US and elsewhere. It should also try to keep in Canada as many international students as possible (where International students account for as many as 20 % of the student population in Canada's top universities, and their population is concentrated in STEM undergrads and BLEM professional programs). Both of these goals could be achieved by simplifying settlement rules for foreign grads and giving incentives to companies to invest in them.