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Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

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Re: Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

#181

Post by halostatue »

lj3 wrote: post #78
chawco wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did. Toronto is a great city. I've traveled a good deal in Canada, and the US, and while I can't compare it to cities outside of those two, I will say that I still consider the best city I've ever experienced. While the tech scene isn't as hot as the other regions you mentioned, it's still strong. Very strong. It's also starting to be noticed by the bigger players (with Google and Apple both investing in the region…

Are you an American or a Canadian? As an American, every time I talk to a Canadian company they assume there must be something wrong with me. They don't understand why anybody would choose the cold and less pay over someplace like SF.

The company I’m a development manager at wouldn’t look at you funny, partially because I’m an immigrant from America and completely agree with you (I do not want to work in America, and would leave any company that decided to move all of its jobs there).

Re: Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

#182

Post by [deleted] »

shazow wrote: post #91
clutchski wrote: post #4

"Toronto is already home to a number of successful venture-backed businesses, such as Shopify, KIK, ..." Fact check time. Shopify's headquarters is in Ottawa. Kik is in Waterloo.

While we're at it, a bunch of YC companies are headquartered or have an office there like Appcanary, Upverter, PagerDuty. Big tech companies have offices there too, like Mozilla and Google (mostly sales in Toronto for now, eng in Waterloo). Lots of small bootstrapped tech startups, consultancies, and agencies, too—like the famous Teehan+Lax agency that got bought by Facebook. This is just from the top of my head, I'd…

[deleted]

Re: Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

#183

Post by halostatue »

Cyph0n wrote: post #44
chawco wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did. Toronto is a great city. I've traveled a good deal in Canada, and the US, and while I can't compare it to cities outside of those two, I will say that I still consider the best city I've ever experienced. While the tech scene isn't as hot as the other regions you mentioned, it's still strong. Very strong. It's also starting to be noticed by the bigger players (with Google and Apple both investing in the region…

How difficult is it for a U.S. citizen to relocate and start working there? Healthcare is only for Canadians, correct?

Healthcare is for legal taxpayers. When I immigrated (18 years ago; I’m not sure I’d qualify now, but that’s because of shifting priorities in job needs) it took three months of being uninsured and my PR papers to get my OHIP card that I’ve had since.

Re: Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

#184

Post by kmanraj »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #170
gdilla wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This happened before in the late 90s. Before the first bubble. What happened then was some slingshot effect, when Canadians go to SF and make $200K for 10 years, and still can't afford a house and are faced with mediocre schools unless they want to commute (which they don't) they may come back.

come back to Toronto where they also can't afford a home? Or live in the suburbs of the GTA and slog it through some of the worst traffic in North America for two hours each way?

SF Bay Area isn't that much different from GTA. High housing costs, high cost of living, long commutes. Although the big difference is that the high salary somewhat makes up for it (although whether or not the salary is actually high enough is debatable).

Re: Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

#185

Post by ig1 »

mahyarm wrote: post #148
arez wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

do you get a green card easier as a canadian than people from europe for example? I'm from germany and know many people who would like to work in the states, but it's really a big problem to get the green card. It takes companies much effort and money to get you in the states for more than 3 months.

You have to immigrate like all the other immigrants, but since you are German, the permanent resident quota is barely used for your nationality. The USA creates a quota system for green cards and then splits them up on a nationality basis. India, China and the Philippines have a long lineup for visas. The USA creates a quota/lineup system on a per country basis. You have 3 basic options: 1. Work at a European office…

O1 is a fairly common visa type for startup founders

Re: Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

#186

Post by deadtofu »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #170
gdilla wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This happened before in the late 90s. Before the first bubble. What happened then was some slingshot effect, when Canadians go to SF and make $200K for 10 years, and still can't afford a house and are faced with mediocre schools unless they want to commute (which they don't) they may come back.

come back to Toronto where they also can't afford a home? Or live in the suburbs of the GTA and slog it through some of the worst traffic in North America for two hours each way?

Winnipeg will rise again.

Re: Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

#187

Post by cmrdporcupine »

kmanraj wrote: post #184
cmrdporcupine wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

come back to Toronto where they also can't afford a home? Or live in the suburbs of the GTA and slog it through some of the worst traffic in North America for two hours each way?

SF Bay Area isn't that much different from GTA. High housing costs, high cost of living, long commutes. Although the big difference is that the high salary somewhat makes up for it (although whether or not the salary is actually high enough is debatable).

Yep the salaries in the Bay Area are from what I have seen about double what one would get in the GTA. The housing prices are insane, but a nice three bedroom in Toronto that is transit accessible to the downtown is just shy of a million $ now, or over it. And the salaries are far lower.

So yeah, a lot of talent will just go south. Or get lucky like me and go work for Google in Waterloo. The actual Toronto employment market is pretty yuck.

Re: Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

#188

Post by baybal2 »

Doing an employee transfer to Canada is like playing a lotterey.

My past employers had documents returned to them 4 times in a row for: 1. assumed type (s vs z); 2. unclear signature; 3. ESDC called them, but they missed the call; 4. person's passport was about to expire. The regulations never mentioned anything about this.

Re: Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

#190

Post by fatdog »

Seconded on risk aversion. Toronto is just not sexy. When you go to pitch a client in a top tier city and you are from one, the client assumes that if you can survive in SF/NY/DC/LON etc, that they should hear you out.

In Toronto, it's like you can't type 'hello world," without some cringeworthy reporter going on about how it's by a sparky _canadian_ startup taking on the big bad world with their local blend of quirky charm and _moxie_.

I'm sure that's warm and fuzzy to people who live on grant money, but to the rest of the world it means "derivative and subsidized."

Toronto is a good place for dev shops, but innovation needs to be in places where it is valued by people who actually pay for it. If you are doing enterprise dev, it's great.

But nobody here is going to Mars, except maybe a scrappy group of girl engineers who take no guff, and are writing codes with a critical take on whether colonizing other planets is problematic in the face of our own colonial history and need for healing and reparations...

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