Hiring Overseas Talent to Work in Canada
Disclaimer:
Everything below is a mix of what I observed and heard during the event. The goal isn’t to pinpoint "who exactly said what," but to share (usually) an outsider's view and overall perspective on these industries. I’m not here to act as a definitive firsthand source—readers should do their own research. I hope this inspires you to attend events, explore new industries, and hear what leaders are presenting. These notes combine my observations with thoughts on how things could run smoother and how ideas connect (IMO). I’m not an expert, you know? Just hanging out in the room with them. Enjoy!Topics: Visas, Immigration, International Employees, Canada/America Partnerships
I have a big project for KT starting tomorrow that I purposefully cut down on my schedule for… leading up to it. However, the night before this, I decided to see what was out there and maybe add ONE more event before my big project. My schedule hasn’t been TOO busy… and so, I stumbled upon this. The title was really intriguing (not what I titled the blog above) but it sounded interesting: Scaling Without Borders, How Canada Keeps Tech Teams Competitive. I wanted to learn more about international partnerships, hiring, and whatever they had to say.
Why Attend: Now that I’ve spent a lot of time overseas, even working overseas for a few years, I understand A LOT better the ‘visa’ situation that people have when they’re overseas. SO MUCH of Seattle is not from here… not even from this country. We import a lot of talent (it’s one thing I loved about here and a reason I wanted to move here. I wanted somewhere with a lot of perspectives and different people.) Learning how other cultures solve problems and stay entertained, stayhealthy… it’s amazing!! So, I wanted to hear more about how companies are hiring people from overseas and keeping them here? Or whatever was going on…. I wasn’t 100% sure what this event was about.
Event Ratings: Venue 4/5, Food 5/5, Speaker Content 2/5, Networking 3/5, Likeliness to Return 5/5…. more below
Photo Collage + Commentary
Event Notes
Arrival:
Right away, there was a lot of food to choose from (and later on they brought a whole fresh set of desserts! It was amazing.
There was a microphone set up in the speaking area with a PPT playing, so the atmosphere (and event description) gave the impression that a speech was going to be happening at this event.
Spoiler alert: as I said, his speech was 5 minutes at most.
I got myself something to eat and chatted with a few ladies who were there.
One girl and I hit it off, but then later I found out she works at the worst company on Earth. Which one? Go read my blog from a few days ago about investing in yourself.
We connected on Linkedin and I told her my reasons for not liking that company (the founders helped create our education system and removed financial literacy and natural medicines from our knowledge basis) back 100 years ago.
Believe it or not… she was a bit shocked, and even understanding.
At first she said, “isn’t that a long time to hold a grudge”
But I said, “Well, they set up everyone to be their clients and now we’re all stuck living in their system.”
But she said she used to do lots of amazing work, volunteer work, even the peace corps (and turns out we have a mutual friend I went to high school with) —- so this is exactly what I’m talking about, you can’t get mad all the time at the PEOPLE who work at some of these places, cause sometimes they just have no clue what they’ve gotten themselves into.
Get upset with the issues.
BTW - look up the biggest ever drug bust for trying to import COCAINE into the USA. Guess who it was?
Guess who is the funder of all these islands?
Yah… her company she’s working at. Probably everyone knows this company. They have amazing marketing and PR.
Anyway, lately I keep meeting a lot of people who work at that company. IDK why. Maybe it’s my duty to inspired them to open their eyes a little more hahah. But I’d also rather just keep to myself and let them figure out - but, you know… i’ll do what I gotta!! It’s a good hill to stand on.
BTW…. he spoke maybe 5 minutes total, and that was it!!! This whole event
This event I didn’t even take pictures while there… I thought I did!! But, I also just expected it to go longer, and I never try to force things. So, now as I’m writing this, I’m like “holy crap” I never took a single pic inside (except the food/decoratiosn) hahahah. But, the event was so quick… it felt unnatural to take a pic during that time, and then after that I just chat with a few people and left. Wasn’t for me. I love to go to things and learn.
So, here are the notes I took from his speech. We can discuss:
They start the speech saying, a lot of you may be wondering what you’re doing here… “What is this? If you have more questions more people can help you around the room..”
LOL these self-aware mysterious people!!! They know no one knows what this event is!?!??! hahah I feel exposed.
It’s their first time here at the Collective and they love the venue.
LOL now i’m cocky, like “yeah, i’ve been here before. it’s a great venue.” thinking that (butttt they do have HORRIBLE wifi here… at this COWORKING space. Can you believe it??? That’s surreal - how are you a coworking place with bad wifi!!!
They’re a Canadian company working with us Startups Series A to Post-IPO. Work with Seattle companies and want to help with tech challenges.
If you have people who want to get here but they’re having trouble and they’re abroad they’re a solution. They’re doing to hire them in the offices across Canada.
They hire them and then help you move and live here. Microsoft and more do that. They station people in Canada.
Startups have 15-20 employees struggling with visa issues. Trouble with immigration screening. Time and existence.
Dip your toe in Canada without the risk. They can also help you bring people here.
Canada can get tech workers from 4-6 weeks anywhere in the world.
Move them to Canada. Spouse and family residency. Long term permanent solution.
They said there are no countries off limits, just you must be professional in the technical industry and highly skilled… then they can get you a job in Canada so you can keep being near/here even when your VISA runs out.
So… yeah! that was the event. Hahah. Actually, this was surprisingly useful for me to learn about. I have a dear love overseas who I’ve been working with for over a year to get here. So, it was good to learn of this, get their contact (and though he doesn’t qualify for this, at least we know someone in ‘the industry’ and they probably know someone who can help")
So it’s good to have a “Plan C” now, thanks to this event :)
Overall Event Reviews:
VENUE: 4/5
Room for Improvement: This place is so popular and yet it’s just so inconvenient from the subway station. It’s a 20 minute walk or you can do some combinations of public transit, but still.. just for how central/popular it is, I always think it’s easier to get to. Besides that, it’s fantastic.
FOOD: 5/5
Allow me to Elaborate: Too good. Healthy!!! Delicious!!! Abundant. Amazing.
SPEAKER CONTENT: 2/5
Room for Improvement: I mean… at least he spoke, and what he said was interesting… but I could have heard him talk like 2-5 times longer minimum hahah. I love to learn and hear people talk about their industries. He was like, “I don’t want to take up too much of your time,” at the start of his speech, but I’m like, “Bro!! It’s yours! Take it!” but nah.
NETWORKING: 3/5
Room for Improvement: This was one of those events where they just expect everyone to naturally network - actually more than anything else. But, IDK that kinda works, but not really. It’s a little overrated sometimes: simply networking. That’s what the 3 of us girls even talked about.. how sheer “networking” can be a bit overrated and dull. We talked about that while networking ;)
LIKELINESS TO RETURN: 5/5
Allow me to Elaborate: Guess… hahahah. The FOOD!! They had such incredible food. One thing was like a cucumber cut to be like a littel cup/bowl and then it had avocado and stuff inside. hahaha. It was so good. I’d return for the food and the venue, and just get in the mood to hang out longer and network/socialize hahaha.
Until next time, I wish you the motivation and success to search for opportunities around your area. Search and explore: Who is out there giving talks? There are new things happening all of the time.
Find relatable or interesting topics you like and check them out! Maybe even something hosted at a cool venue, if there’s no other reason to go. Let’s see what you can learn and discover not too far from home. 😊
