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I often see people framing the US & Canada primarily as a competition in tech. The exact opposite is largely the case. The US benefits enormously from having a

I often see people framing the US & Canada primarily as a competition in tech. The exact opposite is largely the case. The US benefits enormously from having a wealthy, vibrant Canada, including in its tech sector. We're permanent allies, liberal democracies and share a very large border as well as $600 billion in goods trade. The ability for technology, labor, products, services and capital to freely flow back and forth between the two of us makes us both far better off. Canada prospering in tech, rather than taking away from the US, brings more to the US-CA economic zone, including any talented persons they import that the US doesn't. There is more than enough tech riches to go around, the US doesn't need to own everything and shouldn't try to. If anything the US should be directly helping Canada to boom in tech. Enlarge the regional blackhole, suck up all the world's talent. They're our largest export market, the richer they get, the more people they have, the more US exports they are likely to buy (and vice versa). Canada's tech talent will occasionally also go south and start companies in the US. Canadian investors can fund US start-ups from their successes. US investors can back Canadian start-ups and public companies. The more the merrier.

ajayyy 7y ago
Most people in this field are leaving to the US. It's surprising how many. See https://s3.amazonaws.com/chartprod/Lb7EHT9ksyZyjHqo5/thumbnail.png https://s3.amazonaws.com/chartprod/Lb7EHT9ksyZyjHqo5/thumbna.... I am in a Canadian software engineering program right now, and it is a goal of many people here. Source: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/technology/article-canada-facing-brain-drain-as-young-tech-talent-leaves-for-silicon/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/technology/article-...
- ttul 7y ago
  I graduated in 2000 from Computer Engineering (in Canada). A solid fraction of my peers ended up in Silicon Valley. It’s not just for the wages. Silicon Valley just where most of the jobs are and it remains the best place in the world if you’re an engineer.
  - andrewzah 7y ago
    The grass is always greener, I guess. I’m a software engineer from the US and I’d never move to SV in a million years. There are more things in life than money. There are so many cities here with better quality of life and lower cost of living.
    - ryanwaggoner 7y ago
      Quality of life is subjective, and there are no cities that offer as much financial and career opportunity to the average senior software developer as SV does right now. Yes, cost of living is high, but you’ll still come out far ahead the average senior software dev living in some midwestern city. There are exceptions / edge cases, but they’re just that.
      - andrewzah 7y ago
        > you’ll still come out far ahead the average senior software dev living in some midwestern city Come out far ahead how? I'm already pulling close to 6 figures, and I expect to reach $120-130k in a relatively short time period. Do I -need- to move to SV and live in much shittier conditions and have an insane cost of living just to earn some more money? ... I feel that remote work makes this an outdated concept (my company is fully distributed). I'm almost 24 and if I continue to manage my finances correctly, I should have my own spacious home by 25. I'm in South Carolina, but there are plenty of other reasonable places in the US. The money that I don't have to spend on high cost of living goes straight to my savings. I get that my situation is atypical, but it's absolutely possible to have a great life and earn great money while not living in SV. If I ever feel like I need to earn more money, there's nothing stopping me from creating my own startup, etc. I guess I'll never have the "prestige" of working in SV, but I seem to do just fine by going to conferences and networking.
        seanmcdirmid 7y ago
        It really depends on the career opportunities you have in SC and how they correspond to your career aspirations. There really is nothing wrong with not going to the the valley or another big tech hub, but if you want to say, become a specialist in some area of ML, then there will only be a few places to do that. It isn’t (just) about prestige. If your goal is a comfortable life and financial stability, then you are completely right. If you want to become a millionaire or more, then you’ll have a better shot SV. If you are really focused on a specific technical topic, then SV, if you are a generalist and enjoy your work but don’t want to live it, then SC is fine.
dntbnmpls 7y ago
> I often see people framing the US & Canada primarily as a competition in tech. I've never heard US and Canada mentioned as competition in anything - let alone in tech. Geographically, demographically, technologically and economically, Canada is in no position to compete with the US. > The US benefits enormously from having a wealthy, vibrant Canada, including in its tech sector. Enormously? Canada pretty much sells us their resources and some canadian manufactured US cars. We account for 76% of all canada's trade, canada represents a much smaller portion of our overall trade. One party benefits a lot more than the other party. > We're permanent allies, liberal democracies and share a very large border as well as $600 billion in goods trade. No such thing as permanent allies. Just like there is no such thing as permanent government since canada existed mostly as a nonvoting subject of a monarchy. > They're our largest export market And also one we seem to have a neverending trade deficit with. https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/top/top1912cm.html https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/t... > If anything the US should be directly helping Canada to boom in tech. Or we could help arkansas, idaho, pennsylvannia and a countless other states "boom in tech". Shouldn't Canada be the ones helping themselves? Shouldn't the US be helping ourselves? > The more the merrier. Sounds like a utopian dream.

