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Calgary remains the headquarters of Canada’s oil and gas sector, but it also saw the fastest growth rate in technology jobs over the past five years among the top 50 North American tech centres.

A new report by commercial real estate firm CBRE shows tech employment in Calgary jumped by 78 per cent to nearly 60,000 positions between 2018 and last year, adding more than 26,000 new jobs during that period.

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The growth rate topped all other tech centres across Canada and the United States, well ahead of second-place Ottawa and the Waterloo region in third spot.

Toronto saw the total number of people working in tech jobs rise by nearly 96,000 positions during the same period — the highest in North America — to more than 314,000 workers, up 44 per cent over five years.

Canada and the U.S. saw 231,000 additional tech jobs created last year, led by AI-related positions. In Canada, 18,400 tech talent jobs were created, an increase of 1.7 per cent from 2022 levels.

In recent years, Calgary has witnessed impressive growth from businesses in emerging areas such as fintech, life sciences and clean technology. Its overall ranking in CBRE’s annual scoring tech talent study moved up one spot to 20th overall in North America.

“Ten years ago, we weren’t even in the top 50 in North America,” Greg Kwong, CBRE’s regional managing director in Calgary, said Thursday.

“The growth in the last five to seven years, it’s just amazing.”

Several factors have propelled the momentum.

Employment in North America is rising in high-demand occupations such as software engineers and data managers.

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Multinational technology giants such as Infosys, Amazon Web Services and Mphasis have set up local offices since 2020, creating thousands of jobs.

A handful of high-profile Calgary startups have hit billion-dollar valuations and become “unicorns” in the sector, boosting the industry’s profile.

More companies are allowing staff to work remotely and many tech professionals are now working from Calgary for firms based in other centres.

“To see that Calgary has the fastest-growing tech talent market in all of North America, including a lot of cities we compete against — traditionally, much bigger technology markets — is incredible,” said Megan Zimmerman, Calgary Economic Development’s senior director of business development.

“People see real opportunity in Calgary.”

Local post-secondary institutions are producing more graduates to work in various tech-related occupations.

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As well, Canadian cities generally have a lower cost structure than major U.S. centres such as New York or San Francisco, while Calgary is seen as a more affordable place to live than Vancouver or Toronto — a factor fuelling the population boom.

While larger cities have added more total jobs in the industry than Calgary, it’s also worth noting that Cowtown has still created more tech positions over the past five years than centres such as Vancouver, Boston, Denver, Houston and metro New York.

“If you look at the overall GDP of Calgary, the energy sector still is very much the big elephant in the room,” said Kwong.

“But as we’ve seen with this report, the number of people that are being hired, the number of people working in the (tech) economy, is quite impressive.”

The annual report ranked the San Francisco Bay area, Seattle, New York, Toronto and Austin as the top tech talent centres in North America. Ottawa was ranked in 10th spot, followed by Vancouver.

In Calgary, the report noted the 59,500 people in tech jobs in the city earned an average wage of almost $105,000 last year.

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And the total number of students in the training pipeline — in fields such as computer engineering, math and statistics, and other tech engineers — has grown by 40 per cent in the city over a five-year period.

However, the study also pointed out that Toronto, Calgary and San Francisco created substantially more jobs last year than local tech sector graduates, pulling in people from other places to fill open positions.

Calgary has quickly become a place where startups can raise money, expand rapidly and find skilled workers.

Last month, the Canadian Venture Capital Association (CVCA) reported that Calgary surpassed Vancouver — and Alberta topped British Columbia — in attracting venture capital investment during the first half of the year.

Calgary-based online payments firm Helcim announced a $27-million Series B financing round in February, allowing it to accelerate its growth plans, said CEO Nic Beique.

The company has leased a second floor in Millennium Tower in downtown Calgary to house its growing number of employees.

Helcim has increased revenues by about 70 per cent since the start of this year. The company had about 120 staff members two years ago, and Beique expects that to reach 170 by the end of December.

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“Every time we look for what we think is going to be a niche senior role or a very kind of unique set of skills, we’re able to find it in this town. And I think that’s a testament to how much growth Calgary has had,” he said in an interview.

“It’s also a testament to how many people have actually come from Ontario and British Columbia and other places, and made Calgary their home.”

The population boom in Calgary and across Alberta is expected to continue into 2025, drawing younger workers to the city.

It’s also helping solidify the belief that local tech firms can continue to expand in Alberta, instead of having to relocate to a larger market.

“We’re committed that Calgary is going to be our headquarters for the life of this business,” Beique added.

“There’s kind of this phenomenon that happens where you hit a certain critical mass. And I think (in) Calgary, something has happened in the past few years and it has hit that sweet spot — and now it’s really reaping the benefits.”

Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist.

cvarcoe@postmedia.com

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