The fact that Patrick Pachette, born in Montreal, Canada, left his home country to pursue greener pastures in the United States and is now suggesting that other Canadians who do the same should pay a $500,000 tax (1) may strike some as ironic.
Pichette moved to the U.S. in 2008 to take on the role of senior vice president and CFO of Google in California. He held the role until 2017. Over time, he has amassed a net worth of about $269 million (2) and is now a partner at Inovia Capital.
At the 2026 Liberal Convention (3) in Montreal, Pichette spoke on a panel titled Building a Stronger, More Competitive Canadian Economy.
“We as Canadians have subsidized my education to the tune of … half a million,” he said, during the panel. He went on to explain the Trade NAFTA (TN) (4) visa allows Canadian and Mexican citizens to work temporarily in the U.S. in specific, prearranged jobs.
Pichette himself benefited from this program. After he graduated from the University of Waterloo, he received a job offer from Microsoft offering him $300,000 a year. All he had to do was “show up at the border, apply for a TN visa,” and he got a three-year option with no questions for $30 (1).
So why does Pichette now think that educated Canadians should either leave home for their professional careers or pay a $500,000 exit tax?
Canada is experiencing what is often called a brain drain. This is when highly educated people leave their country to seek better pay and job opportunities.
According to Statistics Canada (5), the net emigration of 65,372 in 2024-25 was the highest level in the 50-year data series, as reported by The Hub (6).
Research from the Bank of Canada (7) also found that roughly 40% of Canadians who would rank in the top 1% of earners have moved to the United States. The study also found Canadian-born individuals in the U.S. are more educated than native-born Americans and earn substantially more.
Read More: Here’s the average income of Americans by age in 2026. Are you keeping up or falling behind?
That said, Pichette argued these departures drain the Canadian economy.
“You want to go to the U.S.? Give me back my money,” he said (1), adding that about $30,000 tied to the TN program flows to the U.S. each year.
