Canadians, why do you still work at Canadian companies?

Bolt
CodinIsFun

Go to company page Bolt

CodinIsFun
Jan 5 127 Comments

These last 2 years or so has become the golden era for tech in Canada. Not because of any Canadian company (lol) but because of all the US companies aggressively hiring Canadians now even within Canada. So many top US companies have either satellite offices here or allow fully remote work now.

So why still work at a Canadian company that will never pay you your real market worth? Why reward them for taking advantage of you? Even the highly profitable Canadian companies don't pay well. So why only make the rich executives at these companies richer while you get nothing?

TC: ~320K CAD (220K CAD base + stock options)
YOE: 4.5 SWE L4
Previous Canadian company TC: ~115K CAD

Note, if you work for an honest non-profit Canadian company that can't afford to pay well, this does not apply to you of course.

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TOP 127 Comments
  • Amazon
    rankinit

    Go to company page Amazon

    rankinit
    I worked at shit Canadian companies for 70k CAD before because I thought thats what is normal. A lot of people just don't know better. I also know a lot of brainwashed idiots who believe that their 70k CAD in Canada is somehow better than 300k in the US because "healthcare" and "toxicity in America" and whatever other justification they make up about why America sucks.
    Jan 5 14
  • Meta / Eng
    Iove

    Go to company page Meta Eng

    Iove
    Dont want to interview, like the work/company/people, dont need more money to be happy.... There can be many reasons.
    Jan 5 20
  • Google
    prosac

    Go to company page Google

    prosac
    These Jobs aren’t as easy to come by as you say. I have been interviewing recently and got few offers in the 270-300k CAD range but all of these are Silicon Valley companies.

    1. The interview process is the same rigorous leetcode and programming which isn’t a thing outside SV. Even engineers in Phoenix or Atlanta wouldn’t want to go through this interview

    2. Companies find it easier to hire you in Canada if they have a legal entity. Not a lot of companies have legal entities set up in Canada. The role I finally accepted I will be working as an independent contractor
    Jan 5 17
    • Bolt
      CodinIsFun

      Go to company page Bolt

      CodinIsFun
      OP
      @lffndei You just hit the nail on the head. Tell me about it lol.

      My base is 220K CAD. The rest is private equity I can't do anything with yet (except early exercise to save on taxes and hope for the best).

      That means I STILL can't afford a house in the city despite being in the top 1% of earners. So just imagine how horrible it is for regular folks. They can barely afford to pay rent. A house is a pipe dream for them.
      Jan 5
    • Google
      prosac

      Go to company page Google

      prosac
      @lffndei is right. The housing situation should anger people but it doesn’t seem to :(
      Jan 5
  • TELUS
    not random

    Go to company page TELUS

    not random
    Most people just don't know better. Folks on blind aren't really your target audience. Once I learnt the truth, I went from ~140k CAD TC to >400k USD TC.

    I did 3 months of LC after work, about 200 in total and about 20 mock interviews. I think the ROI was good.
    Jan 5 14
  • Most ppl just don’t know about levels.fyi or blind. So they don’t really know how severely underpaid they are ( not even comparing to the Canada TC 2.0, but even previous FAANGs competitors in Canada). Even if you heard of them, they’re not that easy to get some sense of Canada market and such. Once ppl know, they care more. Then it’s just a question of how many ppl those US companies employ relative to Canadian companies. Likely not everyone would get into them and Brex/Chime/Bolt employees all together are not even close to Shopify.

    TC went from 160k (at a Canadian company) to 500k at US Remote company last year.
    Jan 5 11
    • @Bolt, I am pretty bullish on Brex seeing its trajectory. I have taken the cash portion I wanted, and the rest can get me over a million TC if things go well. Plus my spouse in IT too with public company and good comp too. So we’re building enough diversified portfolio and having a private equity is ok risk for us.

      As long as I think this pandemic is pretty bad for society, it has actually been incredibly good for my family (and maybe also Trump with his h1b swings).

      Back to the original point, I have a few friends that I’m trying to make jump their sinking ships for better comp, but they have been incredibly overwhelmed with everything during this pandemic so don’t even have time to prep :( that’s another reason why Canadian companies can still retain with huge underpayment.
      Jan 5
    • Bolt
      CodinIsFun

      Go to company page Bolt

      CodinIsFun
      OP
      @dev_guru

      The pandemic has been great for tech workers as terrible as that sounds. I doubt Bolt and countless other companies would have become remote first otherwise so I probably would not have received this job.

      It's odd you never hear about Brex as being a top paying company that hires Canadians. Granted you could say the same about Bolt. I wonder how many hidden US gems are out there that are throwing ridiculous offers (compared to the local market) at Canadians.
      Jan 6