In its latest comprehensive sector analysis, CBRE hailed four major Canadian cities as among North America’s 20 top tech industry destinations, a development that promises boosted activity for their commercial markets.

These were Ottawa (rank 19), Montreal (13), Vancouver (12), and Toronto (3). The metropolitan areas were evaluated in terms of supply and concentration of tech talent, market growth, quality of higher education, industry outlook, and several other factors.

Ottawa boasts of a steady stream of top-tier tech talent with its array of strong post-secondary schools. Moreover, it not only produces its tech gurus, but also readily attracts them with its highly developed infrastructure. To note, the tech sector is outstripped only by the federal government in terms of office space occupied in downtown Ottawa.

Meanwhile, Montreal is renowned for its world-class artificial intelligence research, which is strongly supported by its high-calibre universities, colleges, and tech incubators.

In recent years, major tech industry players like Amazon and Apple Inc. have been moving to Vancouver in earnest, establishing major facilities that have fed into intensified demand for the city’s offices and industrial space.

Finally, Toronto itself was surpassed only by Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area in NA. The GTA has proven itself a top choice among international firms expanding into Canada.

Earlier this year, Avison Young described the market as a “tech-industry success story.”

“The GTA is not a single option but, rather, offers a wide variety of submarkets giving information and communications technology (ICT) firms the range of real estate options and concentrations of skilled workers that the firms require to facilitate their future growth and success,” Avison Young stated.

CBRE’s Tech Destinations will Likely See Much-Boosted Activity by Ephraim Vecina | Canadian Real Estate Wealth