Canada is an attractive place to live, work, and thrive for people from around the world.
For those looking for a country with a rich technology ecosystem, Canada is even more attractive. In the 2020 Scoring Canadian Top Talent report from CBRE, tech talent workers in Canada account for 5.6% of the labour force, but that number is on the rise. The number of tech talent workers has increased 22.5% in the past five years, outpacing the national average by 7.1%.
According to the report, the top 10 Canadian markets for tech talent are:
- Toronto, ON
- Ottawa, ON
- Vancouver, BC
- Waterloo Region, ON
- Montreal, QC
- Calgary, AB
- Victoria, BC
- Halifax, NS
- Quebec City, QC
- Hamilton, ON
All of this is important to consider for tech talent looking to relocate to Canada. Both Ireland and the U.K. are also highly ranked for their deep technology capabilities, which means that skillsets, educational requirements, and experience levels are likely an easy fit when it comes to filling open tech roles in Canada.
Here are three reasons why tech experts in the U.K. and Ireland might want to consider Canada as a destination:
- Canada is globally regarded for its high quality of life. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Canada ranks highly in its OECD Indicators of Talent Attractiveness tool, which captures the strengths and weaknesses of countries regarding their capacity to attract and retain highly educated workers, foreign entrepreneurs, and university students. In fact, it sits just behind Australia and Sweden when it comes to attracting highly educated workers and entrepreneurs. And when it comes to quality of life for highly educated workers, Canada ranks only slightly behind Norway, but higher than countries like the United States, the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, and Finland.
- According to data from Statistics Canada, newcomers from the U.K. and western Europe tend to find more success in the Canadian labour market than their counterparts from other regions in the world. Part of this is because newcomers who attained their highest level of education or had their last residence in the U.K. had a high probability of receiving recognition for work experience (76%) and credentials (54%), compared to some other countries.
- Canada offers higher than average compensation for technology jobs. In 2019, the average salary of a Toronto technology industry worker increased by 9% over the previous 12 months, a growth rate that ties with Boston and far suprasses other technology hubs including Seattle, Washington, Chicago, London, Paris, and the Bay Area.
Canada’s growing tech economy is attractive to newcomers from around the globe, including those from Ireland and the U.K. Already, according to the Irish Immigration Centre, 10,700 Irish newcomers are welcomed to Canada each year. And between 6,000 and 10,000 U.K. citizens become permanent residents of Canada every year.
Want to learn more about the opportunities for people considering moving to Canada from the U.K. or Ireland? Join us for the Global Talent Expo: UK & Ireland on June 16th.