On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on the TechTO stage in 2025. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Michael ↗
In their words
Our purpose at BorderPass is to solve legal complexity, which we feel is a hidden infrastructure problem in Canada's and the world's economies.
The core issue is that law has never really been forced to operate at scale or speed. And once we saw that, it became obvious that automation built for compliance and legal reasoning could turn an unpredictable, high-variance process into something reliable.
As the rules have become tighter, that's all the more reason to have experts backing up your application. The additional scrutiny, the additional pace at which change is happening, has made it all the more critical to have legal guidance when you're exploring global mobility.
Quick answers
Who is Michael Pietrocarlo?
Head of marketing at BorderPass, an immigration and legal technology company. He presented the company at TechTO's Canadian Rocketships 2025 finale in December 2025, his first appearance on a TechTO stage.
What does BorderPass do?
BorderPass automates immigration compliance — visa and permit applications — for newcomers, schools and employers. It was founded by an immigration lawyer and a serial entrepreneur who had faced cross-border immigration problems of her own.
What did Michael Pietrocarlo say at TechTO?
He argued that immigration is a symptom rather than the problem: law has never had to run at scale or speed, so rules that change overnight break for everyone downstream. From the stage he said BorderPass had helped over 1,000 newcomers across more than 167 countries, and cited Bank of Canada figures putting newcomers' 2024 contribution at a 2.9% boost to economic capacity.