> Canada also has notably different strategies when it comes to encouraging an atmosphere of innovation, and that includes specific policies around immigration

> Canada also has notably different strategies when it comes to encouraging an atmosphere of innovation, and that includes specific policies around immigration. Then where is it's Silicon Valley? Why are Canadian software companies paying less than US ones. Why are new CS graduates moving to US? The immigration policy wasn't implemented yesterday. After all the decades of this immigration it should have had the same kind of growth as US. Now in reality immigration probably has less to do with it and it's just used for fluff and PR. There are other incentives and constraints that are not aligned quite right. Usually when a city or other government officials explicitly say "we're the next innovation center" or "here we will build the next Silicon Valley", chances are it won't happen. A few incentives or some token "city block transformation projects" are not enough. It might require a new tax or regulatory structure, but that's also hard to stomach politically and would make the administration less popular.