As much as I'm not a fan of the Harper Government, they are doing some strong things to help boost the growing Tech economy in Canada. A start-up visa is a really good program and I think it'll go a long way in helping to build a better industry.
Quote:
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Yuri Navarro, Executive Director of the National Angel Capital Organization (NACO), says the complexities of US immigration played a direct role in Canada’s decision to open its doors.
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This statement here is pretty much why I think this is a good idea. Everyone knows that the US hubs San Fran, Austin, Boston and Washington are the places to be, but if you're a young start-up you've got to get the attention of some heavy weight Angel Investors/VCs to get a foot in the door to start the Immigration process for the US. That itself can be time consuming and soul crushing. If anyone is curious, about what it's like to get into the US as a Canadian involved in a start-up you might want to check out this post:
http://maplebutter.com/how-to-get-yo...%80%99s-story/
In regards to the allure of the US and Silicon Valley, I don't think it's a good idea to try and compete at the level. If Canada is being honest nobody in the world can compete with Silicon Valley. It's also not the end of the world when a big tech company moves to the US to get bigger exposure, most of the time the people that were apart of that company stay in Canada and branch off to form other smaller start-ups and that helps the community grows. It happens in Calgary all the time (most recently I can think of the people who worked at Veer, who are now starting up pretty successful local out fits) So while on the top level it seams as though the brain drain to the US can be a disadvantage, I'd rather see the Canadian Government work to try and retain talent that would rather stay. A policy like this only further strengthens Canada's ability to attract new talent.