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Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

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Re: Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

#141

Post by nickler »

mistermann wrote: post #136
thesmallestcat wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

VSE = Vancouver Stock Exchange. Pump and dump is a market timing strategy where you ride an inconsequential stock's rise over a relatively short time and then sell. I have no idea how that relates to parent's last sentence.

There's an (accepted) culture of dishonesty in Vancouver, particularly in companies listed on the VSE (TSX-V), including the exchange regulators. I have no idea how accurate the opinion is that this affects raising funding.

It contributes to the investment culture in the city, despite strong efforts from Wertz and a handful of others to lead a more enlightened approach and build great companies.

It's not the only challenge the city has, there are a myriad of forces at play, and some are positive. Best way to fix it is to get more startups earning more customers and growing locally. Nothing stopping them from doing that, just wont be as fast as SV is all.

Re: Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

#142

Post by bootload »

akinalci wrote: post #53
endorphone wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I do have a grievance with a much lower pay ceiling across Canada, those numbers are ridiculously low even if in US dollars as I assume they are. I don't put much stock in the StackOverflow survey. And I'm not trying to be argumentative, but your take on TN visas is extremely simplified. For instance software developers aren't actually allowed to have a TN visa, and instead you have to say that you're a "system…

Here's another source, Payscale.com: Software engineer (Canada): $51,000 (C$70,000) Software engineer (US): $80,825 The gap here is smaller ($30k vs. $50k) but still significant. And I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I'm more inclined to believe two surveys than a random person's claim. [1] http://www.payscale.com/research/CA/Job=Software_Engineer/Sa... [2] http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Software_Engin…

"The gap here is smaller ($30k vs. $50k) but still significant."

Healthcare, stability and democracy (sans land/house prices) make up a lot for this.

Re: Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

#143

Post by nandemo »

closeparen wrote: post #125
tostitos1979 wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parent's mistake is to maintain the same lifestyle. If you settle for less housing or room mates, you come across ahead.

Why would someone move for work if it meant a lifestyle downgrade?

It doesn't have to be a downgrade in the aggregate. You can downgrade your housing but upgrade other stuff.

Re: Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

#144

Post by dblohm7 »

josho wrote: post #83
halite wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe for some areas but for Alberta this is closer to reality: https://alis.alberta.ca/occinfo/occupations/computer-program...

Hey fellow Albertan. Keep in mind the USD/CAD exchange and that $90k here becomes $60kUSD. The developers I know that are worth their chops have all taken remote US contracts. I'm looking to do the same because local companies just can't compete with the work available nor wage.

100% agreed

Re: Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

#145

Post by k-mcgrady »

hughes wrote: post #27

This article doesn't mention one of the major reasons for talent leaving Canada: if you work there, you need to stomach a 50% pay cut in average salaries vs the US. This is true pretty much across the board regardless of tech niche on the 2017 Stack Overflow Developer Survey[1]: Machine learning specialist: US 108k, Canada 53k (49%) Embedded applications/devices developer: US 100k, Canada 53k (53%) Systems administra…

It might be better to look at the US as an outlier here. Those Canadian salaries (esp if they're slightly low based on the other comments here) don't see too dissimilar to what's available in the UK (outside London which has higher salaries for every job due to cost of living).

At the end of the day, those 'low' salaries are only low relatively. They are more than enough for most people and only a reason to move south if your main driver is money. Otherwise they're good enough.

Re: Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

#146

Post by afsina »

bootload wrote: post #142
akinalci wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's another source, Payscale.com: Software engineer (Canada): $51,000 (C$70,000) Software engineer (US): $80,825 The gap here is smaller ($30k vs. $50k) but still significant. And I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I'm more inclined to believe two surveys than a random person's claim. [1] http://www.payscale.com/research/CA/Job=Software_Engineer/Sa... [2] http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Software_Engin…

"The gap here is smaller ($30k vs. $50k) but still significant." Healthcare, stability and democracy (sans land/house prices) make up a lot for this.

I don't see people flocking even after Trump won.

