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I don’t think hiring based on ethnicity is a legal investment strategy in Canada. Even if it was written down by some idiots on a slide.

• deanmoriarty 8y ago
  Not ethnicity, the slide would say more or less "we have a deep network of foreigners who are thrilled to come here and work for very competitive salaries, so our burning rate will be lower than the competition". I've seen this happen also in Silicon Valley, I've personally participated in conversations with startup founders quoting their ability to tap into cheap labor under the form of "talented, naive and visa-handcuffed immigrants" a major competitive advantage.
• sonnyblarney 8y ago
  Oh, it absolutely is everywhere. (FYI labour arbitrage has been going on for thousands of years, it's a thing). Not so much 'ethnicity' but 'visa leverage'. Sun Microsystems and others faced scrutiny during layoffs for protecting H1Bs over American workers. Given the leverage that companies have, they often pay less. Also - foreign workers will generally have a lower salary requirement if they come from poorer countries. This is also the case in Alberta Oil fields where investors try to get temp permit visas for foreign workers (China, Philipines) because hiring Canadians is brutally expensive. It becomes de-facto ethnic because the workers tend to come from specific regions.