Canada is outpacing the U.S. with its growth in its tech workforce over the past 12 months, according to LinkedIn’s Workforce Report for Canada.
The report revealed that Canada had a 1.6 per cent growth rate compared to the United States’ 1.1 per cent increase, which it said could be attributed to a number of technology workforce trends.
Canadian tech companies across the country are looking to grow their businesses, it noted. At the same time, a number of other established industries across Canada are doubling down on scaling out their tech capabilities.
In addition, Canadian venture capital investment increased by 215 per cent to C$14.2 billion last year. According to the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, the Information, Communications & Technology sector pulled in over C$9 billion of that amount.
According to the LinkedIn report, Canadian technology companies are experiencing company and headcount growth. For example, Toronto-based cybersecurity provider 1Password closed the largest investment round in Canadian history this past January and has plans to double its workforce over the next year.
Growth has also occurred outside the IT sector, with telecommunications and banking sectors hiring more employees. Major lenders such as TD Bank have been on tech hiring sprees as they expand in areas such as artificial intelligence, automation tools and cybersecurity.
American companies are also looking outside of the U.S. for talent, thanks to the trend towards remote work that allows people to work from anywhere. And big tech companies such as Google, Amazon, Netflix, Reddit, Meta, Uber and Wayfair have all added tech jobs in Toronto and across Canada.
Tech talent is blossoming in cities across the country, but the cities with the most notable growth include Calgary, Vancouver, and Toronto.
Combined, they saw a digital skills growth of 6.3 per cent. In comparison, in top cities in the U.S. including Seattle, San Francisco Bay Area, and New York City, total tech talent growth was 4.7 per cent.
Canadian universities such as University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo, two Ontario-based schools, are also churning out tech workers, the report revealed.
The University of Waterloo, for example, enrolled twice as many engineering students as Stanford and MIT combined, according to the Waterloo Region Economic Development Corporation. Its engineering students also graduate with two years of on-the-job experience at global companies.
The tech jobs that have experienced the most growth over one year include data engineer, back end developer, software engineering manager, and implementation scientist.
