According to a new Envoy Global survey of more than 400 US hiring professionals a number of US companies are expanding their operations in Canada, where hiring foreign nationals is much easier.

Demand for international workers remained high this year, according to who represent big and small US companies and have all had experience hiring foreign employees.

More than 80 percent of employers expect their foreign worker headcount to either increase or stay the same in 2019, according to Envoy, which helps US companies navigate immigration laws.

This fits in with US government immigration data, which shows a growing number of applicants for high-skilled tech visas, known as H-1Bs, despite stricter policies toward immigration.

H-1B recipients are all backed by US companies that say they need specialised jobs that are not readily available in the US - which, in practice, includes a lot of tech workers.

Major US tech companies, including Google, Facebook, and Amazon, have all been advocating for quicker and more generous high-skilled immigration policies. To do so they've increased lobbying spending on immigration.