In 2018, 61,000 jobs were created in the new technologies sector in Canada, according to a recent report from the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA). These numbers can be expected to continue to increase in 2020.
Are Canadians tech pros? Certainly! The rising trend in the number of jobs in the IT sector has been observed for several years, in a context where the country’s expertise in artificial intelligence and data analysis is increasingly recognized.
“We are continuing to see strong growth in the technology industry across Canada with year-over-year job gains in eight of the ten provinces, salary increases and an increase in the number of technology companies,” says Gordon Pelosse, Chairman of the Board of Directors of CompTIA.
So where are these jobs? Mostly in Ontario, where 36,698 new jobs were created in 2018, then in British Columbia (10,840 new jobs) and finally in Quebec (10,774). The report also shows that workers in the sector earned an average of $78,070 in 2018, “about 51% more than the average private sector wage of $51,794. Job seekers wishing to earn the highest wages should head to Alberta, where the average salary in the technology industry is $81,697, or Ontario, where the average salary is $81,726, and finally British Columbia ($78,927).
A bright future
The number of jobs available is quite likely to increase and job prospects will remain good over the next few years, according to the report. Analysis of 2017 and 2018 data at the very least allows us to be very optimistic for 2020. “Despite the addition of over 61,000 technology workers in the previous year, Canadian employers posted job opportunities for some 116,000 technology positions in 2018. Employer demand for emerging technology skills in areas such as machine learning, robotics, augmented reality and virtual reality, blockchain and the Internet of Things rose 23% between 2017 and 2018.”
CompTIA also estimates that many positions for database analysts, software engineers, system analysts and user support agents will be created by 2026.