Overall tech job growth has slowed in 2025, reports CBRE, but the adoption of artificial intelligence has increased demand for AI-specific skillsets.
CBRE’s analysis of LinkedIn data, for example, revealed that tech talent workers with AI skills grew more than 50% year-over-year to 517,000 as of mid-2025.
The firm’s latest annual Scoring Tech Talent report finds Toronto—a hub reputed within Canada for top-tier AI workers—ranking third in North America this year with a score of 68, behind only San Francisco (83) and Seattle (69).
The New York Metro and Austin regions round out the top five.
Toronto boasts the continent’s fourth largest AI talent pool, which CBRE says consist of 24,000 workers.
Waterloo saw impressive gains in the rankings, advancing several spots to crack the top 10 with a score of 63.
With a score of 61, Vancouver moved up into the 10th spot, followed by Ottawa in 11th and Montreal ranking 15th. Edmonton also climbed up several spots.
“Artificial intelligence is a transformative technology that is rapidly reshaping the employment landscape across the world, particularly in Canada,” remarked CBRE Canada Chairman Paul Morassutti.
Morassutti notes that Canada now has “three of the Top 10 largest AI talent pools in North America in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal.”
At nearly 6%, Canada had stronger tech talent growth than the U.S., with less than 2%, in 2024, adding 66,600 tech talent jobs overall.
“The ongoing deployment of AI systems across industries will continue to drive job growth and real estate demand,” Morassutti believes.
Among Canadian markets, Toronto maintained the lead in total tech talent and added the most jobs between 2021 and 2024 at 43,000, according to CBRE’s report.
The fastest growing Canadian markets over this time span were Calgary (61%) and Waterloo (58%).
Demand for AI-related roles contributed to increased tech talent wages, according to CBRE’s report, which grew by 4% in the U.S. and 5% in Canada in 2024.
“The rapid development and adoption of AI is generating economic growth across major tech hubs,” commented Colin Yasukochi, who serves as executive director of CBRE’s Tech Insights Centre. “The AI industry could be the catalyst for another growth cycle.”
CBRE’s annual Scoring Tech Talent report ranks the top 50 tech markets in the U.S. and Canada.
Check out last year’s Scoring Tech Talent report from CBRE here.
