I don't have any proof, but I think it's wage fixing. Not just in Canada, but nearly everywhere outside of the United States.
I'm personally convinced that the only reason that engineer TCs in the United States are so high in comparison to everywhere else is because wage fixing is no longer an issue, thanks to legal action in California in the late 2000s/2010. It's kind of crazy to think how recently it happened. Just in the last ~10 years.
Top-band compensation for ICs went up significantly year-over-year, and it hasn't stopped rising yet. It's also dragged pay for engineers in the rest of the industry upwards. Startups and non-FAANG companies can't directly compete with top band TCs, but they're forced to at least try with higher salaries.
Because there are very few software/IT companies in Canada (or Europe or almost anywhere else except China) with revenues like US software/IT giants.
So software engineers tend to work in supporting roles / costs center departments in other industries (finance, manufacturing, logistics) or do non-scalable work such as contracting or small/medium-enterprise front-end/back-end dev.
> Because there are very few software/IT companies in Canada (or Europe or almost anywhere else except China) with revenues like US software/IT giants.
I replied elsewhere in the thread but this is simply not true based on what I have seen first hand at companies like Google. They have a presence in Canada / UK, but pay at a much lower rate than SV for the same job/level/performance. So profitability or a lack of revenue seems just an excuse.
One factor is less opportunities also means less competing offers. Having solid competing offers can boost your initial offer by another 33%.
On the next job switch you can now use that higher salary and get another set of competing offers. Since it's not an option in Canada there's not a lot of upward pressure on compensation.
In my limited experience the top tier employers are very strict with their regional market assessment. When I started to negotiate above that range with a FANG Canada they converted my offer to SF Bay Area. The difference has everything to do with market assessments and nothing to do with cost of living.
I looked briefly to find the compensation of the head coach of the Maple Leafs. It's not easy to find, but I'm guessing it's a lot based on how they talk about the contract.
Most Canadian employers are not VC-funded, the pay they can offer has to be in line with general rules of finance: spend less than you make.
Compare that to something like Uber where the company makes 9-figure losses, and yet can afford to pay high six-figure salaries. Someone has to make up the difference, and as is often the case with tech companies, it'll be venture capital firms.
I recall during either during the 90's or mid 2000's that Canada was loosing a lot of medical school graduates to the United States for much the same reasons as well. There was some articles about it reversing in the last decade though.
On a personal note: I did QA, test automation, and current am technically Sales Engineering (though I'm finding I dislike it quite a lot). My last raise brought my salary to $52,000 Canadian a year at year 9 of my career. That's about $34,000 USD or so. I'm guessing that's not exactly stellar pay in the US.
Personally I'd seriously consider heading State side too if I could. As is I haven't the foggiest idea if I am qualified, how to find out, or what companies would even consider someone like me.
> As is I haven't the foggiest idea if I am qualified, how to find out, or what companies would even consider someone like me.
If you are considering QA or test automation, almost all software companies have openings in those fields. FAANGs perennially have shortage of these positions and they can take care of all the visa issues for you. Startups are also an option if you know what you are getting into.
A variation of sales engineering that you might like is solutions architect role. This role would be more predominant in larger companies, where you might interface with sales engineers but have more technical responsibilities in everyday work. Any large cloud service provider would list dozens of open solutions architect roles.
I'm personally convinced that the only reason that engineer TCs in the United States are so high in comparison to everywhere else is because wage fixing is no longer an issue, thanks to legal action in California in the late 2000s/2010. It's kind of crazy to think how recently it happened. Just in the last ~10 years.
Top-band compensation for ICs went up significantly year-over-year, and it hasn't stopped rising yet. It's also dragged pay for engineers in the rest of the industry upwards. Startups and non-FAANG companies can't directly compete with top band TCs, but they're forced to at least try with higher salaries.