Work Beyond Borders: Remote Mobility and Canada’s Migration Future

The rapid expansion of remote work since the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated a structural shift in how labour, territory, and migration intersect. International remote work where individuals reside in one country while working for employers or clients in another challenges conventional assumptions that employment and physical presence must align within national borders. Yet this emerging form of mobility remains under-examined within migration scholarship and policy debates.

This project investigates international remote work through a two-way lens, situating Canada within evolving transnational labour markets and its broader global talent strategy. It examines:

1. Canadian-born and naturalized Canadians residing abroad while working remotely; and
2. Foreign nationals living in Canada while working remotely for employers based outside the country.

By analyzing both outward and inward flows, the project explores how digitally mediated work reshapes migration governance, citizenship, settlement trajectories, and national attachment.

The first line of research focuses on Canadians who relocate internationally while maintaining remote employment relationships. Distinct from traditional expatriates or lifestyle-oriented digital nomads, these individuals leverage digital connectivity and citizenship privilege to decouple work from territory. The study examines motivations for relocation, legal pathways, taxation and social protection issues, and experiences of identity and belonging. It assesses whether this form of mobility constitutes emigration, circular transnationalism, or a new modality of citizenship in an era of digital work.

The second line of research examines foreign nationals residing in Canada while working remotely for employers abroad, a pathway implicitly encouraged by recent federal measures permitting digital nomads to enter as visitors. The project evaluates whether international remote work functions as a transitional mechanism within Canada’s global talent strategy. It investigates immigration pathways, integration experiences, regulatory ambiguities, and prospects for long-term settlement.

1. How does international remote work reshape migration trajectories, citizenship practices, and national attachment among Canadians living abroad and foreign nationals residing in Canada?
2. What motivations, regulatory conditions, and lived experiences characterize individuals engaged in international remote work across these two groups?
3. How do emerging forms of cross-border remote employment challenge existing migration governance frameworks and inform Canada’s global talent strategy?

The study employs a qualitative comparative design, conducting approximately 40-50 semi-structured interviews across the two cohorts. Thematic analysis, informed by transnationalism theory and migration governance frameworks, is complemented by comparative policy analysis of Canada’s regulatory approach alongside other digital nomad visa regimes.

By addressing both outward and inward dimensions of international remote work, this project contributes to policy debates on talent attraction, deterritorialized employment, and the future of skilled migration governance.

Data collection is in progress.

International remote work; transnational labour mobility; migration governance; digital nomadism; global talent strategy