I'm not a Canadian trying to sell Canada, I happen to be a global citizen, having come from Europe, with a unique perspective about the Perfect Storm Canada is in right now.
I moved to Canada, March 2017. I was excited about living in Vancouver because of the proposition, under Mayor Gregor Robertson, of it being the greenest city on the planet by 2020. However when I arrived, I was staggeringly frustrated by the fact I had to go out and buy two cars. Whereas in London, I didn't have a car, there were other transportation options for me to use. Vancouver's public transit system doesn't always get me where I need to go efficiently, you don't have Uber, which means I have to rely on a fairly defunct taxi system. Therefore, my wife and I, had to go out and buy two gas guzzling cars, which we drive around the city every single day of the week.
How on earth can you be green when you are encouraging the population to go and buy two cars?
Canada's a naturally resource rich country, politically stable, fiscally stable, bit old fashioned in terms of the banking system. However, it's quite nice and encouraging to know you physically use cheques to go between TD Bank and RBC. It slows things down, which is not a bad thing.
Canada is in a perfect location because you are next to a staggering trading partner who is led by an individual who gets confused between rhetoric and policy. He is Canada's biggest advocate at the moment because the Data Protection Act, data sovereignty, HD One visas are all playing into Canada's hands. The people who currently write code in Silicon Valley, and are running startups there, are managed by Indians, Australians, Lebanese, Israelis, and everybody else. Apparently, when their visas come to an end, those jobs are going to be taken up by Americans, so where will all those talented people go?
They're probably not going to go to the other side of the world to Toronto, because frankly, they might as well go to Europe, or go home. They might come up to Vancouver because It is relatively close to Silicon Valley. If this happens and there is an influx of technology talent and companies, Vancouver will need to tackle its housing shortage, high cost of living, transportation issues, and lower salaries. I believe all of these things need to be sorted out relatively quickly because these people are figuring out where they will need to go next when they are not able to remain in the United States.
BC's pitch to all of these people needs to be, 'here is a province ready with open arms, only a couple of hours from Seattle, which is delighted to take you.'
Canada has a good economic relationship with China. Brexit is in a mess and since nobody knows what's going to happen, the GDP in the United Kingdom is struggling. UK Big Banks are looking for Plan B and Plan C. So, Canada with its natural resources, abundance of power, and proximity to a couple big trading partners is a spectacular situation, especially with its political and fiscal property.
Unfortunately, Canadians are beautifully modest and will not grab at the opportunity. Canada needs to be grabbing because it's in the middle of a perfect storm.
Nicholas Jeffery, a Vancouver based Smart City Expert, contributes regularly to IoT Economist. Nicholas pivoted in the new millennia to bring his business acumen and strategic thinking to bear in the technology, media and telecommunications markets, helping companies flesh out their growth strategies, business development and sales operations.
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