New Zealand has a social impact worker visa program. What can Canada learn?

As COVID-19 continues its global spread, countries around the world are curtailing immigration, including Canada: RBC Economics forecasts that the number of permanent residents entering Canada will be reduced by 40 percent from 2019 — a drastic decrease with long-term implications. 

But there’s a tremendous opportunity to pilot innovative immigration and worker visa policies to better support the Canadian social impact sector. In a post pandemic world, Canada could become a global leader in welcoming newcomers through exploring innovative approaches to immigration and international talent.

New Zealand’s Global Social Impact Visa

While Canada has many different immigration programs, there’s no immigration initiative focused on specifically supporting the social impact sector. Canada does, however, have a “start-up-visa” program designed to attract technology companies to Canada. Entrepreneurs who own at least 50 percent of the voting shares of an innovative business are eligible to apply. Successful applicants must also receive sponsorship from specific incubators, venture capital funds, and angel groups.

Although dozens of countries around the world have loosely equivalent start-up visas, only New Zealand has a specific immigration program, called The Global Impact Visa, for those working to create positive social impact. The visa is administered by the Edmund Hillary Fellowship (EHF), which has the mission to “incubate solutions to global problems from Aotearoa New Zealand and make a lasting positive impact on the world.” According to the EHF website, “the Global Impact Visa is exclusively available to individuals and teams accepted into the Edmund Hillary Fellowship.” These Fellows are described as “entrepreneurs, investors, artists, activists, government intrapreneurs, and other innovators who are driven to develop long-term scalable solutions to pressing challenges and create global social impact.”

Compared to other work visas offered around the world, the terms are incredibly flexible. Visa holders are not tied to a specific business plan and are eligible for permanent residence in two and a half years. Furthermore, there’s no age cut-off, there are no minimum days required to stay each year in New Zealand, and dependents are also eligible to apply. EHF Fellows are working on issues such as providing financial services to the unbanked, converting human waste to fuel, and making ocean science accessible for all. Rather than assessing the issue area an applicant is interested in, EHF assesses the extent to which an individual has the potential to create positive global impact by screening for skills and character. 

EHF is very effective at speaking the language of innovators and does a fantastic job spreading awareness about the program around the world. The Global Impact Visa has a rigorous selection process and is highly selective with Fellows coming from over 37 countries. Applications are increasing at a rate of roughly 30 percent per cohort and since launching EHF has received over 3,400 applications for nearly 500 fellowships. Well-known figures such as podcaster Tim Ferris, co-founder of AngelList Naval Ravikant, and filmmaker Diane Weyermann are recent Fellows. 

EHF Fellows receive, “connections to New Zealand’s start-up ecosystem, government leaders, mentors, investors, research and development institutes, and Māori communities.” Moreover, Fellows gain access to “immersive experiences to learn Tikanga Māori, the Māori ways of doing things, and learn how to navigate business within a multicultural society.” The EHF Fellowship is far more than just a path to becoming a New Zealand citizen. Participating in the fellowship entails gaining access to an exclusive network and participating in unique training opportunities.

Yoseph Ayele, the co-founder and CEO of the EHF, says that alongside the Global Impact Visa, access to the Fellowship network and peer-to-peer support is one of the most significant benefits that Fellows indicate they get from participating in the program. Having access to a curated community of peers who are passionate about changing the world can be life changing, and help new migrants land well in a new country. Ayele describes the Fellowship as a catalyst for “economic transformation” that can create the “foundations for a more integrated economy to serve our collective wellbeing,” which places emphasis on economic, social and environmental impact. Spacebase, which reduces inequality in the space industry for developing and emerging nations, and Hepatitis C Action Aotearoa, which works to completely eliminate hepatitis C in New Zealand, are examples of successful initiatives founded by fellows. 

