Waterloo Region’s tech sector is growing faster than that of any other community in Canada and all but one in the United States, a new report says.
The report, which measures tech talent across various communities, comes from commercial real estate firm CBRE.
It found that the region added 8,400 tech jobs between 2011 and 2016 – giving it a 65.6 per cent growth rate, higher than any other market in North America except for Charlotte, N.C.
In addition, the report found that the region led Canada in year-over-year job growth between 2015 and 2016.
“Waterloo Region continues to show its strength as one of Canada’s top tech markets and a major engine of innovation for the Canadian economy,” CBRE Canada executive managing director Paul Morassutti said in a news release.
“Even after the fall of BlackBerry … the region continues to benefit from clustering of the high-tech industry.”
The report found that Waterloo Region led Canada in labour quality – based on having experienced engineers and designers with degrees from top schools – and in having the lowest rent prices for office space among the 10 markets studied.
Toronto was ranked as having the most tech jobs of any community in the report. Between 2011 and 2016, the city added 32 per cent more talent to its tech sector, or 51,300 jobs in the industry.
A total of 138,300 tech sector jobs were added across Canada over the same timespan.
