Canada has been a regular "holding pattern" location for Europeans trying to get to the US. It's about time Canadian authorities realised they could exploit this for their own economic gain.
If it were me I'd rather be king of the hill in my home country over putting my life on hold like that.
King of the hillock you mean?
Seriously, why do so many people go through the utter shit that is the US system, rather than go/stay back home?
There is only one Apple, and it is in California. So say all their products. Comparing it to any other company in the world is like, well, comparing apples to oranges! You may have made your peace with eating oranges, not everyone is willing/can/ready to give up that easily.
I'm not sure that's actually true. They want to work for Apple/Google/Facebook/Tech Giant Inc. - they must live in the US to do so. If Canada is smart it'll give companies incentives to build permanent bases in the country - then people won't always be waiting to move south.
It's actually a nice place. Many friends of mine are doing the "holding pattern" thing and quite a few decided they'd just stay.
> If it were me I'd rather be king of the hill in my home country
It all depends on the size of your hill and the company you keep. Also, the hill gets lonely after a time. I like to surround myself with people smarter than myself and that becomes increasingly harder with a fixed size hill.
Of course.. the U.S. has far more cultural influence worldwide so most foreigners hear and see more about it than Canada.
Not many people consider Vancouver as a first choice, but a lot of people who come here are happy with it and realize that it's a pretty good place to be. Outside of the SV echo chamber you can often get a better picture of what the world actually wants, vs. just what people in SV (though appealing to the SV echo chamber is what gets you the VC funding and buyouts).
Besides that, the weather is nice, the people are friendly, the cost of living is affordable for people in tech (especially compared to SV), nature is just outside the door, etc.
On top of that, it's easier to get talent; partly because people can get visas, but also partly because not every single startup and tech company is competing for the same pool of people. You won't earn a six-figure salary quite so easily, but you also won't have your employees poached away the instant it looks like a buyout isn't just over the horizon.
Thinking of it as some sort of holding pattern purgatory where people are cooling their heels staring through the bars at the Promised Land on the other side of the US border is a huge mischaracterization. SV may be the theoretical ideal, but the lifestyle is much better out here.