I work remotely out of Kitchener for a SF company. Don't get paid the san fran dollars obviously but the quality of life and cost of living is great
Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
101–110 of 119 posts
Re: Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's high but not unheard of (I am talking about total comp, not base salary). I know plenty of IC making that and more. Of course I am biased, since I work for an employer that does pay that kind of salary, so of course I know a lot of my colleagues. This might only be achievable if you work for one the top AI companies in the city however (Google Brain, Facebook Lab, Microsoft etc.). I don't really know how it's li…
Facebook Lab is how many employees in Montreal? 10? Microsoft doesn't pay 200k CAD in Montreal in total comp to IC not even close to that.
> Microsoft doesn't pay 200k CAD in Montreal in total comp to IC not even close to that.
You might want to get more up to date info on that.
Re: Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
They said it was the beginning of their career. Particularly on the island, in Victoria, it's quite possible for an entry level position to earn only around 33,000 to 45,000 CDN.
At the risk of sounding like I'm boasting, I'll share concrete figures. I earn about $285k USD (~$380k CAD) as an L4 SWE at a FANG company. My top earning friends in BC work at companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Juul and earn about $60-$120k CAD.
> My top earning friends in BC work at companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Juul and earn about $60-$120k CAD
Are your top earning friends L4 or equivalent? If not the comparison is worthless.
Those looks very much like junior level salaries. 90-100K$ CAD for a junior position at one of the FANG in Canada is as low as you can go.
Re: Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
1.5-2x is a much narrower range, and smaller limits, than the 2-4x you posted earlier.
I'm saving over $100k USD per year after rent, food, phone, entertainment, etc. at age 24. This is impossible in Canada or most other parts of the world. My situation is not unique either, I know dozens of young engineers working at mid to high compensation companies earning around the same. Contrast this with new grads and mid level engineers in Canada earning < $75k USD and it's a no brainer to work here.
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Re: Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
At the risk of sounding like I'm boasting, I'll share concrete figures. I earn about $285k USD (~$380k CAD) as an L4 SWE at a FANG company. My top earning friends in BC work at companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Juul and earn about $60-$120k CAD.
I wonder if this is a BC-specific problem, because Amazon and Shopify appear to be paying seniors in Toronto around $150-200k CAD/year+RSUs. With Google opening an office, and Snap already here, and Yelp already here, and Square already here, and others, I think the market in Toronto has already started changing.
Even if they were making $250k CAD total compensation in Toronto, as a senior engineer at top companies in the Bay Area, Seattle, NYC, etc. you can make $350-$400k USD ($470-530k CAD). We're talking about earning $150-$200k more. Working just 5-10 years with savings like this would be life changing.
Re: Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
At the risk of sounding like I'm boasting, I'll share concrete figures. I earn about $285k USD (~$380k CAD) as an L4 SWE at a FANG company. My top earning friends in BC work at companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Juul and earn about $60-$120k CAD.
> My top earning friends in BC work at companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Juul and earn about $60-$120k CAD Are your top earning friends L4 or equivalent? If not the comparison is worthless. Those looks very much like junior level salaries. 90-100K$ CAD for a junior position at one of the FANG in Canada is as low as you can go.
SAP paid that well when I worked there five years ago, and they're right down on Hamilton street.
Re: Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder if this is a BC-specific problem, because Amazon and Shopify appear to be paying seniors in Toronto around $150-200k CAD/year+RSUs. With Google opening an office, and Snap already here, and Yelp already here, and Square already here, and others, I think the market in Toronto has already started changing.
Even if they were making $250k CAD total compensation in Toronto, as a senior engineer at top companies in the Bay Area, Seattle, NYC, etc. you can make $350-$400k USD ($470-530k CAD). We're talking about earning $150-$200k more. Working just 5-10 years with savings like this would be life changing.
I wasn't arguing that at all, only that things appear to be much better for SEs in Toronto than Vancouver for some reason.
And I've said elsewhere in thread, I'd happily move my family down (I'm a US citizen) if I thought it was possible to buy health insurance that would guarantee coverage for all issues. I've heard too many stories of insurance companies refusing to pay for emergency treatments because the hospital happened to be out of network.
Re: Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you have any specific questions? I am a Canadian, living in Canada, working remotely for a bay area company. Non-us based employees at the company are technically contractors where I work. It's pretty easy come tax time. You need to pay the full cpp amount, as opposed to half if you were working for a Canadian company, and I find the tax writeoffs to be quite meager, but I don't have any complaints in general.
Do you get payed exactly the same as your US coworkers? If not, is they pay still better than at canadian companies?
Yes and yes.
Re: Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
#109Depends where you’re moving from. Seems like most of the comments are comparing to the USA tech scene in a FAANG company and only the financial aspect ... nothing will compare to it if it is what you’re looking for. However not everyone is looking to work in a FAANG or to live in the USA. Canadá has a thriving tech scene and you will have a better quality of life and pay than about everywhere else in the world that i…
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Re: Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
#110Apart from the fact that Canada has closed its border with the US because of COVID, of course. Pay on average is lower, but comes with a higher degree of social security and stability. Of course, Canada is not without its own racist past or present, but it's not quite as "on display" as the US. Our previous prime minister tried to have a "barbaric cultural practices" hotline which was essentially a dogwhistle to more…
> Apart from the fact that Canada has closed its border with the US because of COVID, of course. I believe it's still open for work, it is in the other direction.
I think you'll find it is closed, unless you have an urgent need to cross (e.g., sick parent). If you do cross, you will have to self quarantine for 2 weeks (which kind of defeats the purpose of trying to help your sick relative). Last we heard, it will be June 21 before we can visit our parents in Vancouver.