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Few years ago we acquired something in Montreal related to AI, and it's interesting because when we tried to get the team to relocate to California many weren't

Few years ago we acquired something in Montreal related to AI, and it's interesting because when we tried to get the team to relocate to California many weren't interested. A lot of the key personel ended-up moving, but they still kept a significant presence in the city. Even today, when hiring they'll have engineers indicate early in the process they won't ever move (despite pretty much everyone considered for that office being eligible for an O-1 due to the nature of the work being done there). What's interesting is we oppened a sattelite location in Toronto and it was a completely different experience. First thing people asked coming into interviews was about relocating to the US and if we could sponsor their visa. The demographics also skewed heavily toward recent immigrants to Canada. The irony was, the Toronto location was opened specifically to house developers that simply couldn't pass the higher bar for US immigration.

opportune 3y ago
That is interesting, most of my comment is motivated by exposure to the Toronto/Vancouver scenes and not Montreal. Maybe Montreal really is sufficiently different that my broad generalizations don’t apply. I have worked with some Montreal based developers before who I think would never consider the US because they were native French speakers and preferred that in their day-to-day. Curious if there are other major factors
- 908B64B197 3y ago
  > because they were native French speakers and preferred that in their day-to-day. That's what I assumed as well (lack of familiarity with the language or perceived bad language skills) until I realized that someone who I had assumed was a native English speaker was actually a native French speaker.
  - version_five 3y ago
    It would be tough to find an educated Quebecer that wasn't bilingual, though some may not want to speak English at work. I don't think language is a big issue overall though. Outside Toronto (maybe Vancouver too, I'm not familiar) many people are happy with their quality of life, family nearby, etc and are not motivated to move. Those that want to be elsewhere have already gone. Certainly in the maritimes and western provinces there are lots of people that feel at home and would only leave if they got really desperate. Toronto I think has a lot more people that tolerate it for the sake of their job, but would rather be somewhere else.

opportune 3y ago

That is interesting, most of my comment is motivated by exposure to the Toronto/Vancouver scenes and not Montreal. Maybe Montreal really is sufficiently different that my broad generalizations don’t apply. I have worked with some Montreal based developers before who I think would never consider the US because they were native French speakers and preferred that in their day-to-day. Curious if there are other major factors

908B64B197 3y ago
> because they were native French speakers and preferred that in their day-to-day. That's what I assumed as well (lack of familiarity with the language or perceived bad language skills) until I realized that someone who I had assumed was a native English speaker was actually a native French speaker.
- version_five 3y ago
  It would be tough to find an educated Quebecer that wasn't bilingual, though some may not want to speak English at work. I don't think language is a big issue overall though. Outside Toronto (maybe Vancouver too, I'm not familiar) many people are happy with their quality of life, family nearby, etc and are not motivated to move. Those that want to be elsewhere have already gone. Certainly in the maritimes and western provinces there are lots of people that feel at home and would only leave if they got really desperate. Toronto I think has a lot more people that tolerate it for the sake of their job, but would rather be somewhere else.