Calgary’s tech employment grew 56 percent between 2022 and 2025, the highest rate among the 50 North American markets tracked in CBRE’s 2026 Scoring Tech Talent report, marking the city’s third straight year atop the growth rankings.
The city added nearly 29,000 tech workers over that stretch and pushed its total past 80,000. Tech roles now make up 9.4 percent of Calgary employment, almost double the 5.5 percent average across the studied markets.
Calgary climbs to 15th while six Canadian cities crack the top 15
Calgary rose two places to 15th overall. Toronto held third, Vancouver ninth, Waterloo Region tenth, Montreal 11th and Ottawa 14th. Eight Canadian cities landed in the full top 50.
Marc Meehan, CBRE Canada research managing director, said Canadian cities sit at the forefront of AI adoption. “Having six markets in the Top 15 and eight cities in the Top 50 is impressive for a country our size,” he said. “Canada has been the dominant growth story for tech talent over the past five years, with many U.S. and Canadian tech firms tapping into the high-quality and comparatively affordable talent on offer here.”
| City | Overall rank | Growth rate highlight |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto | 3 | 27% growth, largest absolute Canadian gains |
| Vancouver | 9 | Top-10 hold |
| Waterloo Region | 10 | 37% growth, second overall |
| Montreal | 11 | Improved ranking |
| Ottawa | 14 | Top-15 Canadian cluster |
| Calgary | 15 | 56% growth, North American leader |
New York Metro became the single largest tech talent market, overtaking the San Francisco Bay Area after the Bay Area shed nearly 24,000 roles while New York added more than 30,000.
Canadian tech jobs grew four times faster than U.S. ones in 2025
Total Canadian tech talent employment rose 7.6 percent, or 91,300 jobs, in 2025. U.S. tech talent grew just 1.8 percent, or 108,760 jobs. The high-tech industry itself drove only a minority of Canada’s gains; finance, insurance, real estate and transportation also pulled hard.
Across the full 2022-2025 window Canada’s tech talent base expanded 16.5 percent while overall employment rose 7.1 percent. The U.S. saw 5.3 percent tech growth against 3.9 percent total employment growth. AI-skilled workers across both countries jumped 45 percent year-over-year to 751,000 by mid-2026.
Calgary was one of only nine markets where tech job creation outran new tech-degree completions. The report counted 25,240 more jobs than graduates produced in the city, second only to Toronto on that net-flow measure.
A 500-person tech company still runs on roughly $40 million here
CBRE estimated the full annual labor-plus-real-estate cost of a typical 500-person tech company using 60,000 square feet of office space at about $40.4 million in Calgary. That ranked 46th of 50 markets and less than half the San Francisco Bay Area’s $91 million.
Quebec City posted the lowest figure at $36 million. Canadian markets dominated the cheap end of the list. Average tech wages in Calgary sat at roughly $77,000 USD according to one breakdown of the data, well below Vancouver and Ottawa.
- $40.4 million: Calgary annual cost for 500 tech staff and space
- $91 million: San Francisco Bay Area equivalent
- 46th of 50: Calgary’s cost ranking
- 15 percent: how much higher tech industry wages run versus all-industry averages
The same chapter that maps the lowest-cost markets for a 500-person tech firm notes that wages remain the dominant expense and that office rents still matter even in hybrid eras because firms cluster where talent already sits.
Highest jump in people in their 20s keeps the pipeline stocked
Calgary recorded the largest population increase among people in their 20s and the fourth-largest among those in their 30s. Residents in their 30s already form 17.3 percent of the city’s population, the third-highest concentration in North America.
In the U.S., people in their 20s and 30s make up 49 percent of the tech talent workforce versus 40 percent of general office roles. That youthful tilt gives Calgary a structural edge that compounds each year the inflows continue.
- Highest North American increase in residents in their 20s
- Fourth-highest increase in residents in their 30s
- Third-highest share of residents already in their 30s at 17.3 percent
- Tech talent concentration at 9.4 percent of total local employment
Brad Parry, president and CEO of Calgary Economic Development, tied the numbers to retention. “Companies and skilled workers are choosing Calgary because they find unexpected, yet very real opportunities here, and that growing talent base is strengthening both our technology sector and industries being transformed by technology,” he said.
