The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed on 23 February that Mark Carney will undertake a three-nation mission to India, Australia and Japan from 26 February to 7 March. While billed as a trade-and-security tour, senior officials say mobility will be high on the agenda, with discussions on mutual recognition of credentials, digital nomad visas and reciprocal youth-mobility quotas.
In Delhi, Carney will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to finalise a pilot that allows 20,000 Canadian and Indian technologists to obtain expedited work permits of up to two years—a programme previewed during Modi’s visit to Toronto last autumn. Talks with Australia will centre on harmonising the Working Holiday visa age limit to 40, mirroring the recent UK-Australia Youth Mobility expansion. Tokyo meetings will explore pathways for Canadian companies to dispatch executives to Japan under the 2025 Digital Transformation Visa.
![Prime Minister Mark Carney announces Indo-Pacific tour to deepen talent and trade ties]()
For multinational employers, the trip may unlock smoother intracompany transfers and greater access to Indo-Pacific STEM talent pools at a time when Canada is tightening other immigration streams. Businesses should watch for new memoranda of understanding that could take effect as early as Q3 2026 and adjust global assignment policies accordingly.
If you or your organisation are looking to navigate these forthcoming work-permit and mobility pathways, VisaHQ can streamline the process. The platform’s Canada hub (https://www.visahq.com/canada/) tracks policy changes in real time and offers application support for everything from expedited work permits to youth-mobility and digital-nomad visas, helping both HR teams and individual professionals secure the right documents efficiently.
The visit also serves geopolitical aims: enhancing supply-chain resilience and countering protectionist currents by facilitating movement of highly skilled personnel across like-minded democracies.
In Delhi, Carney will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to finalise a pilot that allows 20,000 Canadian and Indian technologists to obtain expedited work permits of up to two years—a programme previewed during Modi’s visit to Toronto last autumn. Talks with Australia will centre on harmonising the Working Holiday visa age limit to 40, mirroring the recent UK-Australia Youth Mobility expansion. Tokyo meetings will explore pathways for Canadian companies to dispatch executives to Japan under the 2025 Digital Transformation Visa.
For multinational employers, the trip may unlock smoother intracompany transfers and greater access to Indo-Pacific STEM talent pools at a time when Canada is tightening other immigration streams. Businesses should watch for new memoranda of understanding that could take effect as early as Q3 2026 and adjust global assignment policies accordingly.
If you or your organisation are looking to navigate these forthcoming work-permit and mobility pathways, VisaHQ can streamline the process. The platform’s Canada hub (https://www.visahq.com/canada/) tracks policy changes in real time and offers application support for everything from expedited work permits to youth-mobility and digital-nomad visas, helping both HR teams and individual professionals secure the right documents efficiently.
The visit also serves geopolitical aims: enhancing supply-chain resilience and countering protectionist currents by facilitating movement of highly skilled personnel across like-minded democracies.
