Move to Canada, Tory will tell U.S. tech talent

Move to Canada, specifically southern Ontario, to get away from “divisive” U.S. politics, Toronto Mayor John Tory plans to tell high-tech talent in California’s Silicon Valley next month.

Tory revealed his plan to the Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, according to prepared remarks for a Wednesday lunch speech touting the high-tech corridor between Kitchener and Toronto.

The mayor said that on his trip to San Francisco and Silicon Valley, April 4-6, he will make the case for U.S. companies and venture capital to invest in the Toronto area, especially given the low Canadian dollar.

Tory also noted that an estimated 300,000 expat Canadians work in Silicon Valley and that “more than 50 per cent of U.S. innovation is initiated by immigrants to that country and first-generation Americans.”

“That is a huge opportunity for us to attract knowledge workers to Canada,” Tory noted.

“We have all been watching the divisive politics happening to our south and there is growing evidence that it is causing many U.S. residents to look seriously at Canada as an option.

“You may think I’m joking, but I’m not. Just last week, Waterloo-based company Sortable put out a recruitment ad featuring Donald Trump’s face and asking the question ‘Is it time to move back to Canada?’ ”

“While we’re in the U.S., we’ll be asking that same question.

“And we will be celebrating the diversity of our ecosystem and the fact that we have CEOs and founders of all backgrounds, both male and female.”

Remarks about Muslims by Trump, the bombastic billionaire seeking the Republican presidential nomination, and by some of his rivals have fuelled jokes and some serious talk about moderate Americans fleeing north.

Earlier this month, Councillor Norm Kelly pointed his huge Twitter following, which includes many Americans, to federal government instructions on how to immigrate to Canada.

A website urging disaffected Americans to move to Cape Breton has received a lot of attention.

This month, amid Trump’s strong showing in Super Tuesday primary votes, Google reported that searches for “How can I move to Canada” spiked by 350 per cent in four hours.