Canada’s innovative immigrants
Although the United States often bills itself as the land of opportunity, Canada is no slouch when it comes to immigrant inventors. The country ranked seventh in terms of the number of immigrants who held patents between 2000 and 2010, according to a 2016 National Foundation for American Policy report. Historically, Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the first practical telephone, might be the most famous immigrant inventor to grace these shores, but there are plenty of more recent examples and they come to Canada for many reasons.
Here are a handful of them:
Tobias Lütke, chief executive and co-founder, Shopify Inc.
Lütke was a programming prodigy in his native Germany, but followed his heart and moved to Canada in 2002 at the age of 22. Initially, he wanted to build an ecommerce site to sell snowboards, but found the available tools lacking so he built his own. Those tools became the foundation of the online shopping portal Shopify, one of the most successful Canadian startups ever.
Maninder Dhaliwal, chief executive, Lions Gate International
Dhaliwal was born in India and came to Vancouver in 1999 to study engineering at the University of British Columbia. Her master’s degree helped her find work, but she eventually decided to strike out on her own in 2013, co-founding Lions Gate, which specializes in India-focused international venture projects in technology, manufacturing and infrastructure.
Robert Herjavec, chief executive, Herjavec Group
Best-known for his starring roles on CBC’s Dragons’ Den and ABC’s Shark Tank, Herjavec came to Canada on a boat in 1970 from communist Yugoslavia. He has built and sold several technology companies, and in 2003 founded the Herjavec Group, which has been called one of the most innovative cybersecurity companies.
Shahrzad Rafati, chief executive and founder, BroadbandTV
Rafati was born in Tehran in 1979 and grew up in a family of entrepreneurs, but moved to Vancouver in 1996 against her parents’ wishes. She enrolled in computer science at the University of British Columbia and in 2005 founded BroadbandTV, a multi-channel network for online video creators that has struck deals with the NBA, Warner Bros. and the Huffington Post, among others.
Aditya Jha, chief executive, dgMarket International Inc.
Jha was born in Nepal, grew up and started his career in India, and came to Canada in late 1994, joining Bell Canada. He then co-founded a software company called Isopia Inc. (which was later acquired by Sun Microsystems for more than $100 million) and has started or bought several more businesses, including dgMarket International Inc., a worldwide consulting tender portal. He also runs Project Beyshick, which provides seed money to budding Aboriginal entrepreneurs as well as university and college endowments.