Re: Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

#147

Post by pbourke »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #145
hughes wrote: post #27

This article doesn't mention one of the major reasons for talent leaving Canada: if you work there, you need to stomach a 50% pay cut in average salaries vs the US. This is true pretty much across the board regardless of tech niche on the 2017 Stack Overflow Developer Survey[1]: Machine learning specialist: US 108k, Canada 53k (49%) Embedded applications/devices developer: US 100k, Canada 53k (53%) Systems administra…

It might be better to look at the US as an outlier here. Those Canadian salaries (esp if they're slightly low based on the other comments here) don't see too dissimilar to what's available in the UK (outside London which has higher salaries for every job due to cost of living). At the end of the day, those 'low' salaries are only low relatively. They are more than enough for most people and only a reason to move sout…

> At the end of the day, those 'low' salaries are only low relatively. They are more than enough for most people and only a reason to move south if your main driver is money. Otherwise they're good enough.

The average Canadian house costs $585k now[0]. That's over 10x these average Canadian tech salaries. Housing prices contributed to our decision to move from Toronto to Seattle 10 years ago. I imagine that they are even more of a motivator nowadays.

[0] http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/house-price-data-...

Re: Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

#148

Post by nandemo »

g2guo wrote: post #90
hughes wrote: post #27

This article doesn't mention one of the major reasons for talent leaving Canada: if you work there, you need to stomach a 50% pay cut in average salaries vs the US. This is true pretty much across the board regardless of tech niche on the 2017 Stack Overflow Developer Survey[1]: Machine learning specialist: US 108k, Canada 53k (49%) Embedded applications/devices developer: US 100k, Canada 53k (53%) Systems administra…

I recently moved from Waterloo to San Francisco. My salary had doubled in the process, but my living costs have also substantially increased. I live in a 1-bedroom condo with similar square feet; my diet stayed the same, I pursue the same hobbies and similar habits (fitness, education, entertainment). In the end, the higher cost of living offsets my salary increase, and my quality of life stayed the same.

The idea that "the increase in cost of living wipes out the salary increase" always comes up in these threads, and I think it's way off the mark.

For example, I used to live in Fukuoka, a mid-sized Japanese city, and now live in Tokyo. A nice 2BDR in Fukuoka downtown would cost (say) U$600 per month. My salary in Tokyo is about double of what I could earn in Fukuoka, but an equivalent place in Tokyo would cost me way over $1200. So I don't live in downtown, and I choose to live in a smaller place. But it's not like everything costs twice as much as in Fukuoka. Food is a bit more expensive, not twice as much. A smartphone costs pretty much the same wherever you are in Japan. Traveling abroad also costs the same (or less in Tokyo, since you usually need one fewer leg). More importantly, if I keep my savings rate the same (savings/income), I can save much more money in absolute terms; I don't have to retire in Tokyo, so it is definitely worth the save more.

Re: Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

#149

Post by sedachv »

thesmallestcat wrote: post #107
personjerry wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is "VSE resource pump and dump"?

VSE = Vancouver Stock Exchange. Pump and dump is a market timing strategy where you ride an inconsequential stock's rise over a relatively short time and then sell. I have no idea how that relates to parent's last sentence.

In the 1980s and 1990s the Vancouver Stock Exchange was notorious for fraud, and Vancouver was known as the "scam capital of the world."

Re: Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

#150

Post by seanmcdirmid »

pbourke wrote: post #147
k-mcgrady wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It might be better to look at the US as an outlier here. Those Canadian salaries (esp if they're slightly low based on the other comments here) don't see too dissimilar to what's available in the UK (outside London which has higher salaries for every job due to cost of living). At the end of the day, those 'low' salaries are only low relatively. They are more than enough for most people and only a reason to move sout…

> At the end of the day, those 'low' salaries are only low relatively. They are more than enough for most people and only a reason to move south if your main driver is money. Otherwise they're good enough. The average Canadian house costs $585k now[0]. That's over 10x these average Canadian tech salaries. Housing prices contributed to our decision to move from Toronto to Seattle 10 years ago. I imagine that they are…

Well, as long as we are compare to the U.K. also, Canadian and American real estate often look like a bargain.

The thing about Canada is that Nafta makes it easy to move south, while in the U.K. going to the USA is not as simple.

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