Local founders say the hiring scramble has reversed
Tuncer Deniz, founder and CEO of Calgary game studio Shifty Eye Games, posted three openings earlier this month and received more than 2,000 applications in five days. “It’s crazy. We’ve never seen anything like that,” he told the Calgary Herald. The company has grown from three people in 2019 to about 30 and now draws both local graduates and experienced hires who already moved to the city from elsewhere in Canada or abroad.
There probably isn’t a particular skill set that we couldn’t find in Calgary.
Brook Papau, CEO of energy-data platform Orennia, said that after the quote. His firm has scaled from two co-founders to roughly 160 employees and recently ranked high on Deloitte’s Canadian Technology Fast 50. Papau pointed to the city’s livability and the depth of software engineering talent now on the ground.
Only about 41 percent of Calgary’s tech workers sit inside pure technology companies. The rest carry digital skills into energy, financial services, agribusiness and life sciences. That spillover is the second-order effect: traditional industries absorb AI, cybersecurity and data tools without having to import every specialist from the coasts. Firms that once had to leave Calgary to scale can now hire and expand in place.
From 34th place early in the decade to a three-peat growth crown
Calgary sat 34th in the CBRE ranking at the start of the 2020s. It climbed to 17th in the 2025 report after a 61 percent surge between 2021 and 2024 that added 24,500 jobs and took the base to 64,600. Earlier windows showed even steeper percentage gains, including a 78 percent rise in one multi-year slice ending around 2023.
- Early 2020s: Calgary ranked near 34th among North American tech talent markets
- 2024 report cycle: growth rates already leading, absolute base still catching up
- 2025 report: 61.1 percent growth 2021-2024, rank 17th, 64,600 workers
- 2026 report: 56 percent growth 2022-2025, rank 15th, more than 80,000 workers
Michael Hoffman, CBRE Calgary managing director, called the livability factor a magnet for international and domestic graduates who can land jobs immediately. The pattern matches other secondary markets that converted cost and quality-of-life advantages into sustained inflows once a critical mass of employers appeared.
More than 1,300 core tech companies and a busy innovation hub
Calgary Economic Development counts more than 1,300 core technology companies spanning SaaS, fintech, cybersecurity, industrial AI and quantum computing. Platform Calgary’s 2025 impact numbers showed the city’s main innovation hub supported 1,563 founders, a 36 percent jump, hosted 869 member tech companies and helped those members generate $235 million in annual revenue. More than 172,500 people came through the doors that year; cumulative visitation since 2022 has passed 300,000. Member companies raised $323.9 million in 2025 alone, pushing total capital since 2018 past $1 billion.
The same diversification impulse appears in other Canadian centres that are broadening beyond single industries, including the kind of quietly diversifying regional economies that surface in smaller markets. Calgary’s version simply operates at larger absolute scale and with three consecutive growth-rate crowns to show for it.
Parry summed the continuity: “That shows this isn’t a one-time surge, Calgary has built real momentum across our tech workforce.” The city now has the headcount, the youth pipeline, the cost structure and the cross-industry demand to keep converting those advantages into further gains.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the exact tech employment growth rate for Calgary in the latest CBRE report?
Calgary’s tech employment grew 56 percent between 2022 and 2025, the highest rate of any of the 50 North American markets in the 2026 Scoring Tech Talent study; the previous cycle showed 61.1 percent growth for 2021-2024.
How many tech workers does Calgary have now?
The city passed the 80,000 mark after adding nearly 29,000 roles over the 2022-2025 period, up from 64,600 reported after the prior three-year window.
How does Calgary’s cost to run a mid-size tech company compare with the Bay Area?
CBRE puts the annual labor and real-estate cost for a 500-person tech company in Calgary at roughly $40.4 million, less than half the San Francisco Bay Area’s $91 million and 46th-lowest among the 50 markets.
Which other Canadian cities rank in the CBRE top 15?
Toronto ranks third overall, Vancouver ninth, Waterloo Region tenth, Montreal 11th and Ottawa 14th, giving Canada six markets inside the top 15.
What does CBRE mean by tech talent?
Tech talent covers more than 20 highly skilled occupations such as software developers, programmers, computer and information systems managers, data scientists and technology engineers working across every industry, not only pure technology firms.
