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Microsoft to open Canadian development centre
Crosses the border to dodge immigration laws

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Published: Friday 06 July 2007

Amid challenges getting enough foreign programmers admitted into the US, Microsoft plans this fall to open a development centre in Canada.

Microsoft said in a statement the new software development centre will open somewhere in the Vancouver, British Columbia, area and will be "home to software developers from around the world".

The company said: "The Vancouver area is a global gateway with a diverse population, is close to Microsoft's corporate offices in Redmond and allows the company to recruit and retain highly skilled people affected by immigration issues in the US."

The announcement of Microsoft's Canadian plans follows the failure of an immigration bill that would have expanded the number of foreign high-tech workers that could have come to the country each year under so-called H1-B visas.

High-tech companies have been pushing hard to get Congress to increase the number of visas they are allotted. But so far, a broader feud has killed two attempts by the US Senate to overhaul the immigration system, including a bump in the H-1B quota from a base level of 60,000 to at least 115,000.

Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos said that while the immigration issue was a factor, the company would be opening the centre in Vancouver even if it were not for the immigration challenges.

Gellos said: "It does help us address that challenge we have in the US of hiring very qualified people, many of whom are graduating from schools in the US but who cannot acquire the necessary documentation to work in the US."

He said Microsoft plans to start with a couple of hundred workers but is looking for a spot "with room to grow".

He added: "We haven't finalized the actual facility or the site yet. Once we get an indication of where we can do the centre, that will help us to clarify the numbers."

The software maker currently has just over 900 workers in Canada, most of whom are based in Toronto, where Microsoft has its local subsidiary as well as sales, marketing and some development staff. The company also has a sales office in Vancouver.

In recent years Microsoft has created or expanded development efforts in Denmark, Israel, India, China and the UK, among other locales inside and outside the US.

Microsoft Canada President Phil Sorgen said his unit had long pushed Canada as a great place for the software maker to do development work.

Ina Fried and Anne Broache write for CNET News.com