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by tonyarkles 3036 days ago
Two Yukoners in the thread! I'm way further south in Regina, but it's good to see Canadians who aren't from Vancouver or Toronto!

And as a crazy question, given that there's only a population of 25k in Whitehorse... what's the tech scene like? :)
2 comments
grecy 3036 days ago
The tech scene is.. well.. interesting.

You can really only work for the big Telco (Northwestel, owned by Bell), or the Yukon Government, or the city. Each have an overall IT team of something nearing 100 people, with lots of hardware, software, BAs, PAs, etc. etc.

Each has their pros and cons, each is incestuous and everyone knows everyone. Tons of people have worked for all three and hop back and forth as the seasons change. Once you have been in town a couple of years everyone knows you.

There is also a couple of small development shops.

A few people have worked really hard to get a maker space going (Yukonstruct) and from all reports it's doing great. Lots of members, lots of workshops on programming, 3D printing, etc. etc.

The money in the North is decent, and I only pay ~20% income tax, so it's a great place to sock away savings.

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thisacctforreal 3035 days ago
I think there's ~50-200 software developers up here between freelancers and businesses? Of that maybe half of them are fulltime.

I know of a couple webshops that are mostly WordPress/Drupal-based, mostly running Mac+Linux.

I think Make IT is the most serious custom software vendor, they ship some Scala but I believe are mostly Windows-based. http://www.makeit.com/

FWIW NWTel is also Windows-based, but I'd wager that per capita the Yukon has more Linux users due to the more rugged/self-sufficient/off-grid appeal.

YuKonstruct also opened a co-working office on Strickland called (co)space, they offer desks and a few private offices, though those might be filled. https://cospacenorth.com/

I just got a small office down the street from them for $300/month, but I think most small office spaces go for $400-500.

Renting a house is $1,400+, but the vacancy rate is less than 2% for detached houses and townhouses, IIRC. Our gov't releases handy stat booklets, and has one for rentals, so maybe I'll get around to scanning it this week.

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tonyarkles 3035 days ago
I was just poking around the YuKonstruct site. This is incredible! I wouldn't have expected something that awesome in such a small town. It beats the pants off the Makerspace in Regina!

Thanks, you two, for the insight. I have idly looked at the Northwestel careers page off-and-on for a year or two, but I'm not sure I'd make a very good "company man".

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grecy 3035 days ago
I was with NWTel for 4 years. It's certainly a "Company man" kind of place. Old, old, old school management from the 1960s.

But the perks of living in the North are immense. I miss it every day and know for certain I will be back there when I'm done roaming Africa.

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thr0awaz 3036 days ago
I'm interested in the tech scene in Whitehorse for... reasons... as well

What are the job prospects like out there? Is it all mining and mining-related stuff like PLC?

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