U.S. tech workers eye ‘boring’ Ottawa over Toronto
American techies more likely to look for work in capital than in other startup hubs
American tech workers looking for jobs north of the border find Ottawa, a government town once voted the “most boring city” in Canada, more appealing than Toronto.
U.S. tech workers are more likely to look for employment in Ottawa than Toronto, regularly named one of the best cities in the world to live in, or Kitchener-Waterloo, according to statistics released by job-search website Indeed Inc.
Both Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo boast a thriving startup scene and universities with world-renowned computer science programs. Toronto’s bustling Queen St. W. neighbourhood was also voted by Vogue as the second-coolest in the world in 2014. But Ottawa has one thing that those two cities don’t have: Shopify Inc., one of the world’s most successful tech stocks.
U.S. tech talent considering migration to Canada are looking for roles as such as database administrators, software engineers, Java developers and cloud engineers, according to Indeed.
Growing interest from high-skilled workers comes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ramps up efforts to increase tech funding and offer fasttrack visas to skilled workers.
U.S. tech giants such as Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. are also investing in Canada’s artificial intelligence and cutting-edge technologies.
A crackdown on immigration from U.S. President Donald Trump has also prompted U.S. workers to explore jobs north of the border, as shown by spikes in Canadian job-search clicks on Trump’s election night and the day of his presidential inauguration, according to Indeed.
Prime Minister Trudeau is looking to increase tech funding and fast-track visas for skilled workers