By the way, one of the challenges I see in working in Canada is finding a software company that can compare to Google and Microsoft in terms of being both innovative and established. RIM is the closest I can think of.
True, but as far as I understand, Microsoft's main Canadian development center in Vancouver is mainly set up as a place where Canadian engineers can work for a few years until they get visas to work in Redmond.
Yes, but if the intent is to find a safe haven in Canada from the US economy... well... you're in trouble either way as it'll affect everything... but if that was your intent you'd probably stick with Canadian tech companies.
Here's a neat ranking of Canadian tech companies.
http://list.canadianbusiness.com/rankings/tech100/2008/q1/pe...