Can the feds build a talent strategy for digital nomads?

Do digital nomads solve Canada's tech talent gap?

While last week’s episode was competition-focused, this week we tackle that other bugaboo of Canadian tech: talent.

Regular listeners of this podcast will be familiar with the idea that Canada is facing a significant shortage of high-skilled tech workers and anyone alive during the past two years will recognize the impact that COVID has had on remote work and hybrid work.

“Is it a silver bullet, is this one policy going to fix everything? No.”
– Ben Bergen, CCI

What to do about all of that?

Well, in the days before the budget dropped, the federal government announced some key changes to its Global Talent Strategy, including the development of a plan to attract and retain the world’s digital nomads.

What the hell does that mean?

I have no idea. But thankfully the folks at CCI do, who also happened to publish some recommendations on what Canada’s 21st century talent strategy should look like. Joining this week’s episode is CCI president Ben Bergen and VP Dana O’Born.

Talent isn’t the only hot topic coming out of this budget, the federal government also announced the creation of a new Canadian Innovation and Investment Agency and Canada Growth Fund. Now details on these orgs are… slim. But that won’t stop us from invoking our inner Columbo and asking ‘just one more question’ or maybe we’ll leave that to Paul Wells.

Let’s dig in.


The BetaKit Podcast is sponsored by Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt LLP.
Osler, the leading law firm for startups, high-growth companies, and investors in Canada, has released its inaugural study of 332 anonymized Canadian venture capital and growth equity financings. Read the Deal Points Report: Venture Capital Financings.


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The BetaKit Podcast is hosted by Douglas Soltys & Rob Kenedi. Edited by Kattie Laur. Sponsored by Osler and Cisco.

Photo courtesy Unsplash.

Douglas Soltys

Douglas Soltys

Douglas Soltys is the Editor-in-Chief of BetaKit and founder of BetaKit Incorporated. He has worked for a few failed companies and written about many more. He spends too much time on the Internet.

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