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U.S. immigration policy has been a boon for the tech industry in Canada

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Re: U.S. immigration policy has been a boon for the tech industry in Canada

#161

Post by [deleted] »

jbarham wrote: post #97
Phanyxx wrote: post #24

Vancouverite here. When major tech companies started setting up satellite offices here, I assumed it'd be a temporary situation, and that we'd be at the mercy of any change in the U.S. immigration process. The longer there's an immigration bottleneck though, the more entrenched these companies become here. There are more senior roles opening up here all the time, and salaries are increasing in this competitive market…

I've also lived in Toronto and Vancouver. Did the obligatory move to work as a software dev in California and now live in Australia. The fact is that tech salaries in Canada are still much lower than the US while the cost of living, especially housing, is still very high, for Vancouver and Toronto in particular. Not to mention the lousy winters. Spend any time browsing /r/vancouver or /r/toronto and you'll quickly re…

[deleted]

Re: U.S. immigration policy has been a boon for the tech industry in Canada

#162

Post by anonymoushn »

user5994461 wrote: post #146
toephu2 wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The US is the sole exception where developer salaries are priced close to doctor salaries. Actually, in the U.S. it is common for a FANG worker's salary to surpass that of doctors'.

Actually, not at all. It's just a myth from naive tech workers. Googlers might get 200k but doctors routinely break 400k. Doctors are quite ahead even when you factor in 100k in RSU (which not everybody gets and past stock performance is not an indicator of future performance). Noting it's H1B data so 10-20% below local salaries. Plus doctors can work anywhere in the country, not just in the city where there is googl…

200k is around entry level all-in comp at Google. RSUs are not in h1b data.

Re: U.S. immigration policy has been a boon for the tech industry in Canada

#163

Post by pitterpatter »

brailsafe wrote: post #156
Phanyxx wrote: post #24

Vancouverite here. When major tech companies started setting up satellite offices here, I assumed it'd be a temporary situation, and that we'd be at the mercy of any change in the U.S. immigration process. The longer there's an immigration bottleneck though, the more entrenched these companies become here. There are more senior roles opening up here all the time, and salaries are increasing in this competitive market…

Vancouverite also here. I am happy to see regular salary listings at much higher than they used to be, and if this is the reason, that's cool with me! I believe Microsoft and Amazon are opening huge secondary locations here soon.

Microsoft has long since had offices in Vancouver. It's only a few hours drive from headquarters down in Redmond. And another choice for employees that lose the H1B lottery.

Re: U.S. immigration policy has been a boon for the tech industry in Canada

#164

Post by screye »

kamaal wrote: post #75
sg47 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now is the time to leave. 18 years in the US with a kid born here. I missed the boat in getting my priority date around the time when my friends were getting theirs (my company was laying off people in other departments and my application got audited). Didn't think it was a big deal at that time. Now, my friends are getting their citizenships and I'm still stuck on a visa. I'm at the whim of the Consul officer and th…

>>Come back on a L1 visa and boom you can apply in the EB-1 category and get your green card in a couple of years. Those days are gone now. You go into EB-1 only if you get into the US on L1-A. They don't give L1-A's easily these days. For starters you need to be in director level positions to even qualify for L1-A's. Even then the waiting period for India EB-1 itself is growing and stands at 5+ years now. And it wil…

I hope the US immigration system stops being so meritocracy blind.

The abuse of the h1b and GC process by these coding/consultancy sweat shops is truly despicable. Every competent Indian I know, hates them. Every American seems to hate them.

They seem to have support from neither Democrats (for shit wages) nor Republicans (because most people here are immigrants). What is stopping them for getting their comeuppance.

Why not sanction them in particular ? If it is so blatant to the consumer, it should be fairly blatant for a Government auditor.

Re: U.S. immigration policy has been a boon for the tech industry in Canada

#165

Post by refurb »

refurb wrote: post #99
Apocryphon wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Language barrier aside, Montréal seems like a hidden gem.

Montreal is an Anglophone city. Last I checked 80% were English speakers (not necessarily primary language). Now Quebec City is entirely different. I could see language being more challenging there. Honestly, Montreal is a hidden gem. Low cost housing, ton of culture and history. The only drawbacks can be the Québécois anti-immigrant and anti-business climate, but it’s not stifling, just more noticeable than the rest…

Waspsareevil’s reply is the other thing you have to put up with living in Canada if you’re not a French speaker!

