And yet Ryan Holmes, CEO of Vancouver's Hootesuite recently stated that the industry is having difficulty attracting and retaining tech talent because of high housing costs. 

Industry wages can in no way keep up with the cost of living here.

So the shortage of skilled labour has nothing to do with opening the border, but more to do with low wages vis a vis housing costs. 

This article is yet another in a series of lobbying efforts from various industries decrying a skills shortage when it is really a need for business to keep labour costs low. A few months ago the hospitality industry was crying about a chef shortage, when a G&M expose revealed 12-14 hour days at such low pay that it equated to minimum wage. 

I am getting tired of business leaders and industry using residency and citizenship as the carrot to import labour, rather than addressing training and wages. And a government that buckles to their lobbying.