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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

#221

Post by [deleted] »

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #164
arboghast wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From Toronto but live in Montreal. Rents in Montreal are going up but still no where near Toronto level. Cost of living is lower too on many levels. Of course it depends on the area but generally it's reasonable. You can live pretty comfortably on a 75k salary and lots of people in the tech sector make more than this, infosec paying even 6 figures in some places. I recently turned down an offer from Google for a job…

You probably want to keep quiet about that.

[deleted]

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

#222

Post by cmrdporcupine »

noarchy wrote: post #198
cmrdporcupine wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Have fun paying 4-5 times more for the same education then...

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

#223

Post by quantified »

raydev wrote: post #220

As an American who's committed to staying in Canada until my kids leave the house, and who's experienced the Canadian hiring market for the last 10 years, I'm both excited and concerned. Excited, because now that I've joined one of these SV companies recently expanding their presence Canada, my yearly TC is now an integer multiple of what I was making at a local small company. But I'm also concerned, because the majo…

Google’s expansion means that Google is succeeding, not the scene around them. Their hiring more people doesn’t increase the number of tech-related companies at all. Maybe the number of banh mi shops will grow. It just means that Google likes the lower cost of running some operations up there.

The scene around might grow and might not. Wannabe Googlers might come on spec and work for a different employer if Google doesn’t work out. Xooglers will be emerge eventually, but if they’re not making googly money, it’s hard to see them staying to work in tech.

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

#224

Post by fredophile »

jariel wrote: post #219
fredophile wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TN visas have reciprocity. Americans in those fields can also go and work freely in Canada. However, when you factor in the difference in compensation it makes sense that more Canadians move to the US than vice versa. Big tech companies opening offices in Canada may shift that balance. I know I'd rather live and work in Vancouver than San Francisco if I was being paid the same amount for both.

Yes, definitely there is legal reciprocity, but in reality, the talent flows in one direction. True reciprocity would be more or less an equal exchange of talent. I think this might be beneficial. There might be some opportunities for the Canadian government to effectively market itself in the USA.

One of the reasons for the imbalance is that the Canadian dollar has traditionally been weak compared to USD. Since a large portion of the Canadian economy is based on exporting natural resources this is an overall good thing for Canada to have. Balancing all of the competing interests in a national economy is hard.

From talking with people I know who are still in Canada it sounds like the FAANG companies expanding there presence is starting to fix the wage disparity for tech workers. Without the wage gap there is less incentive to leave. I'd rather just let this continue than rely on some knee jerk government intervention that is likely to have unintended side effects.

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

#225

Post by username90 »

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…

If you include nearby parts in Seattle then you have to include SF and other neighboring offices in MTV as well, and then you get well over 30k.

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

#226

Post by wolco »

52-6F-62 wrote: post #192
wolco wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 w…

That's $2000+ more at 100,000 to 110,000. If we pick a different state even more. 5700 left out of 10000.

I know a lot of worthy causes that could benefit from the $2000 where it would make a meanful impact.

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

#228

Post by noarchy »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #222
noarchy wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Have fun paying 4-5 times more for the same education then...

People are eyeing the salaries they can get with that education. I can see plenty of people willing to swallow that cost in exchange for not having the government tying an anchor around their legs.

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

#229

Post by selimthegrim »

balfirevic wrote: post #115
ta416425 wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The number of engineers at Google Toronto is so small that they're the exception that proves the rule, though. For all intents and purposes beyond some very special cases (and the Hinton stuff) you can treat the site as having no engineering.

> The number of engineers at Google Toronto is so small that they're the exception that proves the rule, though. Exceptions don't prove the rule.

The point of this idiom is that they end up not being exceptions at all.

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

#230

Post by seanmcdirmid »

username90 wrote: post #225
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

If you include nearby parts in Seattle then you have to include SF and other neighboring offices in MTV as well, and then you get well over 30k.

The Kirkland and Fremont offices are only 12.4 miles apart. When they move to South Lake Union, they'll only be 9.8 miles apart (and a much better freeway connection).

SF to Mountain View is 38.7 miles.

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