For the third year running, Calgary is leading the continent in the growth of its tech workforce, according to a new report.
Eight Canadian cities made the CBRE Group’s top 50 North American Tech employment markets in the Scoring Tech Talent report, with six of those in the top 15 — that last spot being locked up by Calgary.
Toronto holds the number three spot, Vancouver at nine, Waterloo Region at 10, Montreal at 11, Ottawa at 14, and Calgary at 15.
“Canadian cities are 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,” said CBRE Canada research managing director Marc Meehan.
“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. Tech employment growth is resurgent, and Canadian markets are leading the way forward.”
According to the 2026 report, Calgary’s tech employment grew by 56 per cent between 2022 and 2025, the highest among all 50 cities in the study. Tech talent now represents 9.4 per cent of the total employment in Calgary, nearly double that of the market average (5.5 per cent).
The report also showed that Calgary was one of only nine markets in the 50 where tech job growth surpassed that of tech degree completions, with 25,240 more jobs than graduates produced.
“Calgary is leading North America in tech talent growth for the third straight year,” said Calgary Economic Development President and CEO, Brad Parry.
“That shows this isn’t a one-time surge — Calgary has built real momentum across our tech workforce.
Calgary added nearly 29,000 additional tech workers over the report period, pushing the city past the 80,000 mark in the tech sector.
Affordability, youth key drivers of Calgary’s tech employment success: Report
The CBRE report compiles tech talent employment numbers in more than 20 tech-oriented jobs in various industries, and analyzes the tech talent through 13 different metrics, including talent concentration, talent pipeline, research, development and other factors.
While Calgary has seen considerable growth in the tech industry — and its population overall — it’s still a relatively low-cost market to run a 500-person tech company, the report found.
It estimated that the annual cost to run a 500-person tech company in Calgary to be roughly $40.4 million per year, less than half that of the San Francisco Bay Area ($91 million) and among the lowest in North America (46th of 50).
One interesting note bodes well for the future pipeline of tech talent in Calgary: the city had the highest increase in population in their 20s, and the fourth-highest increase of people in their 30s, showing that there’s a quality future pipeline of talent available.
“People in their 20s and 30s accounted for 49 per cent of the tech talent workforce across industries in the US, compared with 40 per cent for general office-using industries,” the report read.
Calgary had the third highest concentration of residents in their 30s (17.3 per cent) across North America.
“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,” said Parry.
Earlier this year, Platform Calgary, the city’s primary innovation hub on 9 Avenue SE, delivered its annual report, noting a 36 per cent increase in the number of founders and more than 172,500 people through their doors.
More than $235 million in revenue was generated via Calgary’s technology ecosystem, according to the Platform Calgary report.
There are more than 1,300 core technology companies in Calgary, according to Calgary Economic Development.
