One of the worst things about tech in Canada is that the salaries are ridiculously low compared to the US. I made 2-3x as much by moving to California and then another integer coefficient greater than one when I moved to New York.<p>But really, I want to say this: as a Canadian, I find that image of poutine extremely offensive. What is that yellow stuff on top, Curry? Are those even proper cheese curds? They're not melted. Is that scallion?<p>How can this article be trusted when their choice of stock photo is so wrong I question if they've ever even had the dish?
A lot of the talk is on SRED credits. SRED is a large part of the credit program for startups in Canada. Though it's not as simple as "Canada pays 80% of your salaries"<p>You can get up to (off the top of my head) 75% of salaries paid back on hours worked "advancing technology". That means it's only for true R&D. That means UI, business logic, API, App anything, expenses, costs, etc... don't count. It's only for when you embark on a project that truly advances the worlds state of technology where you can really reap the benefits of SRED.<p>Most startups, as sad as it may be, don't truly advance technology. A lot create value, yes, but advance technology? not really. Certainly not all year. So they'll only get 75% of salaries paid for the hours they worked on advancing technology.<p>You'll get that back at the end of the year as one lump sum. It's awesome. However, it goes to the company and the company has to have already funded the salaries -- it wont fund salaries, it will reimburse them.<p>On top of that the system is so hard to navigate that you'll end up requiring a consultant to navigate it. They'll take a cut, between 10-20%, of the return.<p>It's not as simple as the article states, and our poutine doesn't look like that.
I'm currently a beneficiary of SRED in a startup context in Canada.<p>The first thing to note is that it doesn't solve many major problems. The lack of development talent is the biggest one; trying to get someone to move from California to Canada isn't something that's solved as simply as offering more money. And in my experience (as a recent graduate), the talent that would have studied computer science or has an interest in programming moves onto "safer" education and career options (in the local context) - usually engineering or commerce/finance.<p>There's simply a lack of talent, or more realistically, a lack of talent with no better options.<p>The money here is being used to attempt to make up for the extreme economies of scale that places like Silicon Valley have. It's not enough to make Canada a competitive place to start a startup, really, but it may have some effect on the total amount of expatriation by talented individuals.
This article is light on facts (which is surprising to see in the wsj). This program is called Scientific Research and Experimental Development Tax Incentive Program. And, qualifying for a full SR&ED isn't as easy as they make it sound. To learn more, visit:<p><a href="http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/txcrdt/sred-rsde/menu-eng.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/txcrdt/sred-rsde/menu-eng.html</a>
Canada was already doing this for the games industry, though not at 80%. It worked. Look at all the studios in Montreal. Perhaps it could work again for the startup culture. It's cold enough up there in the winter that going outside is horrible, so why not stay inside and code!
"The downside is a more European attitude toward work— less intense, less ambitious, more likely to have wine with lunch, Mr. Adelman says"<p>As a Montrealer and a Sotware Engineer having worked at various size companies in this city, I can say I've NEVER seen my collegues have wine at lunch. Working in video game industry and sleeping at the office at crunch time (back in the days) I couldn't say my collegues or I 'lacked' the famed Silicon Valley work ethos ...
This article is fraught with stereotypes and coated with a few fragment of facts ...
I'm moving to Vancouver, BC soon to found a startup, so it's good to hear this. But from comments here, i'm hearing a lot of comments pertaining to Toronto and Waterloo region, but not much about Vancouver or BC in general. Why is that? Is Vancouver/BC not a good place for startups? Am I heading in the wrong direction? I'm still in a position to switch back to Toronto if necessary, so if someone can enlighten me that would be greatly appreciated.
1. Is it this? <a href="http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/txcrdt/sred-rsde/menu-eng.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/txcrdt/sred-rsde/menu-eng.html</a><p>2. If I were to start a new company, can I use this rebate when paying myself?
The kill or be killed attitude they mention in this article is interesting because I almost immediately noticed the difference when moving from Canada to California. It's a different animal, that's for sure.
My co-founder was one of the first 3 people accepted to Canada from the US via the Startup Visa program (I'm Canadian, made him move) - We're fully realizing the benefits of operating in Canada as a CCPC. This article doesn't even touch on how much is actually going on here. Not only was the cover photo offensive, I question if they even researched the topic because they barely touched on IRAP which is just as beneficial as SRED.<p>Talk to any founder from Canada and you'll likely get more reliable info then was in this article. The compelling reasons to start a company here are many and they are no secret.
It'll be interesting to see how well this works. Silicon Valley did not pop into existence from nowhere.<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo</a>
A caution if you're considering Quebec. You might be caught off guard by the draconian French language laws, and restrictions on where you can send your children to school. (Ex-Quebecer here)
Although I worked for several startups that benefited from SRED credits, I always found the system appalling and prefer the way it works in US with VCs.
No government should take hard working folks's money and give them to white middle-upper class, well educated founders that will possibly just get wealthy even more and the class division cycle will continue.
I would bet if you pay this money directly to the engineers themselves they will create much more value.<p>Anyways I found that writing everyday what I did in a way it looks more as a research just so SRED accountants don't question the company, as extremely annoying to my day flow.
Do I get it right? I set up a startup. Declare my own salary to be $100. Canadian gov pays me $80. I take $20 of that amount and pay it to myself as the remainder. Sounds like basic income.
I don't understand why all countries require startups to have investment. For one, most tech start ups don't need significant investment and can be boostrap. The average 30 year old has enough saving to get by for a year or two without any investment. I feel require investment is really a cruft of the past and shouldn't be a necessity for visas.