Canada facing ‘brain drain’ as tech talent leaves for Silicon Valley

> if you're on an engineer's salary and benefits plan, you're probably paying nothing for any of these things.

My wife was hit by a driver while cycling. She was taken to an in-network hospital as it happened to be the closest one. A 10 block ride on an ambulance yielded bill for a few thousand dollars. On the day of the event, the only out of pocket expense was You're right that as somebody with an engineer's salary who's been diligent in making sure we had savings for unforeseen events, we've been able to pay all of the required fees as they came, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be taken into account when talking about compensation across different countries, or that being young and healthy precludes needing health care.

> "treble damages" is not a thing California invented in order to pay legal fees

I prefaced with "at least in California" because it's the place where I've had to find this out. I'm more familiar with systems in other countries.

All lawyers that we had to contact (which was already a shocking thing to do for me) had the same payment structure and explained it the same way: there would be a settlement, to be divided equally by HC provider, lawyer's fees and victim. I mentioned this because I can assure you that most people that don't know the American system would be surprised about it.

And similarly - the reason people don't move back (despite the high housing costs) is usually fear of persecution, or a perceived inability to be their true self, or a perception that they'll be a pariah without any true friends.

That's also why when people do tend to leave the Bay Area, they go to other liberal areas like Seattle/Portland/Boulder/Asheville/Austin/Boston/NYC, even though those areas also have housing crises and the cost of living is rapidly approaching the Bay, rather than places like Mississippi, West Virginia, or Detroit, where their dollars would stretch a lot farther.

Younger people do have fewer needs to treat chronic illnesses. That doesn't mean that healthcare can never be a significant financial burden regardless.

- I've met people that have had terminal cancer in their very early 30s (didn't leave a giant bill to their state as this happened in the UK)

- I've had a friend that needed an ambulance for his pregnant wife from an airport (>10K USD in out of pocket expenses)

- I've been stabbed in an attempted robbery (again, no expense as this was in Argentina)

- Young people with chronic illnesses exist

I left a Canadian university in 1989 without graduating because the opportunity to do a startup was more aligned with my career goals than the dated CompSci program that was preparing me only for working for government, banking or an oil company in 1970s style data processing environment.

If the startup failed I planned to go back to school elsewhere. The startup was a success though and 6 years later I found myself looking for a job. I searched in Canada but given a choice between moving 5400km and 2 timezones to Ottawa where I knew no-one to work for Corel and moving 2200km and 1 timezone to the bay area where I knew a couple of other expats and colleagues. I chose silicon valley and the bay area.

I haven't regretted this choice though I have looked casually every couple of years for opportunities in my then current field. It has never been fruitful; the opportunities just aren't there. Before I left Canada I interviewed a guy who had been on the software verification team at Intel for the 486. He was desperate to move back and was willing to take almost anything to do so. I assumed that one day I would be in the same position. I am now probably less than a decade away from retirement so my main focus now is getting over the finish line in the most efficient way possible. That probably means staying put in the bay area.

I do know that sure as fuck that I won't be retiring in the bay area though; I'd have to work 5-7 additional years to afford it. This place isn't worth that. At all. I have considered Vancouver but honestly the expense of moving to the most expensive market in Canada from one of the most expensive places in the US just to try it out is also not worth it to me. I don't know where I will end up living. Maybe Hawaii.

I do think it is essential that Canada do more to develop the domestic technology and software industry and more than just international offices for Google, Amazon, etc. Canadian universities are offering much better programs (which is part of the problem!) Entrepreneurship and access to capital has come a long way in Canada in the last 30 years and it is a lot easier to attract international talent to Canada than it was. Provincial government incentives for hiring and market development would help a lot. The federal science and technology R&D tax credits helped our startup significantly. The tax credits for export market development were inaccessible to startups and/or companies which sold intellectual property which hurt.

I follow with interest the C100 and other efforts to advance Canadian technology though I wish there was more focus on funding these efforts domestically rather than coming hat-in-hand to SV for venture capital.

I could tell you had a specific story, as you alluded to the details in your original comment, but again, these are the exceptions rather than the norm. I get it; my wife was in a car accident that sent her to the hospital for a week, almost exactly a year ago. I've gotten the $200k 'denied' explanation of benefits paperwork from the insurance company (and no doubt the total bill ran over $500k), I've been threatened with collections over a $3500 ambulance bill and had to sign up for the payment plan while I spend all the free time i can muster faxing paperwork to and fro with various insurance companies. It sucks, it's inefficient, and it's simply setting money and productivity on fire.. but ultimately, there's a chain of responsibility. It's the at-fault party's responsibility, whether you have to chase after their car insurance company or your own health insurance company.. eventually it can and should be covered if you're at a good job, but good god it's a nightmare to actually deal with.

In the end, though, I don't consider health insurance to be a cost an in-demand professional would factory into a decision to move from Canada to the US.