The other day I learned that Lake Ontario has a new name on some maps. Ontario's response was a billboard on the shoreline: "Lake Ontario. Now and Always."
It's about as Canadian a response as I can imagine.
I sell Canadian HR and payroll software for a living, so I'm about as neutral on this topic as Ontario is about lake names. But the bias comes from somewhere; I've spent my career betting on this market and on Canadian companies.
Every year, Canadian organizations spend billions on software vendors. When that money goes to a Canadian company, something great happens. It pays Canadian salaries, those folks build products for Canadian problems, and the businesses that buy them get tools made for how this country actually works. The loop sustains itself. When the money leaves, that loop breaks.
We notice when a lake gets renamed. We don't often notice or consider whether the vendor and partners we work with are Canadian. I'm a strong believer that nobody should buy worse software out of loyalty. But I've watched and previously been guilty of selecting a foreign vendor without much thought, and choosing a foreign vendor means we miss out on the chance to succeed together and keep the money working here at home. That money builds an economy either way. It just isn't ours.
None of this is anti-American. Canada works with the world, and plenty of American software earns its place here. This is about noticing the default.
People sometimes ask why Avanti only builds for Canada, and the honest answer is that it's the market we know and the country we care about. We've been Canadian-owned and operated since 1980, and we've spent those 40-plus years building the software Canadian employers use to take care of their people: payroll, HR, time, hiring. All of it difficult in ways that only matter if you work here. CRA rules, provincial employment standards, Records of Employment, union agreements. Your employee data stays in this country, subject to this country's laws. And we never have to decide whether the Canadian update ships before the American one.
We're not the only Canadian company building software for Canadian employers, and I'm glad of that. The more of us there are, the better the loop runs. So my ask is simple: Next time a renewal crosses your desk, or you're evaluating a new partner, ask yourself where the money goes when it leaves your hands, where your employee data lives, and whether Canada is your partner's priority or a side project. If the answers come back good, carry on. At least the decision was made on purpose.
The lake doesn't much care what a map calls it. Where our money lives is a different story.
Proudly Canadian since 1980,
David Owen Cord
CEO, Avanti Software
Curious what Canadian-built looks like?
We'd love to show you how Avanti handles HR and payroll for Canadian employers.
Curious what Canadian-built looks like?
We'd love to show you how Avanti handles HR and payroll for Canadian employers.
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