I got a full-time job offer as a Senior Software Engineer from a small size company in downtown Toronto. Compensation is CAD 135k base + 10% annual bonus + 50 stock options (Company is private so I don't know what's the real value of stocks). Currently, I am working as a Principal Engineer with TC 170k USD in the suburbs of Boston. I have a bachelor's degree and a master's degree and almost 10 YOE. I am on H-1B visa (Indian Citizen and a long wait for GC, Priority Date is 2017) in the US and wish to use my PR in Canada. I know salary scales are quite different between the US and Canada. So I am confused whether CAD 135K is even worth it or not. This is my first job offer in Canada. I am not the FAANG type of guy yet but I am getting better. Please share your thoughts and experiences. #canada #h1b #softwareengineer #salary
Your savings are definitely going to take a hit. I would move to Canada from US only if I have an offer north of $200k CAD. $135k CAD will be around $90k CAD after taxes. Downtown Toronto is expensive. A good 1-bed apartment can cost around $2k CAD, maybe even more. But of course, peace of mind does matter more than money, so I would decide this based on the number of years left on your PR. If you have more than 2.5-3 yrs left, why not put some time in interview prep and try for a FAANG offer in Canada? If you are fine with taking a hit in terms of your savings for a few years, you can get a Canadian citizenship in ~5 years after moving there and then come back to US on a TN visa.
If you just compare in terms of money then it is not a good offer compared to what you are making now, but your plan is to get Canadian citizenship and come back to US, so go ahead close your eyes for 5 years and come back to US.
it’ll take only 3 years in Canada to become citizen, not 5 like in USA
Short story - Come in Canada, get citizenship and then move to the USA, it’s better than h1b/GC limbo. Citizenship will open a lot of opportunities for you - TN Visa, E2 visa (in case change of plans), holiday visa for some countries (as long as you meet the criteria), PR for parents, free health care of them as they are getting old etc.. 135K isn’t bad, it’s kind of 90K NJ but that will makes you tough here, high taxes, almost everything expensive, you will push yourself to learn more since you had tasted those big checks in Boston. My opinion will be that you accept that offer in short term and change your job after that, you never know which path you will take then, may be you will plan to settle in Canada, you never know, it’s life but definitely come out of that visa crap.. I know 4-5 yrs looks like a lot but they aren’t and end of the day citizenship and 4-5 yrs in Canada worth it, you will learn a lot.
It’s not bad and pretty good for Toronto But there are quite a few companies which will get you 170-200k CaD and maybe little more So interview till you get that much of an offer OR see if you can get a remote US job and then move
Just curious, on a scale of 1 to 10, how easy or difficult is it to get a remote US job in Canada (1 being the easiest)? Also what is the approx pay offered? Lets say the company pays $200k USD for the same job in Seattle, by how much would your pay be adjusted if you chose to work remotely from Canada (lets say if you move to a city like Vancouver/Toronto? Location Shouldn’t really matter as you will be remote) Is it possible to get $200k CAD or more? Also, I believe its much easier to transfer internally from US to Canada in the same company as compared to finding a new remote US job, feel free to correct me.
1. In the past very tough now I think more Companies are open to completely remote but it’s still challenging to find a completely remote job. If you get a remote job you will get paid the same USD Salary I’m going to say 8 on a scale of 10: tough but not impossible 2. Yes always better to transfer with the same company
All these are really helpful comments. I agree with all of you. It’s a tough decision. Moving from US to Canada isn’t that easy when you have family members and friends here and much better salary. But at the same time, staying on H1B like forever is also so demotivating. I had my soft landing in Canada in October 2018 and got PR card issued in March 2019 So I am calculating, I have time until March 2022 to make the move because one has to live in Canada a minimum of two years in order to get PR extension.
Yes so wait till you get a good offer. From personal experience it’s better to wait till you get a really solid offer as good jobs are scarce in Canada. Also just FYI if your leaving the US also explore the UK and Singapore
I know that Canadian citizens can work in the US on TN visa which cannot be converted to green card. Does anyone know if someone who already has an H1B and an approved I140, can come back from Canada (after citizenship) to US and work on H1B or reuse his green card application. What i am trying to understand is if there is any path to green card in the US or just working on TN is the only way to work in the US.
Yes you can go back on H1b without a lottery if you have an I140 approved
May I know what is your tech stack?
It’s backend development with Java, spring framework, cloud development, rest apis, google cloud, rabbit, kafka etc
Being a person on a ground...I would say,135K Cad is decent offer in Toronto. Very few companies will pay you more than 200K...that too not in just base. Base would be pretty much as close to 135k CAD to 160k CAD. Accept this offer and after few months look for another high paying job. If your new company allow WFH then you don't need to live in downtown. Live in suburbs where you can find decent nice apartment in less than $2000. With other expenses $2000 extra...you should be able to save remaining $4000 each month easily if you are a stingy. If your spouse is working then you don't need to worry about money at all.You can buy house as well.
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