From SV to BC: British Columbia's New Talent Surge

British Columbia's flourishing tech sector is expected to get a large surge of new talent from entrepreneurs and their accompanying employees who will be fleeing Silicon Valley due  to President Donald Trump's recent executive order on immigration (Hager, 2017). The order blocks entry to America for citizens from seven different muslim countries, which has cause fear and anxiety among American citizens, since they do not know what is next on Trump's Agenda.

Furthermore, Trump has also planned another executive order to target a specific class of temporary working permits, which tech companies in America have been heavily reliant on in order to recruit highly skilled engineers from outside the country (Hager, 2017). Although it is sad entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley face this problem, this surge in new talent will be extremely beneficial to BC's tech sector. 

According to Florida and Martin, in order to have a successful creative industry, it is important to harness creative potential by creating new jobs in high-value industries bringing in new talent, which is exactly what will happen with the surge of talent coming from Silicon Valley. 

Clearly government policies play a large role in the success of a region's tech sectors. Do you think places like BC and Ontario will be able to become more sustainable or successful than Silicon Valley while Donald Trump is in Office?

Sources:

Hager, M. (2017, January 30). B.C. tech sector to get surge of talent fleeing Silicon Valley: insiders. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-tech-sector-to-get-surge-of-talent-fleeing-silicon-valley-insiders/article33845299/

Florida, R., Martin, R. (2009). Ontario in the Creative Age. Martin Prosperity Institute.