I am interested to know the scope of product management as a career track in the Greater Toronto Area. My understanding is that this profession is one that is usually concentrated at company headquarters. Given that most of the renowned tech companies are headquartered in the US, it seems like even PM opportunities for these companies at Canada offices are hard to come by. However, for the same companies, there are far more software engineering positions (even accounting for the fact that it is a career track that naturally has more jobs than PM) in Canada.
Can someone let me know their thoughts on the above? I’m basically trying to understand the career scope for Product Managers in Canada.
I worked as Dir. of Product at a Canadian Startup for a while so I have some background to answer this question. At any company engineering roles always out number PM 10 to 1 or more. Almost every tech company or even banks like RBC have open positions for PM’s. Many startups are even introducing the APM role that the valley invented as a way into product management.I know a few PMs at Canadian startups that have moved here from the US. So there are roles and people get hired for them.
I’ve not seen companies bringing in PMs from outside Canada (Most already are citizens or PRs) also it is much harder to get PM job if you don’t already have years of PM experience (At a PM titled role). The career track here for PMs exists and is growing. Since the ecosystem here is smaller and younger you can climb the ladder faster PM to VP path is very much possible.