Immigration laws complicate Canada’s games industry

Speaking to Develop as part of our Canada Special a Davis immigration lawyer has explained why the economic downturn’s effect on government policy has created something of a stumbling point for the country’s otherwise blooming development industry.

“The rapid growth of the games scene in Canada has attracted talent from around the world,” says Craig Natsuhara of legal firm Davis, which has a wealth of experience in media law. “Gaming companies typically relied more and more on foreign workers to fill existing labour shortages in the high tech sector.

“However, from an immigration law perspective, the downturn in the economy resulted in the Canadian governmental agencies responsible for administering immigration-related programs to act swiftly to implement policy changes intended to slow the recruitment of temporary foreign workers.”

Natsuhara’s comments on the pressures facing Canadaian Developers come from our ongoing look at the nation’s industry, which continues today with profiles of both Davis and QA and localisation firm Enzyme Labs.