

Toronto or Vancouver: Which is better for startups? - gotrecruit

I&#x27;m currently planning to study CS in Canada, and have received offers from both UBC and UofT. My main objective going to school, however, is to go find the right people to found a startup with, or to recruit the right people to join me.<p>Which has a better startup ecosystem? Which school would be better for recruitment for this purpose? Which school has a better pedigree?
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kpatrick
In BC, UBC and SFU are considered recruiting universities with UBC being
slightly ahead of SFU, but behind Waterloo in Ontario. Vancouver is quite hot
now for startups and tech in general. SAP alone has 1,000 employees in
Vancouver, plus Microsoft which is doubling. IBM is decreasing its size
though. Vancouver is often considered better for lifestyle except for the cost
of housing. If you like the outdoors, Vancouver is the obvious choice.

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gotrecruit
one reasons i'm seriously considering UBC is because the degree i'm offered
can be completed in only 20 months, and i've also heard the weather in
vancouver can be very nice.

but there is an overwhelmingly larger number of articles and people saying
toronto is the better place for startups and i can't help but feel that i
might find better talent in UofT vs UBC.

is cost of housing in vancouver really sky high? and i do like the outdoors -
i enjoying skiing and intend to do that perhaps once a month or so.

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gyardley
Toronto might be a little better than Vancouver, but the difference isn't
_that_ extreme - we're not talking Silicon Valley vs. Des Moines here.

You're concerned about the weather - Vancouver's the clear winner here. You
can finish your degree in twenty months - again, Vancouver's the clear winner.
Finally, that twenty-month UBC program's got extra resources to get people who
aren't programmers and are switching careers up to speed - it's designed for
your situation, while Toronto's ordinary CS program is just going to throw you
in with everyone else.

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fananta
I would say Toronto. There's a growing startup ecosystem here and the
entrepreneurship culture at UofT is taking off.

I'm building my second startup here (and also helping UofT with
entrepreneurship initiatives). If you have more questions, send me an email:
f.ananta@gmail.com

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gotrecruit
hey, i would be keen to connect with you when i'm about ready to go to
toronto. i'm leaning towards toronto at the moment, but i'm also reading many
articles and forum posts about how vancouver is actually heating up in terms
of its startup ecosystem as well and it's swaying me a little.

if my goal to attend school (either UBC or UofT) is to recruit my team to
found a startup, which school would you think is better?

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isuraed
Toronto. Waterloo is an enormous talent pool and there is much start-up
activity happening. Even better for networking if you can take courses or do
some projects with Waterloo students.

Disclaimer: Waterloo grad.

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Mankhool
I'm in Vancouver and I would have to say . . . Toronto. The West is the Best,
but for startups the East is the, er, Beast?

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coffeecodecouch
_Full disclosure: I live in Vancouver._ Searching for "startup" on meetup.com
returns 78 groups for Vancouver and only 31 groups for Toronto. While Toronto
is said to be better for startups the difference is small enough that it comes
down to a personal choice of schools and lifestyle.

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gabchan
TORONTO: for its proximity to Waterloo, the centre of Canada's startup
universe. Many UW students are from the GTA anyway.

