
U.S. startups: it's dirt cheap to hire skilled Canadian programmers right now - kelseydh
Here&#x27;s the situation:  The Canadian and Australian dollars have dropped to less than 70 cents against the U.S. dollar.  Both currencies used to trade at par.<p>So for 30% less money (make that 50%+ less if you reside in the Valley), you can hire remote tech talent that&#x27;s just as good as what you would get from inside the United States, that codes on the same time zone that you do.<p>The discrepancy between U.S. &amp; Canada in terms of technical salaries is almost absurd.  Baseline salaries in Canada already trend lower than the U.S., and now with the exchange rate the difference is eye popping:<p>- In Silicon Valley coding bootcamp graduates commonly land $80k-$100k+ jobs straight of graduation.<p>- While in Canada, it&#x27;s common for top bootcamp graduating salaries to be in the range of $30k-$50k, with many top programmers needing to wait many years before ever reaching $80k+ CAD... $56k USD<p>The savings are huge if you do the math.  Why aren&#x27;t more U.S. startups looking North?
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kspaans
And the salaries are even cheaper in Eastern Europe and Asia, so what's your
point? Remote work is great, but not all companies are ready for it yet.

Disclaimer: I'm a Canadian working in the UK (after working for a bit in
Canada).

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rgovind
Presumably, Canadians and US have less language/cultural barriers compared to
some east European/Asian nation and US.

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muzani
Singapore has been at that price for a while, with the technical skill and
English ability to match Canadians.

If you want a further discount, a really good Malaysian or Filipino programmer
goes for $16k market rate. Similar culture to USA. Pay $30k and they'll
happily code for you at night shifts forever.

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aprdm
In Brazil it's even cheaper I can assure you.

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brudgers
Pay disparities for remote positions has potential costs:
[https://ernie.io/2015/12/05/market-rate-is-for-
lobsters/](https://ernie.io/2015/12/05/market-rate-is-for-lobsters/)

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DrScump

      Both currencies used to trade at par.
    

At times, but those were historical anomalies.

