Canada welcomed 83,152 new immigrants last year and 196,262 new non-permanent residents. This made up almost 98% of Canada’s population growth last year.
The last time we saw a 0.7% population increase? Let’s just say that Elvis’s Heartbreak Hotel was the radio’s number-one song — way back in 1956!
But one report from the Technology Councils of North America (TECNA) found that a solid chunk (32,000) of those new immigrants and residents are tech workers.
Here are a few highlights from TECNA’s report:
Mississauga and Montreal: top two top cities for tech worker in-migration
Surprised to see Mississauga and not Toronto? Mississauga hosts a whopping 1,000 IT companies and appeals to new immigrants with lower municipal tax rates than Toronto. Here is the complete list of Canada’s top cities receiving tech talent from abroad:
- Mississauga, Ontario (1,900 tech workers)
- Montreal, Quebec (959 tech workers)
- Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (633 tech workers)
- Windsor, Ontario, Canada (557 tech workers)
- Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (525 tech workers)
- Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (456 tech workers)
- Kitchener, Ontario, Canada (437 tech workers)
- London, Ontario, Canada (418 tech workers)
- Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (363 tech workers)
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada (331 tech workers)
Most of Canada’s new tech talent comes from India, Nigeria, and Brazil
We all know India’s quickly becoming a hub for tech startups and industry, but thousands of Indians graduating from top tech schools are coming to Canada. India was the leading source of Canada’s new tech talent, with 15,097 new workers last year.
Nigeria and Brazil ranked second and third, with 1,808 and 1,675 new tech workers from each country, respectively.
Here’s the full list of new tech workers in Canada by their home countries:
- India (15,097 new workers)
- Nigeria (1.808 new workers)
- Brazil (1,675 new workers)
- Ukraine (1,207 new workers)
- Philippines (1,129 new workers)
- Iran (1.046 new workers)
- France (935 new workers)
- UAE (744 new workers)
- Hong Kong SAR (715 new workers)
- Pakistan (588 new workers)
India is a top global region of Ontario’s net tech worker migration
Net tech worker migration measures gained talent minus lost tech talent. The countries that performed best? Let’s say 7 out of the 10 regions are all in India, with Quebec, Ukraine, and Nigeria making up the final three.
Here are the figures:
- Karnataka, India (+797 net change)
- Maharashtra, India (+688 net change)
- Gujarat, India (+417 net change)
- Telangana, India (+392 net change)
- Tamil Nadu, India (+392 net change)
- Ukraine (+353 net change)
- Quebec, Canada (+309 net change)
- Delhi, India (+290 net change)
- Kerala, India (+246 net change)
- Nigeria (+217 net change)
India produces some of the world’s greatest tech talent, with prestigious tech universities like IIT Bombay. Perhaps one contributing factor to more Indians coming to Ontario and Canada in general could be the disproportionate effect of tech layoffs on Indians in the USA.
Bottom line? TECNA’s report points to a growingly competitive tech market in Canada — even compared to places where compensation tends to be higher, like the USA.
Read TECNA’s full report.
