According to recent research from CBRE, there are over 7.1 million highly skilled tech professionals in the United States and Canada. North American tech hubs have some of the highest concentrations of people with advanced tech degrees and job opportunities anywhere.
However, the tech industry landscape has changed dramatically over the past three years. The rise of remote work and online learning has levelled the playing field for accessing tech talent, making geography less important when assessing the overall health of the tech sector.
To that end, pandemic-era hiring (and firing) trends have created a greater pool of tech talent than ever before. As a result, hiring (and firing) during the pandemic have created a larger pool of tech talent than ever before. This means that sectors traditionally seen as less tech-focused are now seeking out more technological expertise.
All of this reinforces the idea that in 2023, every company is, in some way, a tech company.
These are just some of the factors behind the 2023 Scoring Tech Talent ranking of North American tech hubs. This annual report evaluates the top 50 population centres in the US and Canada where tech professionals live, study, and work, based on job creation and innovation.
While each market is assessed using 13 unique metrics to measure its depth, vitality, and appeal to both employers and talent, this year’s ranking reflects key changes in response to the post-pandemic shift. Notably, ‘Labor Costs’ were weighted more heavily than ‘Rent’, as companies are now investing more in people than in office space.
Both small and large markets are seeing a surge in demand for tech talent
So-called “gateway” markets, for example, have experienced a significant increase in available talent and job openings. This is partly because major tech employers are embracing remote work and moving away from expensive hubs, while entrepreneurs in more affordable cities are seizing the opportunity to launch startups.
On top of that, new tech roles are emerging in nearly every industry, expanding opportunities to work in tech across all major markets.
Between 2017 and 2022, for example, Calgary saw a 61% increase in tech talent, while Waterloo (52%) and Edmonton (45%) posted similar gains—even though they weren’t previously known as innovation centres.
Major markets also saw growth over the past five years. San Francisco remained the top destination for tech talent, adding about 75,020 tech jobs in the Bay Area.
While San Francisco’s success is no surprise, Canadian cities are also making their mark: Toronto (63,800) and Montreal (51,500) were the second and third fastest-growing cities for tech talent between 2017 and 2022.
The top five markets in CBRE’s ranking are unchanged from last year, though New York City moved up to third place and Toronto dropped to fifth. But if you look at the broader list and focus on recent trends—like corporate layoffs over the past year—you’ll see that strong tech markets are now spread much more evenly across North America than before.
Here are the top 10 markets (with their scores):
- San Francisco/Bay Area (82.6)
- Seattle (71.4)
- New York City Metro (67.4)
- Washington D.C. (66.7)
- Toronto (66.5)
- Austin (66.4)
- Boston (63.3)
- Vancouver (60.6)
- Dallas/Ft. Worth (60.5)
- Denver (58.5)
Tech talent and opportunities are now more evenly distributed across North America
Ottawa (57.8) and Montreal (57.7) hold the 11th and 12th spots, and with their rapid pace of hiring and talent attraction, it’s likely that at least one of these cities will break into the top 10 in the coming years.
This is especially true given the growing tech ecosystems in these communities—not to mention the government support and non-dilutive funding available for tech startups in Canada.
At Boast, we’ve seen firsthand that startup activity in Canada is at an all-time high. Events like Collision and FounderFuel Demo Day—the country’s largest annual demo showcase—were back in full swing this year.
We’re also seeing a renewed surge in VC funding in key Canadian markets. For example, investments in Toronto’s tech startups topped $1 billion in Q2, up more than 733% from Q1, while BC’s tech sector saw a 573% jump ($639.6 million invested) over the same period.
That said, many of these VC deals focused on later-stage companies, showing that VC funding is still relatively tight as we head into the fall.
The good news is that early-stage startups—and any innovative founder—can access significant non-dilutive government funding to extend their runway as they launch new products or services.
At Boast AI, we make it easy to secure non-dilutive capital. Our intelligent R&D platform helps you maximize your access to funding while streamlining your R&D processes.
Want to learn more about Boast? Book a call with us today. And to stay up to date on funding programs available to startups across North America, subscribe to our blog.
