Canada for Software Engineers: Relocation Guide
10 hours ago
- The Global Move has partnered with VanHack for a Canadian Engineering Office Program that allows remote software engineers earning at least US$60,000 per year from a single employer to move to Canada while keeping their current job.
- VanHack sponsors visas for the engineer and their family and contracts them back to their existing employer upon arrival in Canada.
- More than 100 software engineers have already relocated to British Columbia, Alberta, or Ontario through the program.
- For destination research, key resources include visa information, take-home pay calculators, cost of living data, healthcare insights, and average salary data, with links to official tools and sites like relocate.me, Wealthsimple, Numbeo, and Reddit threads.
- Popular Canadian immigration pathways include Express Entry, the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Provincial Nominee Programs, and temporary work permits, with relevant subreddits like r/ImmigrationCanada and r/canadaexpressentry for questions.
- Reddit communities such as r/AskACanadian, r/cscareerquestionsCAD, r/PersonalFinanceCanada, and city-specific subreddits (e.g., r/askTO, r/vancouver, r/montreal, r/Calgary) are recommended for first-hand insights on living and working in Canada.
- Canada's tech sector employs about 2.2 million professionals, with major hubs in Toronto, Vancouver, Montréal, Ottawa, Waterloo, and Calgary, and strengths in AI, cybersecurity, quantum computing, and ocean technology.
- English is the main working language in most of Canada, but French is important in Québec, where many tech roles may require or prefer it.
- Companies open to international hires include Hiive, Nimble, Neo Financial, OpusClip, Wayve, and Planned, as well as Shopify, Clio, Ada, Lightspeed Commerce, AlayaCare, and Clarius Mobile Health, which use programs like the Global Talent Stream or Global Hypergrowth Project.
- Job search resources include Job Bank (with filters for international candidates), Eluta, Indeed Canada, Wellfound, BetaKit Jobs, ITjobs.ca, and the Communitech Work in Tech Job Board.
- Tools like LMIAGrader can help verify if a Canadian employer has a history of hiring international talent, and a 2025 list of 100 companies may offer visa sponsorship as a starting point.
- Expat experiences and insights are shared through a Facebook post, Reddit threads, and a personal review video about relocating to Canada.