Tech employment in Canada increased by nearly 45,000 jobs in 2017, to an estimated 1.2 million workers, according to the Cyberprovinces 2018 report released by CompTIA, a nonprofit IT industry association. The report found net tech employment accounted for approximately 8.4% of the overall Canadian workforce in 2017.

The report also found the average annual wage in the tech industry is C$76,200, which is 51% higher than the average annual wage for all jobs of C$50,400.

“The amount of tech talent in major Canadian cities is drawing employers to Canada,” said Gordon Pelosse, vice chairman of the CompTIA board and US Central and Canada country leader, global support, at Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

The outlook for technology employment points to a continuation of the growth trend, which has seen tech jobs increase by about 32,000 each year since 2010. Projections from Statistics Canada indicate the base of tech occupations is projected to increase by nearly 8% between 2018 and 2026.

“Reports indicate Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal have nearly three times the concentration of tech talent versus their North American peers,” Pelosse said. “Canadian cities are among the best value for quality options for tech firms thanks to less expensive access to labor and real estate, but also high educational attainment levels.”

Cyberprovinces 2018 is based on CompTIA's analysis of data from Statistics Canada, EMSI, Burning Glass Technologies Labor Insights, and other sources. Estimates for 2017 are subject to change as government data is revised and updated.