"Of the people I graduated university with the people who are still in Canada are the minority, a notion that still boggles the mind."
^ This has been my experience as well.
Screw this new start-up visa -- what we should really be doing is providing subsidies to companies as an incentive to hire junior developers and/or paying Canadian developers of all levels what they're actually worth. The problem with Canada's start-up culture isn't that we're low on talent. We generate plenty of talent. Canada's problem is a problem of retention.
Freshly minted Canadian C.S. grad here. I'm passionate about my craft, did well in school and I've done several very cool (I think) "for fun" personal projects. I've even successfully shipped one. For what it's worth, this is my perspective on the current climate.
As it stands, we do have a bit of a start-up culture up here (see http://startupnorth.ca/). However, there are some major problems which desperately need to be addressed before any real growth can happen here:
1) Probably about 90% of the "startupy", or relatively interesting, coding gigs are located in Ontario. Not situated in, or interested in moving to, Toronto/Waterloo? Guess you're SOL. Oh, what's that? You are interested in relocating? Well, there's plenty of cheap talent here in Ontario from UT and/or UW that won't cost us anything in terms of relocation. We're probably just going to go with them instead. Thanks for applying, though.
2) Junior developer positions are practically non-existent. There are a few that are advertised as "junior" positions. They're not. Canadian employers: "two years of professional experience in a production environment" for a "junior" position is two years too many. Junior developers are recent grads. Recent grads who head south because of your ill-conceived, rigid criteria.
For now, I'm currently working in systems administration. While I still really, really want to pursue a career in software development (or even just an intern position for now), I can't even get my foot in the door for an interview with anyone in Canada. I'd really rather not relocate to the US, but it's looking increasingly appealing with each passing day.
Are the intern positions strictly exclusive to students? I'm a recent CS grad (wasn't able to take on an internship during school) but I would love to apply for one of these positions.
^ This has been my experience as well.
Screw this new start-up visa -- what we should really be doing is providing subsidies to companies as an incentive to hire junior developers and/or paying Canadian developers of all levels what they're actually worth. The problem with Canada's start-up culture isn't that we're low on talent. We generate plenty of talent. Canada's problem is a problem of retention.
Freshly minted Canadian C.S. grad here. I'm passionate about my craft, did well in school and I've done several very cool (I think) "for fun" personal projects. I've even successfully shipped one. For what it's worth, this is my perspective on the current climate.
As it stands, we do have a bit of a start-up culture up here (see http://startupnorth.ca/). However, there are some major problems which desperately need to be addressed before any real growth can happen here:
1) Probably about 90% of the "startupy", or relatively interesting, coding gigs are located in Ontario. Not situated in, or interested in moving to, Toronto/Waterloo? Guess you're SOL. Oh, what's that? You are interested in relocating? Well, there's plenty of cheap talent here in Ontario from UT and/or UW that won't cost us anything in terms of relocation. We're probably just going to go with them instead. Thanks for applying, though.
2) Junior developer positions are practically non-existent. There are a few that are advertised as "junior" positions. They're not. Canadian employers: "two years of professional experience in a production environment" for a "junior" position is two years too many. Junior developers are recent grads. Recent grads who head south because of your ill-conceived, rigid criteria.
3) Setting aside my own gripes, it seems that even senior developers are being undervalued. I caught this the other day: http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/rds/sof/3705649489.html. Not cool, Canada.
For now, I'm currently working in systems administration. While I still really, really want to pursue a career in software development (or even just an intern position for now), I can't even get my foot in the door for an interview with anyone in Canada. I'd really rather not relocate to the US, but it's looking increasingly appealing with each passing day.