The Importance of Attracting Global Tech Talent to Canada

Ilya Brotzy of VanHack argues why integrating foreign tech workers into the Canadian economy enhances local economies and enriches the cultural and intellectual landscape of tech communities across a nation. 

““I feel safer and I feel that the future is even more promising than it was before. So I’m very happy to live here in Alberta now. I chose Alberta because the cost of living is lower, which allows me to fulfill my dreams of owning a home, raising my children, and working remotely, ” said Leandro Rezende, Head of Product at Bilhon Capital, a top edtech startup with offices in Los Angeles and São Paulo.”

Launched in July ‘23, Leandro is an early product of VanHack’s new “Canadian Engineering Office” program, which has received thousands of applications and is working to help local Canadian businesses to increase their revenues while adding tech talent and tax revenue to the local economies.  Leandro is one of the 33 tech professionals who have either relocated or are on their way to move to Alberta through VanHack’s  program which facilitates tech talent to settle in Canada in order to work remotely for global companies. Since inception, this represents nearly $2 million in annual salary and shows no sign of stopping anytime soon.  It also underscores the growing interest among tech talent in the Province of Alberta, and across Canada.

Leandro continues, “Working with people from different parts of the world makes me confident that I am not the only one with a different background and language. I feel as part of the team as if I were in Brazil. It’s also very rewarding to bring Brazilian knowledge to the table and help build up the Canadian economy that has welcomed me so warmly.”  Without this program, Leandro says he would have had to move back to Brazil as he wouldn’t have been able to qualify for a mortgage or auto loan without a formal Canadian job offer, he says “There was a Brazilian company with a branch in the United States and they were looking for a chief of product or VP of product and they had no way to hire me and pay me in Canadian dollars. And it's a problem because living in Canada without having a Canadian job and income, you can't access all the services or all the things you need here.”

Read the full post on our States of Trade blog.