When American tourists visit Canada, they don’t really think of it as “going abroad.”
Likewise, American IT firms hardly view Canada as a foreign country. The United States and Canada share the world’s longest international border, and our relationship is one of the closest and most extensive. Our economies feed each other, our universities and colleges teach the same skills in the same ways and, at least in the technology sector, our business culture is virtually identical.
It’s not news to anyone that major American companies like IBM, Dell and Microsoft have a major presence in Canada. Canada is closer to the technology hubs of the U.S. eastern seaboard than you may think. Plus, it’s a place where American companies feel right at home.
Familiarity Breeds Comfort
It is easy to see why acquiring resources from Canada is a very attractive option. The benefit of having that familial sense when crossing the border is very comforting. There is the shared experience of food, music, transportation, architecture, the legal system, and for the most part, language, that is the cornerstone of making someone feel at ease.
Being culturally similar breaks down most barriers when it comes to having your business objectives fulfilled. Add to that the benefit of sharing a border, vastly reduces time spent sorting out usual project issues that arise.
Great Developers Think Alike
In addition to being culturally similar, Americans and Canadians both use the same coding standards and methodology in IT projects.
While it may be true that a software developer in Canada might not come as cheaply as a developer in India, it’s going to be a lot easier to get things done by talking to someone only one time zone away (or at most, a short flight away), as well as with someone who’s in complete accord as you.
Considerations When Nearshoring
We all agree that business culture can differ tremendously, and costs can soar once you realize that the IT project manager you just hired half a world away may not work according to your wishes or budget.
When comparing nearshoring with other countries, consider some of the below areas:
- Connectivity (air, road and sea): is there a good, safe infrastructure?
- Resource quality: do they meet our standards?
- Initial/total cost of the hire/project: can budgets/timeline be met with the quality standard we require?
- Language/culture of nearshore and principal country: ease of communication, accessibility, lower wages and taxes
- Bandwidth quality: reliability of resources and infrastructure, both virtually and physically.
Nearshoring to Canada allows you to leverage top development talent for your business while eliminating traditional outsourcing’s communication and time zone barriers thereby vastly decreasing delays in your project timeline.
An Accommodating Solution
Companies all want the same thing—to put out a quality product that costs less to produce via paying lower wages and lower taxes. So when objectively weighing all your options, you will agree that nearshoring to Canada does offer a truly accommodating solution.
If your priorities are having English-fluent, experienced consultants in close proximity—IT professionals who are able to navigate your unique business challenges—then nearshoring to Canada should be the choice to help your company keep development costs down, reduce delays and help you innovate for the future.