Re: U.S. immigration policy has been a boon for the tech industry in Canada

#166

Post by mabbo »

jariel wrote: post #23
mcpherrinm wrote: post #9

I'm moving from San Francisco to Toronto soon. Staying at the same job, my salary will go from $180k usd to $128k usd ($170k cad). (Equity comp remains the same) That's a pretty big cut, though at least for me it's worth it because of non-monetary reasons, like being closer to family, not dealing with immigration anymore, healthcare/education. The money stuff isn't so bad. A downtown Toronto condo is a lot cheaper th…

It's a problematic comparison because few people in Canada earns $170K CAD writing software unless they are contracting for the government. Even then. There are a few people lucky enough to 'make the deal' that you have. Also, there are very few 'great companies' in Canada to work for, that can leverage high end talent - Canada is 1/10th the size of the US and spends less than 1/2 on R&D per capita. This is because C…

Amazon has 1300 people in Toronto, nearly all devs. For an sde2, 170k CAD total comp (salary + RSUs) is pretty typical.

Vancouver office had 2200 people, similar situation.

Re: U.S. immigration policy has been a boon for the tech industry in Canada

#167

Post by Retric »

blackrock wrote: post #159
mcbain wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The inland of Australia is nothing like inland North America. There is very little water, much is literally desert. Something like 85% of the population lives within 50km of the coastline.

The desert sounds like a good place to harvest the sun. Install some solar panels, and use it to crack water, to make hydrogen, and convert it to ammonia. Australia can power the next fuel cell revolution.

That’s taking a huge efficiency hit over using batteries while costing more money. What’s the goal?

Re: U.S. immigration policy has been a boon for the tech industry in Canada

#168

Post by jbarham »

endgame wrote: post #116
jbarham wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've also lived in Toronto and Vancouver. Did the obligatory move to work as a software dev in California and now live in Australia. The fact is that tech salaries in Canada are still much lower than the US while the cost of living, especially housing, is still very high, for Vancouver and Toronto in particular. Not to mention the lousy winters. Spend any time browsing /r/vancouver or /r/toronto and you'll quickly re…

You left Canada because the housing market was a rort, and chose to come to AUSTRALIA!?

Sure, I rent a large, new, 3 bedroom house 20 minutes by train from the Melbourne CBD for $2250/month. It's great. I certainly couldn't do that in Toronto or Vancouver.

Granted if you want to buy a house, Australia (especially Sydney) is expensive for a bunch of reasons (negative gearing etc). But Toronto is still more expensive than Melbourne and Vancouver is much more expensive.

Re: U.S. immigration policy has been a boon for the tech industry in Canada

#169

Post by shard972 »

mcbain wrote: post #155
blackrock wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is property value in Sydney so high? You have only 30 million people, living on an island continent the size of the United States. And is the country with probably the longest warm water coastline on the planet.

The inland of Australia is nothing like inland North America. There is very little water, much is literally desert. Something like 85% of the population lives within 50km of the coastline.

That doesn't excuse the lack of housing, there is still plenty of very nice coastal areas that could be much more heavily populated.

The recent influx of Chinese immigration has more impact on our current housing price situation than geographical limitations.

Re: U.S. immigration policy has been a boon for the tech industry in Canada

#170

Post by hylaride »

lhorie wrote: post #95
mcpherrinm wrote: post #9

I'm moving from San Francisco to Toronto soon. Staying at the same job, my salary will go from $180k usd to $128k usd ($170k cad). (Equity comp remains the same) That's a pretty big cut, though at least for me it's worth it because of non-monetary reasons, like being closer to family, not dealing with immigration anymore, healthcare/education. The money stuff isn't so bad. A downtown Toronto condo is a lot cheaper th…

I moved to Toronto, then to SF. Thought I'd also share my anecdata here. I used to make ~100k/yr CAD (75k/yr USD) when I was in TO around 6 years ago. I bought a house around 7 years ago for 550k. I did a remote stint for a Boulder company for a couple years (~120k/yr USD working from TO), then moved to SF (~200k/yr USD + ~100k/yr equity). I'm a bit out of the loop w/ TO salaries nowadays, but your 170k CAD definitel…

$170kCAD for an experienced engineer in Toronto is touching the upper ranges, but 5 years ago that number was at $120CAD. You are seeing higher than 170k at some companies and I know of people working remote for SV companies at very good salaries. You’re right about equity, though.

Something happened in the last 2 years in particular that has caused salaries to skyrocket (trump policies taking effect?).

If you have a family, the public schools are generally better in Toronto as well.

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