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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

#211

Post by thbr99 »

xena wrote: post #160
Apocryphon wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Language barrier aside, Montréal seems like a hidden gem.

As an anglophone who moved to Montreal last year, I'm kinda mixed on it. In my experience, French is both required for accurately ordering food (unless you're lucky and the person taking your order knows English) and for understanding what the métro audio bulk items say (I wish they would put those messages on Twitter too). People will generally be supportive to you trying to learn French, but in order to get permane…

Even if you get a CSQ from Québec, the Québec govt has made it such that you have to wait 2 years at Federal stage. While rest of Canada will get your permanent residency within 4-6 months with skills more in demand other than speaking French which your can learn anyway by immersion.

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

#212

Post by thisisnico »

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…

I'm a tech worker in Canada and can agree that the tech salaries are nowhere close to the US. Housing is pretty high as well. The better paying jobs are in government.

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

#213

Post by thbr99 »

raverbashing wrote: post #139
Apocryphon wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I heard that companies are mandated to support bilingualism because of Bill 101, which could be a challenge for startups. But then again, perhaps that can be easily overcome by investing enough in localization.

> I heard that companies are mandated to support bilingualism because of Bill 101, which could be a challenge for startups Does not apply to startups, it only applies if you have +50 employees https://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/francisation/entreprises/entrepr...

CAQ govt is working on that. Soon will come a bill which mandates all employers to exclusively recruit French. Currently the ruling govt of Québec is anti immigrant and showing signs of a future separatist referendum. I won't be counting on Québec to stay in Canada in the future.

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

#214

Post by just4tscomment »

kamaal wrote: post #141
rohit2412 wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In short we Indians bought this upon ourselves. I was with you till here. No, we did not bring this to ourselves. The answer is that USA has dumb policies.

>>The answer is that USA has dumb policies. Oh well, yeah. That part is true to some extent. But I can only comment on things we have control on. And to some extent a system with some specific rules needs to be used the way it was intended. We can't exactly say, we have a right to do what we like(in this case, cheat) especially when these things work like resources in a common pool. I can absolutely understand if som…

An addendum: The consultancies (TCS, Infy, Accenture, IBM, Capgemini, Wipro etc.) are also to blame. They've kept salaries stagnant for over 15 years, particularly for fresh college graduates (yes, this is in part due to a glut).

They also offer employment abroad as a carrot to incentivize employees sticking with them for long periods of time in unfavorable conditions(Most co.s have high attrition rates - due to the low salaries). The companies also maintain a bond : you have to pay the company if you quit before completing 'x' years of service per contract. They withhold your experience certificate if you don't; a common requirement of any new company you hop ship to.

Most outsourced tech work is manual dreary labor. I've been on that side for 2 years.

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

#215

Post by dmurdoch »

thisisnico wrote: post #212
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…

I'm a tech worker in Canada and can agree that the tech salaries are nowhere close to the US. Housing is pretty high as well. The better paying jobs are in government.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'd like some numbers to back up the government comment. I live in Ottawa, my SO works for government as does many many friends. I make more then all of them. If you speak french, then maybe this is true as you can move up to director etc. but the VAST majority of the people I know in government do not make more than devs I know.

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

#216

Post by thbr99 »

frequentnapper wrote: post #12

Canada gets immigrants from developing countries; immigrants take advantage of the excellent education and healthcare system, after a few years get a citizenship, a TN visa, then move to US for a better salary and a lower rent. USA gets the cream of the crop from Canada and wins. Canada loses.

You are absolutely right. Salaries in Canada are pathetic. Anecdotally, I know many who did this TN visa to go back to US. US still wins despite the broken immigration system.

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

#217

Post by sk0g »

ptr wrote: post #100
cmdshiftf4 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The US is the sole exception where developer salaries are priced close to doctor salaries. This is incorrect. Good software developers in Poland, and to some extent the Ukraine, are enjoying salaries comparable with doctors there, if not more.

Same in Sweden, good developers definitely make more than doctors, especially if we consider total compensation.

How much would a good developer make? I'm looking to move to Sweden from Australia, and from what I saw there was a lot of equality in wages/ compression towards a mean for most fields.

Like in Norway, it seemed like SEs made 1.5-2x what a retail worker would make. Makes for a happier society maybe, but I do want to live a fairly lavish life if possible, and Australia definitely allows for that!

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

#218

Post by ipnon »

coolplants wrote: post #196
whack wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you a lawyer? What he suggested is about as "subversive" as using your 401k to lower your tax bill. The EB1-C program's explicit requirements are to work as a manager abroad, and that's exactly what the person above suggested.

401K is not “gaming the system.” The IRS explicitly treats it specially for the purposes of allowing hardworking seniors to retire in dignity. The immigration law does not make explicit allowances for people to game it. If less people gamed the system, it would be more fair for the rest of us who do things the right way without manipulating.

The original poster suggested applying for a different visa that has a lower wait time for green cards. What precisely about this proposition are you objecting to?

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

#220

Post by thbr99 »

amf12 wrote: post #178
ycombonator wrote: post #115

They will all eventually will migrate to US once the policies are relaxed. This is a typical path for immigrants who can’t get into US directly: Rest of the world -> Canada -> acquire TN Visa -> migrate to US

> They will all eventually will migrate to US once the policies are relaxed. It takes at least 5 years to get Canadian citizenship. 5 years is a long time to build a life somewhere that people wouldn't want to migrate to the US. You are assuming it's just more money that motivates everyone.

3 years.
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