Investors in Canada’s tech sector can generally expect more favourable operating costs than in comparable markets in the United States. Newly released results from CBRE’s annual assessment of the 50 North American markets that are most successfully sustaining and nurturing the tech sector include eight Canadian representatives that also form a block as the eight most cost-competitive for the combination of employee remuneration and rent.
Six Canadian markets — Toronto, Vancouver, Waterloo Region, Montreal, Ottawa and Calgary — are ranked in the top 15 based on 13 variously weighted performance indicators, with Toronto slotted highest at third. Two more Canadian entrants in the list, Quebec City (ranked 37th) and Edmonton (ranked 42nd), emerge as the two operational locales with the lowest average annual costs for hypothetically employing and accommodating 500 workers in a 60,000-square-foot office space.
In Quebec City, that’s pegged at USD $36.1 million (CAD $49.5 million), or a 60 per cent discount on the San Francisco Bay area’s chart-topping USD $90.6 million (CAD $124 million) average costs. Toronto is the priciest Canadian market at USD $42 million (CAD $57.5 million), but that’s still a 16 per cent discount on the best bargain in the U.S. — Indianapolis at USD $50 million (CAD $68.5 million), which is ranked 40th for its complete package of tech-welcoming attributes.
Within the top five markets, Toronto’s average operating costs are anywhere from 53.6 per cent lower than the San Franciso Bay area (ranked 1st) to 33 per cent lower than Austin (ranked 5th). Vancouver, Waterloo Region and Montreal — consecutively slotted in 9th, 10th and 11th — post average operating costs that are 31 to 35 per cent lower than 8th ranked Dallas-Fort Worth, and 29 to 33 per cent lower than those in 12th ranked Raleigh-Durham.
Labour costs account for much of the differential between Canadian and U.S. markets. Within the five leading markets, office rent generally equates to less than 5 per cent of the considered operating costs, with the exception of New York City, where it represents 6.6 per cent of the total. In Toronto, rent is 5 per cent of the cost, which is a larger share of the total than in Seattle, Austin or the San Francisco Bay area. However, as a dollar value, Toronto’s average annual rent of USD $2.1 million (CAD $2.9 million) is lower than the four U.S. cities. Average annual rent in New York City is the priciest, at USD $4.9 million (CAD $6.7 million).
Vancouver posts the highest average annual rent among the eight Canadian markets, at USD $2.4 million (CAD $3.3 million), which equates to 5.7 per cent of considered costs. Quebec City’s average annual rent is pegged at USD $1.24 million (CAD $1.7 million) for a 3.3 per cent share of considered costs.
CBRE analysts also plot where employers can expect to find the best value for their money, which assesses operating costs and the market’s talent profile. The latter is ranked based on the number of software engineers with at least three years of working experience who are graduates of either one of Canada’s top five post-secondary computer science programs or the top 25 in the United States.
“Due in part to the exchange rate, Vancouver and Waterloo Region in Canada provide the best value when it comes to cost and quality, followed by Madison and Pittsburgh in the U.S.,” CBRE analysts conclude. “Toronto, Edmonton and Indianapolis also offer good value.”
Turning to residential accommodations for tech talent, average rents fall comfortably under the standard affordability benchmark of 30 per cent of average income in all 50 markets. In 2025, Vancouver was one of eight markets where the average rent exceeded 20 per cent of average tech earnings, albeit by a nominal 0.1 per cent. New York was the most expensive market, in which average annual rents represented nearly 28 per cent of tech average earnings, translating to USD $3,653 (CAD $5,004) in monthly dollar value.
Toronto, Calgary, Waterloo Region, Ottawa and Edmonton are also in the priciest half of the list based on the ratio of average tech wages to average rent, while Montreal (6th) and Quebec City (10th) are among the 10 markets where earnings stretch farthest. However, all eight Canadian markets are in the bottom third for dollar value of average rent.
Quebec City, Montreal and Edmonton record the three lowest average rents in ascending order, while Waterloo Region, Ottawa and Calgary respectively offer the 5th, 6th and 7th most affordable average rents. San Antonio is the lone U.S. city squeezed among them with the 4th lowest average rent.
Austin provides the standout best deal for tech employees seeking accommodations in one of the top five tech talent markets. Average rents in the city equate to just 12.7 per cent of the average tech wage.
It’s one of 20 markets, all in the U.S., where average monthly rent declined over the three-year period from 2023-25, falling 19 per cent to USD $1,409 (CAD $1,930) in Q4 last year. Nevertheless, that’s slightly higher than Vancouver’s average rent of USD $1,407 (CAD $1,927) in Q4 2025, which was a nearly 18 per cent climb from the average rent in Q4 2022.
Similarly, the ratios of average rent to average tech earnings are roughly comparable in Toronto and the San Francisco Bay area — at 19.7 and 19.6 per cent respectively — even though average tech wages are 132 per cent higher in the San Francisco Bay area. That’s USD $195,000 (CAD $267,000), compared to the USD $84,000 (CAD $115,000) average in Toronto. Meanwhile, average rents stood at USD $3,196 (CAD $4,378) in San Francisco versus USD $1,372 (CAD $1,880) in Toronto as of Q4 2025.
