|
I benefited from a similar program a year ago, and although I have no regret, I feel that some honesty might help other. First and foremost, the Canadian tech scene is nothing like the US, Europe, or Asia where I'm coming from. Tech jobs are rare. The flagship tech employer is Shopify and they just recently downsized. Second, salaries are garbage, especially for migrants. There is a term for this situation called "Canadian Experience": employers claim that because one does not have experience working in Canada, they deserve a crappy salary while they acquire it. This is of course bullshit. It got so bad that it's actually been addressed by the government and made illegal, at least in Ontario[0]. Finally, the cost of life is absurd, with respect to income. In Vancouver or Toronto, rents are completely out of control, and buying is out of the question unless you have some serious funds, especially with the recent hike in mortgage rate. Price of food surged dramatically in the past months as well, and although I have a decent job (in terms of distance from the median salary), I don't go out nearly as much as I would want because it's too damn expensive. Now, Canada is a great place for normal humans to live in, especially with a family, and again I have no regret. But right now, it's not a good place to make it in tech. [0] https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/policy-removing-%E2%80%9Ccanadian-... |
When issuing visas, the Canadian government uses a point system (age, degree...) that never actually checks for employability.
That's how you get people claiming they were "Senior Engineers" in their home country that can't pass a fizzbuzz test. With a signal to noise ratio this low, a lot of employers simply won't bother unless someone can demonstrate that someone else is willing to employ them at Canadian wages for the position they claim they can perform.