After H-1B ban, Silicon Valley startups look to Canada for engineering talent

Several Silicon Valley start-ups may shift part of their engineering teams to Canada following the suspension of H-1B and other non-immigrant work permits in the United States till December 31.

The shift, which has gradually been happening over the last few years, will speed up after the visa suspension, said Avi Bharadwaj, Principal, Innovation Endeavors, a venture capital firm co-founded by Google’s Eric Schmidt.

“Earlier it was a pain, but now with the visa ban it is impossible to hire someone on an H-1B visa,” he said.

An Innovation Endeavor portfolio company, Gatik, is one such example.

The autonomous vehicle firm opened an office in Canada last year and is now expanding its team there, also due to visa issues in the United States.