ajayyy 7y ago

Most people in this field are leaving to the US. It's surprising how many. See https://s3.amazonaws.com/chartprod/Lb7EHT9ksyZyjHqo5/thumbnail.png https://s3.amazonaws.com/chartprod/Lb7EHT9ksyZyjHqo5/thumbna.... I am in a Canadian software engineering program right now, and it is a goal of many people here. Source: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/technology/article-canada-facing-brain-drain-as-young-tech-talent-leaves-for-silicon/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/technology/article-...

ttul 7y ago
I graduated in 2000 from Computer Engineering (in Canada). A solid fraction of my peers ended up in Silicon Valley. It’s not just for the wages. Silicon Valley just where most of the jobs are and it remains the best place in the world if you’re an engineer.
- andrewzah 7y ago
  The grass is always greener, I guess. I’m a software engineer from the US and I’d never move to SV in a million years. There are more things in life than money. There are so many cities here with better quality of life and lower cost of living.
  - ryanwaggoner 7y ago
    Quality of life is subjective, and there are no cities that offer as much financial and career opportunity to the average senior software developer as SV does right now. Yes, cost of living is high, but you’ll still come out far ahead the average senior software dev living in some midwestern city. There are exceptions / edge cases, but they’re just that.
    - andrewzah 7y ago
      > you’ll still come out far ahead the average senior software dev living in some midwestern city Come out far ahead how? I'm already pulling close to 6 figures, and I expect to reach $120-130k in a relatively short time period. Do I -need- to move to SV and live in much shittier conditions and have an insane cost of living just to earn some more money? ... I feel that remote work makes this an outdated concept (my company is fully distributed). I'm almost 24 and if I continue to manage my finances correctly, I should have my own spacious home by 25. I'm in South Carolina, but there are plenty of other reasonable places in the US. The money that I don't have to spend on high cost of living goes straight to my savings. I get that my situation is atypical, but it's absolutely possible to have a great life and earn great money while not living in SV. If I ever feel like I need to earn more money, there's nothing stopping me from creating my own startup, etc. I guess I'll never have the "prestige" of working in SV, but I seem to do just fine by going to conferences and networking.
      - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
        It really depends on the career opportunities you have in SC and how they correspond to your career aspirations. There really is nothing wrong with not going to the the valley or another big tech hub, but if you want to say, become a specialist in some area of ML, then there will only be a few places to do that. It isn’t (just) about prestige. If your goal is a comfortable life and financial stability, then you are completely right. If you want to become a millionaire or more, then you’ll have a better shot SV. If you are really focused on a specific technical topic, then SV, if you are a generalist and enjoy your work but don’t want to live it, then SC is fine.

dntbnmpls 7y ago

> I often see people framing the US & Canada primarily as a competition in tech. I've never heard US and Canada mentioned as competition in anything - let alone in tech. Geographically, demographically, technologically and economically, Canada is in no position to compete with the US. > The US benefits enormously from having a wealthy, vibrant Canada, including in its tech sector. Enormously? Canada pretty much sells us their resources and some canadian manufactured US cars. We account for 76% of all canada's trade, canada represents a much smaller portion of our overall trade. One party benefits a lot more than the other party. > We're permanent allies, liberal democracies and share a very large border as well as $600 billion in goods trade. No such thing as permanent allies. Just like there is no such thing as permanent government since canada existed mostly as a nonvoting subject of a monarchy. > They're our largest export market And also one we seem to have a neverending trade deficit with. https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/top/top1912cm.html https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/t... > If anything the US should be directly helping Canada to boom in tech. Or we could help arkansas, idaho, pennsylvannia and a countless other states "boom in tech". Shouldn't Canada be the ones helping themselves? Shouldn't the US be helping ourselves? > The more the merrier. Sounds like a utopian dream.