Shopify's influence isn't absolute
A letter supporting DEI signals a lot of the tech sector is willing to push back against its biggest success story.
An open letter advocating for the tech industry to protect diversity, equity, and inclusion within its companies topped 800 signatories this week. Though the letter doesn’t mention Shopify by name, it does call out two incidents that have put the Canadian tech giant in the spotlight this month: providing ecommerce tech Kanye West used to sell a swastika-emblazoned t-shirt — and shutting his store down not for promoting hateful content, but because of potential risk of fraud — and laying off teams supporting Black, Indigenous, and women entrepreneurs.
The letter was written by leaders of Canadian tech community and learning organizations: Laura Gabor, founder of What In the Tech, Sarah Stockdale, founder of Growclass, and Avery Swartz, CEO of Camp Tech.
Prominent signatories include Arlene Dickinson, Willful CEO Erin Bury, Toast CEO Marissa McNeelands, and Startup Canada CEO Kayla Isabelle.
How we got here: The pushback against DEI programs predates Donald Trump’s re-election in the U.S., but it has further emboldened the anti-DEI crowd. Corporate DEI is far from perfect — equity advocates have been skeptical of efforts that don’t have full buy-in from leadership or outright ignore the concerns of staff — and in some cases, companies are taking an excuse to cut spending on things they don’t think is worthwhile. But the rhetoric from the administration, its supporters, and those looking to replicate it in Canada has made DEI an indirect way to target and scapegoat equity-seeking groups — as some have put it, critics are saying DEI “with a hard r.”
Cutting DEI and other so-called “woke” policies was a quick and easy way some tech companies tried to kowtow to Trump.
Why it matters: Almost as important as what the letter’s signatories are standing up for is who they are standing against. Shopify is revered in some corners of Canada’s tech sector, where it has a similar status to Google’s in Silicon Valley — the fact that someone is ex-Shopify staff is often a headline item when they start a new company or get hired in a new gig. But this many people signing the letter shows that the industry is not a monolith, and there could also be resistance to other rightward shifts Shopify and like-minded founders have been hoping for.
Other tech organizations and lobbying groups, though identifying as non-partisan, use their influence to promote right-leaning policies, like lower taxes, cutting government spending, and looser regulations.
Build Canada is a new group aiming to influence government policy, with the likes of Shopify’s Tobi Lütke', Borrowell’s Andrew Graham, and Wealthsimple’s Michael Katchen among the ranks. It is promoting ideas such as a DOGE-reminiscent effort to reform the federal workforce to be “lean [and] agile” to lower costs, as well shifting immigration policies that would cut back humanitarian migration and refugees in favour of more skilled talent.
Elsewhere: Apple investors rejected a proposal to scrap DEI efforts, another suggestion that not every tech company is ready to pull the plug, but it also said it may “make adjustments.” Montreal tech conference Startupfest publicly reaffirmed its commitment to diversity in its speakers, while also doubling the number of discounted passes it offers to founders from underrepresented backgrounds.