Technology job growth has slowed this year, reports CBRE, but the adoption of artificial intelligence has increased demand for specialized talent and that is spurring success within certain hotspots across the nation.
An analysis of LinkedIn data found that the tech talent workforce with AI skills grew more than 50% year-over-year to more than 500,000.
The firm’s latest annual Scoring Tech Talent report (building on last year’s edition) finds Toronto—a hub reputed within Canada for top-tier AI workers—ranking third in North America this year with a score of 68, behind only San Francisco (83) and Seattle (69).
Toronto boasts the continent’s fourth largest AI talent pool, which CBRE says consist of 24,000 workers. And, among Canadian markets, Toronto maintained the lead in total tech talent and added the most total jobs between 2021 and 2024 at 43,000, according to CBRE’s report.
But it was hardly the only region in Canada to shine in the report.
Nearby neighbour Waterloo, for example, saw impressive gains in the rankings, advancing several spots to crack the top 10 with a score of 63.
With a score of 61, Vancouver moved up into the 10th spot, followed by Ottawa in 11th and Montreal ranking 15th.
Notably, Edmonton also climbed up an impressive 11 spots year-over-year, while Calgary was reported as the fastest growing tech talent market from 2021 through 2024 at more than 60%.
Both Edmonton and Calgary’s numbers suggest that Alberta’s tech talent ecosystem is robust, but CBRE Canada Chairman Paul Morassutti affirms that staying afloat the AI wave remains key to sustaining healthy workforces moving forward.
“Artificial intelligence is a transformative technology that is rapidly reshaping the employment landscape across the world, particularly in Canada,” he remarked.
Morassutti noted that Canada now has “three of the Top 10 largest AI talent pools in North America in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal.”
At nearly 6%, Canada had stronger tech talent growth than the U.S., with less than 2%, in 2024, adding about 66,600 tech talent jobs overall.
“The ongoing deployment of AI systems across industries will continue to drive job growth and real estate demand,” Morassutti believes.
Demand for AI-related roles contributed to increased tech talent wages, according to CBRE’s report, which grew by 4% in the U.S. and 5% in Canada in 2024.
“The rapid development and adoption of AI is generating economic growth across major tech hubs,” commented Colin Yasukochi, who serves as executive director of CBRE’s Tech Insights Centre. “The AI industry could be the catalyst for another growth cycle.”
CBRE’s annual Scoring Tech Talent report ranks the top 50 tech markets in the U.S. and Canada.
Tech talent refers to skilled workers across a wide variety of technology-oriented occupations.
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