Earlier quoted context omitted.
FAANG engineers are the highest paid 10% of software engineers in California.
Sure, but not every software engineer in California is a FAANG engineer; and even among FAANG engineers that stated salary is rather high. It's not particularly useful to make claims that one can earn enormous amounts by changing region without also acknowledging that such an opportunity is only available to a small minority.
Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
81–90 of 119 posts
Re: Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
#82If you're considering Montréal, do your research before. French language is not a requirement to get by day-to-day in the city (though elsewhere in the province is another story). We have a decent tech sector with some big companies like CAE, Mindgeek, and Hopper. There is also a respectable AI research scene and an incresing amount of startups in the city. If you're open to learning French (a good chunk of jobs requ…
And although it's possible to get used to, there are tiny frictions everywhere -- e.g. signage is generally not bilingual (you learn how to guess from context and from the Latin roots of words). This is not a big deal in real life because there's usually small print in English available separately as printed materials. That said, most cities in Europe, South America and Asia (the ones I’ve visited) have far more bilingual public signage than Montreal.
Not everyone is bilingual (only downtown and certain suburbs like NDG/West Island) so exchanging little pleasantries becomes more difficult, and there's always a guessing game going on as to whether someone looks like Anglophone or Francophone, even just east of St Urbain in downtown MTL. STCUM announcements are French-only so if there's an emergency on the tracks or a train schedule change, you have to ask around to see if someone can translate.
The tech scene was very underdeveloped when I was there. Big events/conferences/exhibitions were always happening elsewhere, e.g. Toronto, even Vancouver, but no one was coming to Montreal -- the biggest conference I remember was the grassroots Perl's YAPC. (although PyCon would eventually come to be hosted there in 2014-2015). Things are different now with the existence of many more startups, but the ecosystem is still much smaller than in many cities in English Canada.
You also have to understand that English-language culture in Montreal is an afterthought due the English-language market being smaller -- most big international productions (say musicals/concerts/talks... in fact, almost anything) will often skip over Montreal but will have a show in Toronto, and even smaller cities like Ottawa. I felt I was constantly missing out on stuff that was happening in the U.S. and ROC (rest of Canada).
I could've tried to learn more French, and though it would have eased things significantly, I suspect I would still have not been able to sufficiently integrate into society -- there truly are two solitudes (as Hugh Maclennan once put it) in Quebec society.
There's also a certain feeling you get in Montreal: it's a little bohemian (so a little gritty in parts) and eschews change (lacks a forward momentum and go-getter spirit in terms of embracing new things -- infrastructure is not as well kept up as in other Canadian cities, heritage building laws are very strict which is good, but it also means new developments are very restricted). I went back to visit a little more than a year ago, and nothing has changed.
I don't mean dissuade anyone from considering Montreal -- everybody wants different things in life -- but just wanted to provide a data point from someone who tried to live there unhappily. YMMV.
Re: Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
> a mostly car-based society. I haven't commuted by car in ... 17 years. I work in the Metro Vancouver area.
Yeah I think Vancouver is an exception to the parent's comment. It's certainly true in Calgary, Toronto, Montreal etc (IMHO).
Re: Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure, but not every software engineer in California is a FAANG engineer; and even among FAANG engineers that stated salary is rather high. It's not particularly useful to make claims that one can earn enormous amounts by changing region without also acknowledging that such an opportunity is only available to a small minority.
You're right that this is achievable only by a small percentage of people at the upper end of incomes, but I am comparing the same category of companies across both regions. Microsoft in Seattle vs Microsoft in Vancouver can be a 1.5-2x difference for example.
Re: Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
#85Earlier 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.
I make really good money for my 3 years of experience (compared to others in my city with my level of experience) but it's just such a hilariously large gap at this point that it'd be dumb for me not to at least try and get a job.
Re: Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're right that this is achievable only by a small percentage of people at the upper end of incomes, but I am comparing the same category of companies across both regions. Microsoft in Seattle vs Microsoft in Vancouver can be a 1.5-2x difference for example.
1.5-2x is a much narrower range, and smaller limits, than the 2-4x you posted earlier.
Re: Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
#87Can someone knowledgeable about this issue comment about legal / tax feasibility of getting a remote job with a US company and living in Canada or elsewhere abroad?
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.
Re: Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
#88Earlier 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.
Damn man.. I really need to just suck it up and try and get a job in the US when COVID wraps up and we can get across the border again. I don't really want to work there and be so far away from family but it just doesn't make financial sense to keep doing what I'm doing. I make really good money for my 3 years of experience (compared to others in my city with my level of experience) but it's just such a hilariously l…
Re: Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
#89Re: Ask HN: Canada for tech jobs?
#90Salaries are a different story in Canada compared to the USA. They are far less in Canada, a $200K CAD ($150K USD) tech job is rare, actually, $150K CAD ($112K USD) are also uncommon. Best job opportunities are in high COL locations (Vancouver, Toronto), followed by Montreal. But unlike the USA the compensation (for MOST employees) in those markets is only moderately higher than lower COL locations. (Calgary, Edmonto…