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I have a friend in a similar situation (eerily similar). Apple moved him to Vancouver to reside until they can get a visa for the US, but in the meantime more &

I have a friend in a similar situation (eerily similar). Apple moved him to Vancouver to reside until they can get a visa for the US, but in the meantime more & more employees are being 'stationed' in Canada, which opens up the opportunity to simply setup a facility there instead of hustling the US system. Canada has been a regular "holding pattern" location for Europeans trying to get to the US. It's about time Canadian authorities realised they could exploit this for their own economic gain.

djb_hackernews 12y ago
Is that really ideal for someone who is at the top of their craft to be put into purgatory in Canada when they really want to immigrate to the US and settle down? If it were me I'd rather be king of the hill in my home country over putting my life on hold like that.
- untog 12y ago
  when they really want to immigrate to the US and settle down I'm not sure that's actually true. They want to work for Apple/Google/Facebook/Tech Giant Inc. - they must live in the US to do so. If Canada is smart it'll give companies incentives to build permanent bases in the country - then people won't always be waiting to move south.
- shiven 12y ago
  If it were me I'd rather be king of the hill in my home country over putting my life on hold like that. King of the hillock you mean? Seriously, why do so many people go through the utter shit that is the US system, rather than go/stay back home? There is only one Apple, and it is in California. So say all their products. Comparing it to any other company in the world is like, well, comparing apples to oranges! You may have made your peace with eating oranges, not everyone is willing/can/ready to give up that easily.
- rbanffy 12y ago
  > purgatory in Canada It's actually a nice place. Many friends of mine are doing the "holding pattern" thing and quite a few decided they'd just stay. > If it were me I'd rather be king of the hill in my home country It all depends on the size of your hill and the company you keep. Also, the hill gets lonely after a time. I like to surround myself with people smarter than myself and that becomes increasingly harder with a fixed size hill.
- mpg33 12y ago
  meh...if you could do an experiment by dropping a foreigner - that has never been to North America - right into a Canadian city and then asked what country they are in... I would suspect a high percentage would say the U.S. The differences between the countries are more noticeable to Americans/Canadians. Of course.. the U.S. has far more cultural influence worldwide so most foreigners hear and see more about it than Canada.
- Kluny 12y ago
  As a Vancouver native - there are a hell of a lot of worse places in the world to be stuck, than Vancouver.
- danudey 12y ago
  I know a surprising amount of immigrants who moved to Vancouver because it was 'as close as' they could get to SV (since they couldn't get US visas). I huge proportion of them are glad they came here and never intend to leave (and some might, but not for a long time). Not many people consider Vancouver as a first choice, but a lot of people who come here are happy with it and realize that it's a pretty good place to be. Outside of the SV echo chamber you can often get a better picture of what the world actually wants, vs. just what people in SV (though appealing to the SV echo chamber is what gets you the VC funding and buyouts). Besides that, the weather is nice, the people are friendly, the cost of living is affordable for people in tech (especially compared to SV), nature is just outside the door, etc. On top of that, it's easier to get talent; partly because people can get visas, but also partly because not every single startup and tech company is competing for the same pool of people. You won't earn a six-figure salary quite so easily, but you also won't have your employees poached away the instant it looks like a buyout isn't just over the horizon. Thinking of it as some sort of holding pattern purgatory where people are cooling their heels staring through the bars at the Promised Land on the other side of the US border is a huge mischaracterization. SV may be the theoretical ideal, but the lifestyle is much better out here.

djb_hackernews 12y ago

Is that really ideal for someone who is at the top of their craft to be put into purgatory in Canada when they really want to immigrate to the US and settle down? If it were me I'd rather be king of the hill in my home country over putting my life on hold like that.

untog 12y ago
when they really want to immigrate to the US and settle down I'm not sure that's actually true. They want to work for Apple/Google/Facebook/Tech Giant Inc. - they must live in the US to do so. If Canada is smart it'll give companies incentives to build permanent bases in the country - then people won't always be waiting to move south.
shiven 12y ago
If it were me I'd rather be king of the hill in my home country over putting my life on hold like that. King of the hillock you mean? Seriously, why do so many people go through the utter shit that is the US system, rather than go/stay back home? There is only one Apple, and it is in California. So say all their products. Comparing it to any other company in the world is like, well, comparing apples to oranges! You may have made your peace with eating oranges, not everyone is willing/can/ready to give up that easily.
rbanffy 12y ago
> purgatory in Canada It's actually a nice place. Many friends of mine are doing the "holding pattern" thing and quite a few decided they'd just stay. > If it were me I'd rather be king of the hill in my home country It all depends on the size of your hill and the company you keep. Also, the hill gets lonely after a time. I like to surround myself with people smarter than myself and that becomes increasingly harder with a fixed size hill.
mpg33 12y ago
meh...if you could do an experiment by dropping a foreigner - that has never been to North America - right into a Canadian city and then asked what country they are in... I would suspect a high percentage would say the U.S. The differences between the countries are more noticeable to Americans/Canadians. Of course.. the U.S. has far more cultural influence worldwide so most foreigners hear and see more about it than Canada.
Kluny 12y ago
As a Vancouver native - there are a hell of a lot of worse places in the world to be stuck, than Vancouver.
danudey 12y ago
I know a surprising amount of immigrants who moved to Vancouver because it was 'as close as' they could get to SV (since they couldn't get US visas). I huge proportion of them are glad they came here and never intend to leave (and some might, but not for a long time). Not many people consider Vancouver as a first choice, but a lot of people who come here are happy with it and realize that it's a pretty good place to be. Outside of the SV echo chamber you can often get a better picture of what the world actually wants, vs. just what people in SV (though appealing to the SV echo chamber is what gets you the VC funding and buyouts). Besides that, the weather is nice, the people are friendly, the cost of living is affordable for people in tech (especially compared to SV), nature is just outside the door, etc. On top of that, it's easier to get talent; partly because people can get visas, but also partly because not every single startup and tech company is competing for the same pool of people. You won't earn a six-figure salary quite so easily, but you also won't have your employees poached away the instant it looks like a buyout isn't just over the horizon. Thinking of it as some sort of holding pattern purgatory where people are cooling their heels staring through the bars at the Promised Land on the other side of the US border is a huge mischaracterization. SV may be the theoretical ideal, but the lifestyle is much better out here.