Oh Canada.
If you do it right, Canada is so much cheaper than the U.S. There are so many amazing subsidies for engineers, grants, etc. And yet, it’s just a short flight away (customs drama aside), same languages, same time zones.
So short answer but also a longer answer. Of course Silicon Valley VCs invest in Canadian cos. Shopify, Hootsuite, and so many others crush it.
But …
Some don’t. And many VCs have a higher bar to investing outside of the SF Bay Area. They’ll still do it, it’s just a higher bar for them, both because of the reasons you identify (talent), but also just because it’s further.
One thing is always true: for U.S. VCs that aren’t inclined to invest in Canada (or anywhere outside U.S.), opening an SF office does not help unless the CEO moves here.
If the CEO moves to the SF Bay Area, you are now a Bay Area tech company. Even if everyone else is in Canada, or Portugal, or Antarctica.
That’s all the matters to VCs.
But just having a sales office here? Doesn’t count. So don’t waste mental calories trying to act like it might or does.
