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Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

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Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#191

Post by Sytten »

jjohansson wrote: post #183
Sytten wrote: post #179

Tech salaries in Canada are very low and I really hope this will raise the bar for everybody. Most of the talent (outside of Quebec) migrates south of the border at some point, because it makes no financial sense to stay. Innovation outside of Toronto is low/inexistent and it is hard to get funding. I am always amazed when founders make the national news here when they raise 1-2M$ CAD. At the same time, you have CEOs…

In 2019, PDFTron, a Vancouver-based tech company, received a USD $71 million investment from Silversmith Capital Partners (a Tier 1 growth equity firm). Vancouver’s tech scene is exploding, with a number of top tier tech companies being based here (like Clio) and majors setting up dev offices (Shopify, Amazon, Microsoft).

That's really good news and we need more of it for sure. But looking at objective total $ invested (and growth), it does not paint the same picture. Those examples are still exceptions rather than the new norm, we just don't have that many (would-be) unicorns/fast-growing companies. Even if we did, I am still unsure the salaries would go up and most companies don't give equity... I am rather pessimistic about this tech boom narrative that the medias try to sell us. What I see is some large firms taking advantage of a low CAD while most tech companies are still at low/zero growth and offer very mediocre salaries. Maybe it's only in Quebec though.

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#192

Post by 52-6F-62 »

wolco wrote: post #94
52-6F-62 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We don’t pay 50% in tax... Even at the higher income scales

In Ontario at 100k your marginal tax rate is 43%. You get a 10,000 raise you get 5,700. Not exactly 50% but pretty close. Add in a healthcare levy at $900 or less and things are getting closer.

But in the context of Canada versus USA the difference seems marginal.

https://neuvoo.ca/tax-calculator/?iam=&uet_calculate=calcula...

Using the USD equivalent amount in CA https://neuvoo.com/tax-calculator/?iam=&uet_calculate=calcul...

Works out to ~$74k

And that’s including our healthcare and other social services. That ~$2000 CAD goes a long, long way and I’d rather have it doing what it’s doing than gain it for what I’d lose.

And the marginal rate is not what you end up paying.

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#193

Post by mattkrause »

jonathankoren wrote: post #26
wenc wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The pool of technical talent is also pretty great. If you're in a non-primary market in the U.S. (non NYC/SF/Boston), my experience has been that you can hire comparable or better talent in Canadian cities for less the local U.S. median salary, especially in talent-starved markets within the U.S. It's an open secret that many Americans are somehow unaware of.

Also with easier immigration, Canada’s talent pool will only get better. Already the US is losing people to Canada due to overly restrictive immigration laws. I’ve even heard immigration offices offering to help with Canadian immigration on the radio in the SF Bay https://www.csmonitor.com/EqualEd/2019/0304/Go-north-young-g... https://movnorth.com/

The immigration process itself has gotten appreciably worse though.

A few years ago, it took me fifteen minutes to renew a Work Permit at the border. Last year, it was an intentionally unpleasant all-day affair. The online system is horrifically backlogged, far beyond the 100 or so days it says on the website.

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#194

Post by tmpz22 »

stiray wrote: post #187
Sytten wrote: post #179

Tech salaries in Canada are very low and I really hope this will raise the bar for everybody. Most of the talent (outside of Quebec) migrates south of the border at some point, because it makes no financial sense to stay. Innovation outside of Toronto is low/inexistent and it is hard to get funding. I am always amazed when founders make the national news here when they raise 1-2M$ CAD. At the same time, you have CEOs…

I just love to hear this. /sarcasm on With 26 years in software development, low level linux (kernel "stuff") and low level windows (kernel "stuff" again), with work including from analyzing malware to writting DRM that was left unbroken for 3 years, to high level software, system administration on various unixes and unix like beasts, including low level networking, fluent in c, c++, asm x86/64, go and some "stuff" I…

SV is so gluttonous that we forget how good we have it relative to almost every other market in the world. We do half-page rants just because we accidentally stepped in dog doo before work.

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#195

Post by geebee »

fnbr wrote: post #88
halflings wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean by "senior roles"? Something like a "Senior Software Engineer"? (or more like a Senior Staff SWE / director) Can guarantee Senior Software Engineers don't make >600K in SF.

