Canada losing top talent as workers head to the U.S.

Summary

A new TD Economics report warns Canada is quietly losing highly skilled workers, entrepreneurs and STEM graduates to the United States through work visas, tech recruitment and stronger economic opportunities.BNN Bloomberg spoke with Francis Fong, managing director at TD Economics, about how Canada’s tax structure, productivity challenges and lack of business scale are contributing to the country’s ongoing talent retention problem.Key TakeawaysCanada is quietly losing highly skilled workers, entrepreneurs and STEM talent to the United States through stronger compensation and career opportunities. Productivity challenges are being worsened by weak business scale-up, lower venture capital availability and a lack of globally competitive firms. High marginal tax rates and lower income thresholds are creating competitiveness concerns for professionals and business owners. Lower-tax U.S. states such as Texas and Florida continue attracting Canadian workers and entrepreneurs seeking higher growth opportunities. Retaining top talent will require stronger economic competitiveness, improved business investment and better conditions for firms to grow domestically.Francis Fong, managing director at TD Economics Francis Fong, managing director at TD Economics Read the full transcript below:ROGER: A new report from TD Economics argues Canada is quietly losing many of its most skilled workers, entrepreneurs and STEM graduates to the U.S. The report calls it a “silent brain drain,” led by highly skilled professionals leaving through work visas, tech recruitment and stronger economic opportunities. Joining us now to discuss this is Francis Fong, co-author of the report and managing director at TD Economics. Francis, thanks very much for joining us.FRANCIS: Thanks for having me, Roger.ROGER: Okay, how does this compare to the ’90s when we saw a brain drain then? Is it larger? Different sectors?FRANCIS: No, I think, Roger, you pointed to it correctly. This is not an issue that is brand...