Designing a Canadian social impact visa

New Zealand’s Global Impact Visa is a model for Canada to examine seriously, especially now that the program has a several year track record. There will be even more relevant insights after Immigration New Zealand completes its review of the program in 2021. No country is identical, and it’s essential to recognize that New Zealand’s model needs to adapt to the Canadian context. 

A Canadian social impact visa should not replace any existing immigration initiatives. Instead, the implementation of such a program should be a targeted strategy to support the further growth of Canada’s social impact sector through immigration, similar to how Canada’s “start-up-visa” is intended to support the technology industry.

As part of the design of a Canadian social impact visa, it’s integral to consult Canadian social impact organizations. Additionally, it’s vital to seek input from Indigenous organizations pursuant to the Truth and Reconciliation’s Call to Action 93, which recommends that information for newcomers “reflect a more inclusive history of the diverse Aboriginal peoples of Canada, including information about the Treaties and the history of residential schools.”

Immigration initiatives are often designed with the sole goal of mitigating risk and do not take into account the needs of the prospective immigrant, who is the end-user.

Immigration initiatives are often designed with the sole goal of mitigating risk and do not take into account the needs of the prospective immigrant, who is the end-user. While Immigration New Zealand oversees EHF’s work, the onus is on EHF to deliver the fellowship programming, including recruiting, training, and selecting Fellows. This unique partnership enables the program to be more agile than if the program was directly administered by The Government of New Zealand. EHF’s role also means that New Zealand’s Global Impact Visa is far more than just a visa; it’s also a comprehensive educational program with a significant emphasis on community building and peer-to-peer learning. In piloting a Canadian social impact visa, it’s important to consider a similar form of partnership between Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada and a civil society organization. 

The benefits of a Canadian social impact visa 

The pandemic amplified pre-existing societal challenges such as homelessness, food insecurity, and access to mental health supports. Talent fuels social innovation, and more than ever we need inclusive, thoughtful, and entrepreneurial minds to tackle these pressing issues.

A social impact visa would attract talented individuals to Canada who are uniquely predisposed to create positive global impact. In doing so, Canada could become an incubator for post-pandemic social innovations that could be exported globally. Many studies have demonstrated that immigrants are more entrepreneurial than non-immigrants. In the United States, immigrants are almost twice as likely to become entrepreneurs as native-born U.S. citizens. A recent report found one of these reasons is that “cross-cultural experience increases a person’s capabilities to identify profitable entrepreneurial opportunities” and “that interacting with a different culture enhances an individual’s knowledge base about products, services, and customer problems, which is beneficial to entrepreneurial opportunity recognition.” 

Furthermore, a social impact visa would support proven social innovations from around the world to be tested, piloted, and implemented in Canada. There are thousands of social innovations around the world that can be imported and adapted to a Canadian context. A world where social impact ecosystems are more connected results in a freer flow of ideas, talent, and knowledge, which benefits everyone. 

A world where social impact ecosystems are more connected results in a freer flow of ideas, talent, and knowledge, which benefits everyone. 

A social impact visa could also provide the talent to scale existing Canadian social impact organizations. Therefore, New Zealand’s approach of not requiring visa applicants to apply with a specific idea or business is worth replicating. Instead, there should be an emphasis on assessing visa applicants’ character, skills, and potential to create global impact. Daniela Papi-Thornton writes in The Stanford Social Innovation Review that many people “believe that entrepreneurs are at the top of the impact careers hierarchy, but this isn’t the case.” Instead, she argues that there needs to be a celebration of a range of impact roles. Papi notes that there is a need for “people to join and help grow start-ups, as well as people to take roles in more traditional businesses, governments, and organizations to help transform them from the inside.”  

Stanford’s Graduate School of Business defines social innovation as “the process of developing and deploying effective solutions to challenging and often systemic social and environmental issues in support of social progress.” In a post-pandemic world, Canada – now more than ever – needs to open its doors to the world and launch a social impact visa.

Tell us this made you smarter | Contact us | Report error