That's high, but not crazy high. A Staff Engineer at a FAANG can make ~$500k. See: https://www.levels.fyi/# (L6 at Google, for instance.) I know engineers in Canada who are making similar amounts. There's not a lot but it's not nonexistent.

Potential ambiguity here. Yes, “staff” engineers at google earn very high salaries, but people unfamiliar with titles might think this term means a competent but otherwise unremarkable member of the technical staff.

At google a Staff engineer is a title notably higher than senior swe, and many talented people will not reach this title or pay grade.

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#196

Post by tathougies »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #155
tathougies wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why you're being downvoted. I've been to the seattle office. Its a few buildings. The mtn view office is dozens

You can’t just include Seattle (Fremont), you also have to consider Kirkland, which is much bigger than Fremont. They are building (or have built?) a new larger office in South Lake Union (5 buildings), I’m not sure if they will be consolidating Fremont but I’m pretty sure they aren’t going to consolidate Kirkland. Altogether Google employs 4500 in the Seattle area, and that number will increase substantially when so…

Yes i interviewed in kirkland. Much smaller than mountain view.

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#197

Post by tathougies »

earth_walker wrote: post #182
tathougies wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you been to Alberta? Vancouver is not representative of canada.

It seems you're insinuating that Alberta is somehow more (U.S.) 'American' than the rest of Canada. I have lived in Alberta for over ten years, and though culturally distinct from the rest of Canada (as is every other province I've spent time in) Alberta's brand of rugged individualist / conservatism is still very Canadian. And though we may look very different to the urbanites of GVRD (Vancouver and surrounding) and…

No I'm insinuating that the values the commenter encountered in vancouver vis a vis guns, police, armed conflict, etc are not representative of canada as a whole and change from province to province and even between say vancouver and the surrounding rural areas.

Vancouver is especially different from the rest of canada than most canadian cities. Its like using Portland to characterize the entirety of America.

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#198

Post by noarchy »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #123
ma2rten wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think keeping people in your country by making it harder to leave is a good strategy.

IMHO when education is subsidized by public funds (which it is here), those funds should have to be repaid if you're leaving the country within a certain number of years or before you've paid some amount in income tax. That would improve the talent situation here.

That would also create more incentives to simply do one's education south of the border, rather than risk being shackled by government efforts to halt one's movement.

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#199

Post by teddyh »

stiray wrote: post #187
Sytten wrote: post #179

Tech salaries in Canada are very low and I really hope this will raise the bar for everybody. Most of the talent (outside of Quebec) migrates south of the border at some point, because it makes no financial sense to stay. Innovation outside of Toronto is low/inexistent and it is hard to get funding. I am always amazed when founders make the national news here when they raise 1-2M$ CAD. At the same time, you have CEOs…

I just love to hear this. /sarcasm on With 26 years in software development, low level linux (kernel "stuff") and low level windows (kernel "stuff" again), with work including from analyzing malware to writting DRM that was left unbroken for 3 years, to high level software, system administration on various unixes and unix like beasts, including low level networking, fluent in c, c++, asm x86/64, go and some "stuff" I…

> writting DRM that was left unbroken for 3 years

> and some "stuff" I am not proud off (c#, java, python, js, php)

I would venture that maybe you should be less proud of the first one and less ashamed of the second one.

Re: Google's expansion plans show why Canada's tech boom is here to stay

#200

Post by criddell »

stiray wrote: post #187
Sytten wrote: post #179

Tech salaries in Canada are very low and I really hope this will raise the bar for everybody. Most of the talent (outside of Quebec) migrates south of the border at some point, because it makes no financial sense to stay. Innovation outside of Toronto is low/inexistent and it is hard to get funding. I am always amazed when founders make the national news here when they raise 1-2M$ CAD. At the same time, you have CEOs…

I just love to hear this. /sarcasm on With 26 years in software development, low level linux (kernel "stuff") and low level windows (kernel "stuff" again), with work including from analyzing malware to writting DRM that was left unbroken for 3 years, to high level software, system administration on various unixes and unix like beasts, including low level networking, fluent in c, c++, asm x86/64, go and some "stuff" I…

Your advice at the end is good but I would add that you shouldn't let others take advantage of you.

People aren't being paid $200k-$2M / year for reasons of charity. They get paid that much because their contribution to the company is higher than that.

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