Where have all the smart people gone?

A look at the perceived ‘Brain Drain’ in Canada

Where is Canadian talent going? It’s a question that has been asked in Canada for some time. The phenomenon of skilled Canadians looking abroad for better opportunity has been noticed by analysts as far back as the 1860s, and fear of the dreaded “brain drain” reached a fever pitch in the 1990s—only to be alleviated by a strong Canadian economy during a worldwide economic crisis in the 2000s.

Now, with the dollar falling back to a ‘90s level, skilled workers once again find themselves wondering if they can find greater value for their talents south of the border. So what does this mean for Canada? Will we be able to innovate here at home if our best people can find better opportunity elsewhere? Were the fears of the ‘90s well-founded after all?

It’s a common perception among Canadians that brain drain is contributing to Canada falling behind in innovation, but perception can be misleading. A recent Ipsos poll conducted for Global News found that 54 per cent of Canadians believe this to be true. However, Global also reports a strong disparity between public opinion and the findings of experts who say that Canadian industry is developing at a healthy pace, albeit quietly, leading to the current perception of stagnation.

One of the most commonly sighted causes for the supposed brain drain is income tax. Throughout Canadian political history, a connection between high income tax and the exodus of skilled workers and innovators has been touted by tax-cut-advocates. Another likely cause is the ongoing tanking of the Canadian dollar, as with the dollar predicted to drop to as low as 59 cents US in 2016 it’s difficult to argue with anyone who sees an opportunity to receive a paycheck in US currency and takes it.

Perhaps the most visible industry in the brain drain debate is the tech industry. Canada’s technology industry is a third of the size of its counterpart in California and contains plenty of examples of high-profile people fleeing south and Canadian startups being bought out by American giants. However, as president of Invest Ottawa Bruce Lazenby points out in the aforementioned Global report, there is actually quite a bit happening in Canadian tech that goes largely unnoticed on the world stage and by the Canadian public.

According to Lazenby, the key to fostering greater Canadian innovation is to be more vocal about these achievements. “We don’t spend the time sort of banging the drum in Canada,” Jason Flick, Canadian CEO of Youi.tv, told Global.

Returning to the ‘90s, where the spectre of brain drain was at its most prevalent, we can see perhaps Canada’s best means of mitigating any loss of homegrown talent. While StatsCan provides evidence that Canada did indeed lose a fair amount of skilled people in the ‘90s, this loss was actually more than made up for by incoming professionals from around the world, leading to an overall brain gain. It seems we have Canada’s high quality of life to thank for this. This remains true today according to a recent report by the Star which profiles just a few of the high profile professionals that Canadian organizations have snagged from around the globe.

Keeping skilled people incentivized to stay in Canada should always be considered when mapping out our economic future, but overall it seems that rumors of the demise of innovation in Canada are being greatly exaggerated. Just as they have always been.