Waterloo Region ranks high on Canadian ‘tech talent’ list

Waterloo Region's tech sector has grown by 39.7 per cent in the last five years. According to a recent CBRE tech talent study, that growth has earned us a top 20 spot for tech in the country.

 

The region placed fourth, only behind Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver.

 

Ted Overbaugh, Senior Vice President and Managing Director for CBRE Southwestern Ontario, told the Mike Farwell Show on 570 NEWS, there are two main factors for companies when choosing the region.

 

“The tech industry it's no secret, it's growing in general, across Canada and across the world. The Toronto real estate market is just so tight for space now, so I think it causes certain groups to flock to where there is availability of space and availability of talent, is probably even the bigger one. I think that causes groups to go to the KW, Guelph Region.”

 

Overbaugh says the price of office space plays a huge role to companies when decided where to place their businesses.

 

“I think the general cost of real estate does play a factor and the availability of that real estate when it's becoming so expensive and difficult to find space in the GTA and especially downtown, where as we've got availability of good quality and what I would call “hip” space as well, it's got that cool factor, around KW.”

 

Waterloo Region ranked above other notable areas in the country such as Montreal and Calgary.

 

Hamilton placed ninth, Guelph at 13th and London coming in just after at 14th.

 

20,400 tech workers make up eight per cent of the total work force in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge.

 

The region's primary tech industries include, software development, robotics and cyber security. As for quality of labour, Waterloo Region received an A+.

 

Another observation by CBRE listed tech talent diversity in the region as 80 per cent male and 20 per cent female.

 

The report shows Toronto's benchmark home price as $802,400, while Waterloo Region's is $528,990.