Outsourcing Tech Business to India - via Canada

(Toronto) It does sound politically more proper to say that "We send some business to Toronto" than to say "We outsource to India." But that's only one of the benefits to be derived by having Indian companies set up operations in Canada. From the Toronto Star (reg. req'd):

For Polaris, a software company headquartered in Chennai, India, setting up shop in Toronto made good business sense.

Having an office in the Exchange Tower at York and King Sts. gave the publicly listed company - with annual revenues of $180 million (U.S.) and 6,000 employees around the world - easy access to the all-important American market without the hassles of visa restrictions and the higher costs associated with basing itself there.

"We were looking for a near-shore centre that would let us access the Canadian financial market as well as help us support the U.S. as a marketplace in North America," said Rahul Petkar, who established the Toronto office last fall with a dozen employees.

Polaris derives more than 40% of its revenue from the U.S. by providing technology services for banks and insurance companies. By operating out of Canada, the company can do business about 30% cheaper than in the U.S.

All this appears to indicate that a company could very well be outsourcing to India (or anywhere) just by going across the border into Ontario. I will agree that this is not a new phenomenon, just a recent example.