&gt;But in terms of actually building a business in the early days where head-down heavy lifting is required, I don&#x27;t really see what SV offers that Toronto or Montreal do not.<p>A much larger labor pool.  In Silicon Valley, provided you&#x27;re willing to pay, you can find experts for pretty much anything computer-related.  You can find people looking to work at startups, willing to put in the hours, and willing (somewhat) to defer compensation.  I&#x27;m sure there are a lot of smart people in Toronto and Montreal, but tech people flock to northern California from all over the world.