I know MIT grad lisp hacker types who couldn't pass the entrance points requirements. The trick is you have to learn French. No matter what - Learn French.

don't they still use the point system? that always seemed so refreshing compared the the huge mass of subjective rules that is the US immigration system.

french gets you lots of points, but as i recall even modest savings and a college degree got you most of the way there.

I've recently started investigating the options for moving from the US to Canada as a current H1B holder, and what you are claiming couldn't be further from my experience at all.

The Canadian visa system for skilled workers is so much simpler than the USA I almost couldn't believe it. No quotas, entirely points based, your score is easy to calculate and the minimum number of points needed published at regular intervals, much more personal control and far fewer vexing employer sponsorship issues as is so frequently the case with US green cards. It's almost meritocratic...

The French requirement for permanent residency visas generally only applies in certain provinces as well, especially the eastern ones like Quebec. Not speaking French isn't an issue for visas to work in most major cities in Canada, including Vancouver, assuming you speak English, aren't ancient (age is a factor in scoring), have a reasonable degree and a small amount of savings.

I keep hearing the opposite.

When was the last time you checked (no sarcasm), and how did you check?

Around the US election, by asking a Canadian friend (I'm technically a citizen, but by birth and have only been there a handful of times). He said work visas were harder to get but that other visas were much easier, and that obtaining permanent residency was almost a shoo-in once you had a visa for a few years.

You're hearing the opposite from people who are trying hard to be negative about the Trump presidency, instead of thinking for themselves.

We typically require people to prove that the job they're going to do can not be feasibly offered to a citizen. Typically exemptions can apply if you're applying for a work visa for a transfer within a multinational company, and for a small number of other more niche roles. In order to be exempt as a professional you need to be a citizen of Mexico or the U.S. and provably belong to a profession which is specifically exempted (there are a bit over 60) according to a list.

It depends on the work category, salary level, and the province. Canada is making a real effort to lead in AI and that helps.