As an active member of the tech community here, I find it interesting to read about how big the pie is for province.

Also, hiring qualified developers/operations staff is virtually impossible with the number of companies competing. How did California solve this problem, if at all?

California has a local talent pipeline (UC Berkeley, Stanford) and has become attractive for tech talent across the world. Combine that with a fiercely competitive local market, and the Bay is a pretty safe place for anyone who is a reasonably good SWE.

So... lots of money, a willingness to import, and a local pipeline.

When was the last time you sent a recruiter to an American university?

A combination of higher salaries and H1B applicants. I think an important distinction should be the list of companies that are headquartered in Vancouver, versus setting up satellite/branch offices. In contrast, California seems to have many more hi-tech companies headquartered in the state (clustered around SV or SF).