The leaders of the industry say that the maintenance of Canada startups here will require more work and smart solutions.
The sudden change in the United States immigration policy (USA) from the Trump administration forces the Canadian technological sector, trying to lure more qualified foreign workers north of the border. But the updated talent pipeline does not solve slowing technology Salary growthReducing entrepreneurship and flight with the founders of technology.
“I am very concerned. We lose many ambitious founders in the USA. ”
USA H-1B Visa Allows American technological companies Temporarily hire and hold Highly qualified foreign workers for difficult jobs. At the end of last week, US President Donald Trump signed Proclamation The introduction of a lump-sum board of $ 100,000 for applications for the H-1B visa.
Unexpected announcement Created confusion and chaos For us, technical companies, as H-1B visa holders, they climbed to return to the United States against the backdrop of uncertainty regarding whether the payment will be applied to existing employees and effectively block them at the border. White House I tried to kill Panic on the weekend, explaining that these fees were one -time and will be applied only to new applicants.
Critics of the H-1B program have long claimed that it undermines American workers, attracting workers from abroad for lower wages. Supporters believe that this attracts popular global talents and questioned a policy on social networks.
Since the United States closes the doors, the “doors are open” Canada
Y Combinator President and General Director Harry Tan, who is also a Canadian, Approved on Linkedin The fact that the decision in the United States “Klinnik at Startups” is not able to manage a new board in the early stages. This feeling was confirmed by the co-founder and general director of Mantle Amar Warma, who also worked in the USA through the H-1B visa. Warma told Betakit that small companies would feel more acute, but the new cost is a little more than the “rounding error” for technological firms with a deep pocket.
Tan argued that a political shift is a “mass gift for each foreign technological center”, identifying Vancouver and Toronto as two cities that may flourish as a result. Several Canadian technical leaders with whom Betakit spoke, agree, and consider the moment as a chance to advertise that Canada is open to business.
“Our doors are open”, Simple enterprises The co -founder and general director Rachel Zimmer told Betakit. “We want to build with you. With the closure of this door, I think, it is important to strengthen it. ”
Martin Basiri, co -founder of international student and immigrants focused on technical startups Applyboard And Passageargue in LinkedIn Post that this is a “unique opportunity” for Canada. He wrote Build Canada Memorandum The argument of Canada must respond with a work permit in order to allow the current and potential owners of visas in the United States to live in Canada, working for US employers. He proposed to create a global Top 100 University Express Track, which facilitates graduates of leading schools in the world to study and work in Canada.
The Council of Canadian innovators President Ben Bergen called for a similar approach, indicating 2023 Target immigration stream As an example. Nevertheless, he argued that Canada should use the moment to “strengthen the talent strategy that supports Canadian companies in the first place” so that it could not become the larger economy of branches.
“When implemented, [this fee] It can cause a wave of highly qualified specialists looking for alternatives, ”Bergen said in statement. “Many will look north. But without a clear plan, the majority will ultimately work in Canadian offices of foreign firms. ”
Daniel Vigdor previously worked on American technical giants such as Meta (which acquired his company, Chatham Labs) and Microsoft. Now he is working on the creation of new startups by Canadian Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Venture Studio AxlHe sees the field for Canada to attract more researchers and founders of AI, positioning himself as a more stable destination than the United States.
But Vigdor argued that it was necessary to pay attention to the creation of long -term ways of commercialization, and not just short -term profit. Otherwise, the country risks serving a “holding pen for talent, and not a starting platform for the world of competitive companies,” he said.
“We have largely come out of this, but often American firms open large offices here, even if they offer longer work for Canadians,” said Betakit Vigdor. “The right way to truly benefit from the current possibility is the advantages of our leadership in applied calculations in order to find new companies, as well as cooperate with everyone we can get in our hands-chandian or H-1B-evivalent.”
Canadian entrepreneurship in decline
Meanwhile, Canada is faced with its own problems of technical talent. While recent Cbre Report He found that the country was ahead of the United States in terms of the growth of technical talents last year, the increase in salaries reached Three -year minimumCanadian technical workers are already inclined to earn much less than their American colleagues: research From the Toron University to Toronto, the fact that Dais Dais discovered that American technical workers pay an average of 46 percent more.
What is even worse New data It shows that Canadian technological entrepreneurs are running from the country with anxious speed. The Toronto Foundation for the leaders of Toronto determined that the startup Canadian tube is reduced and that the country is lagging behind its peers.
A survey of the leaders of the fund of almost 3000, based on Canada, supported by enterprises over the past decade, it is shown that only 32.4 percent of the startups led by Canadians were compiled in 2024, were compiled in Canada, while almost half were in the United States. This is a sharp decrease compared to 67 percent or more startups in this group, which were based in Canada from 2015 to 2019.
Most of the decline has occurred since the pandemic of the Covid-19, and most of the movement has been in the United States, where entrepreneurs were able to attract greater capital faster.
“Many will look north. But without a clear plan, the majority will ultimately work in Canadian offices of foreign firms. ”
Ben Bergen, Council of Canadian innovators
These data reflect a wider, further decrease in Canadian entrepreneurship, as shown BDC report The fact that in Canada there were 100,000 less entrepreneurs than in 2000, despite the fact that the country's population is growing more than 10 million during this time.
“I am very concerned,” said Betakit, co-founder of the Leader Fund and managing partner Gideon Hayden. “We lose many ambitious founders in the United States.”
The co-founder of Roadmunk and the former CEO of Latif Nanji Odin from Canadian technical entrepreneurs who left the country during the pandemic. In an interview with Betakit in the beginning of this year, Nandzhi quoted the strict restrictions of the Covid-19 Covid-19, high cost of life, weather and proposed But Since I knocked down Increasing the level of inclusion of capital tax as some of the factors that made him move elsewhere.
“You have made an established position that says that we do not want innovators, and therefore, to restore that trust will not be a 12-month process … The bridge is broken,” Nandzhi said. “And the problem is that most people who have already left will not return.”
Hayden compared the message that the United States is sent with a H-1B visa payment to what Canada transferred to entrepreneurs with capital growth, but also expressed some skepticism that this would be pure positive for Canada.
According to Hayden, this H-1B Snafu visa is the opportunity to attract more foreign technologies for Canada. Despite this, he noted that this also creates the risk that Canada will lose more entrepreneurs and workers in the United States, since more technological companies south of the border explore the ways to evade the fee, as All Received through the Agreement of Canada-Ssha-Mexico.
“The situation that I would not want us to gain incredible people from the milestone, but at the same time we lose really talented people who are already here,” Hayden said. “We must take the right actions on both fronts.”
With files from Douglas Soltis.
Image function is provided PEXELSField photo of Brian Forsyt.
