Toronto-Waterloo Region Corridor
Technology space is a very important and one of the fastest growing sectors of the Canadian economy. Its share in Canadian GDP is constantly growing. In 2019, according to “Digital Economy Annual Review 2019” a report published by the Information and Communications Technology Council (i.e. the ICTC), the technology sector reached a record value of USD 94.2 billion, which accounted for almost 5% of Canada's GDP.Within the last 5 years, this industry grew by 23%, which was >2x the growth of the Canadian economy at the same time. This is also confirmed by the dynamic development of the Toronto-Waterloo Region Corridor, which is the largest technology centre in the North America (right after Silicon Valley). There are over 15,000 tech companies in this area (including Google, Twitter, Amazon) as well as >5,000 startups employing 200,000 IT specialists. More information can be found at the website of The Corridor.
Growing demand for IT experts among startups
Dynamic development of the Canadian tech space triggered an increased demand for IT specialists. According to ICTC’s report “Canada’s Growth Currency: Digital Talent Outlook 2023”, Canada's demand for skilled IT staff is expected to reach over 300,000 by 2023. The greatest demand for digital jobs is expected to include the following roles: Software Developer, Data Scientist, Data Analyst, UX / UI Designer, Full Stack Developer, Cybersecurity Analyst, DevOps Engineer as well as Machine Learning Engineer. The demand for IT experts is so great that the internal supply of talent is notable to satisfy it to a full extent. Between 2009 and 2019, the share of expatriates working in the technology sector in Canada increased from 26% to 37%, which proves that Canada is opening to foreign IT staff. Another consequence of the demand exceeding the supply is a significant increase in wages. According to “2020 State of Salaries Report: Salary benchmarks and talent preferences” report published by Hired agency, an IT specialist in Toronto earns an average of USD 109,000 per year. It is worth mentioning that the average salary of IT specialists in Toronto grew the fastest among all technology centres reviewed (+10% YoY). Rapid expansion in wages for IT staff provides additional pressure for startups, which often need many IT-skilled employees.
Summary and how can we help you?
The technology market is an important element of the Canadian economy and has developed very dynamically for the last couple of years. Unfortunately, a significant increase in salaries and a large shortage of IT staff stand in the way of its further growth. CodePole can help all startups, which struggle to fill in the IT gaps at a reasonable salary. We have access to a large resource of talented IT professionals operating in the Polish market who are among the best in the world. All of it at very competitive rates!See here how we helped other FinTech companies and startups. Feel free to reach out for more information!
