the canadian talent drain
a picture from the nba finals 🇨🇦
welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj — always up to something in social good x tech. scroll to the end for a daily roundup on unique opportunities. :)
the canadian talent drain 🇨🇦
last night’s nba finals made it impossible to ignore: four starters were canadian.
canada has a lot of talent. yet, i encounter these talented folks mostly in america.
i’ve felt this for a long time. first, i watched top students leave canada for undergrad. later, while living in sf, i noticed many of the best engineers were canadian. i’d always shrugged and said, “it is what it is,” until i realized many starters in last night’s game-7 nba finals were canadian. that pushed me to dig deeper.
canada doesn’t have the infrastructure to incentivize unconventional success.
there’s nothing conventional about high-level sports, the world of startups, or artistic endeavors. why stay if you can’t thrive, can’t find community, and policy holds you back while opportunity gathers in america?
let me spew some stats to showcase the reality of this issue real quick:
29% of gen-z canadians have considered relocation to the us
canadians earn 8% less than their american peers
but, that’s just tech. on the court last night, i saw sga, dort, nembhard and mathurin — all canadians who started in the 2025 nba finals after migrating to us prep schools/ncaa programs. canada’s u sports caps scholarships at tuition, while us programs offer full rides plus NIL income. further, hollywood’s studio system, broadway, and la label budgets dwarf canadian grant programs, highlighting canada’s low visibility in the arts.
us ecosystems loudly reward moon-shot risk, whereas canadian institutions lean toward caution and consensus. for canadians in their 20s wanting to make something big out of their lives, the psychological pull south is real.
we can try building community all we want (and we have), but the fact is that people need a real financial incentive to care about patriotism.
canada is giving up the future.
today’s drops 🔍️
apply for $1,000,000 to scale your startup by july 9th
product manager internship @ oracle
attend this rabbithole retreat in tennessee
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teehee,
harsehaj ✌️