An American, Ms. Greve Young worked with tech companies in the United States and Britain, usually as a management consultant. Like others I interviewed, she said she was attracted to Canada by a work culture more accommodating for women and minorities. The cost of living in Canada was another lure, even if salaries tend to be lower than those in the United States.

“Toronto, for Canada, is expensive,” Ms. Greve Young said. “But the cost of living is so much lower than the Bay Area or New York or London.”

While reporting the story, I found out that the traffic goes the other way too. Increasingly, Canadians in the tech industry are turning their backs on places like Silicon Valley and returning home. There’s even a formal program, Go North Canada, which has been trying to charm Canadians to return though billboards in California and at social events at tech centers throughout the United States.

The differences between the two countries’ work cultures, along with a desire to be near family, motivated the return of several Canadians who spoke with me.

“I’d say in Canada in general it’s a lot more balanced lifestyle than in the United States and San Francisco especially,” said Lindsay Farlow, an electrical engineer who once worked in Silicon Valley and recently took a job with a software research lab that General Motors opened in Kitchener, Ontario, last year.