Ottawa slides to 14th in North American tech talent rankings as job growth stalls

Ottawa has fallen to 14th place in CBRE's 2026 Scoring Tech Talent rankings, marking the second straight year the city has lost ground among North American tech hubs.

The real estate firm's annual report ranks 50 North American markets by their ability to attract and grow tech talent, measuring metrics including tech graduation rates, job concentration, labour pool size, and labour and real estate costs. Ottawa dropped three positions from 11th place in 2025 and four spots from 2024.

The slide reflects weak job creation. From 2022 to 2025, Ottawa's tech labour force grew by just 0.8 per cent—adding roughly 800 jobs. By contrast, Calgary led the country with three-year job growth of 56 per cent, gaining nearly 29,000 positions.

Ottawa finished fifth among Canadian cities in this year's rankings, behind Toronto (3rd), Vancouver (9th), Waterloo Region, and Montreal (11th). Three other Canadian cities—Calgary (15th), Quebec City (37th), and Edmonton (42nd)—also cracked the top 50.

On the positive side, Ottawa produced more than 7,500 students with tech-related post-secondary degrees between 2022 and 2024, showing continued pipeline strength despite weak job growth.

The near-stagnant performance marks a sharp reversal from earlier in the decade, when the city had added positions at a stronger pace, signalling a cooling sector.