Dan Burgar: A decade after Slack’s departure, the same forces are pulling at the next wave of Vancouver companies. The brain drain will never be a completely solved problem but three things would kickstart change
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The messaging app Slack is both one of the biggest Canadian tech successes and a multibillion-dollar missed opportunity. Born in Vancouver, it could only scale amidst the Bay Area’s abundant capital and infrastructure. Canada lost not just a “unicorn,” but the talent, mentorship, and reinvestment to power a generation of wealth-building startups in Vancouver.
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With world-class universities and top-tier ambitious talent, Canada should be a global innovation leader. Yet we are falling behind because we have failed to create sustainable conditions that turn great ideas into lasting economic momentum.
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Our per-capita GDP and productivity have been outclassed by the U.S. over the last decade. Natural resources are an economic blessing, but over-reliance on them will expose us to predictable boom-bust cycles and leave prosperity from value-added industries on the table.
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This is especially important now as global trade ruptures. Innovative industries are better positioned to weather storms and, importantly, head offices here mean Canada captures the wealth we generate.
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In thriving innovation hubs such as Silicon Valley, ecosystems grow through a self-reinforcing flywheel — ideas become companies that scale with capital, talent, and partnerships, leading to substantial “exits” that power reinvestment into the next generation of ideas. This cycle too often stalls in Canada before ever completing a full spin.
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Some building blocks are in place. Canada funds basic science and R&D. Governments must further empower innovation by unlocking patient capital, supporting infrastructure, and reducing friction for startups to scale.
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One condition stands out above the rest: risk capital must be here. The U.S. now produces 45 times more high-potential startups than Canada, up from 11 times in 2015. Two-thirds of Canadian founders raising over $1 million are now doing so outside Canada, up from under one-third a decade ago.
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A decade after Slack’s departure, the same forces are pulling at the next wave of Vancouver companies. Clio, the legal software leader headquartered in Vancouver, and General Fusion, the clean-energy pioneer in Richmond, are building world-class technology, and are very likely facing the same gravitational pull south. Is it only a matter of time before they follow Slack? The brain drain will never be a completely solved problem, but we cannot afford its alarming, worsening trend line.
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Governments at all levels have fallen short.
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The once-promising “digital technology supercluster” became bogged down by bureaucracy, favouring established players over the early-stage startups that actually build wealth. Federal tax credits have long supported R&D without effectively supporting commercialization. Companies sell their government-supported intellectual property too early, or leave, effectively subsidizing other countries to profit from our innovations.
