Canada’s leading tech hubs boast lower rental housing costs than most of their rivals in the United States. For 2023, eight Canadian cities crack CBRE’s annual ranking of the top 50 North American markets for fostering tech employment, with Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal and Waterloo Region all positioned among the top 20.
Meanwhile, six Canadian cities form a block offering the most affordable average apartment rents across that roster of 50 tech hubs. Vancouver and Toronto register pricier average rents than a few of the U.S. markets, but still fall 37th and 38th on the descending list of housing costs.
New York City’s Manhattan borough commands the steepest average monthly rent at USD $3,508 (CAD $4,630), roughly 402 per cent higher than apartments in the most affordable market. That title goes to Quebec City, where the average monthly rent is pegged at USD $698 (CAD $921).
The San Francisco Bay area’s 2023 status as the best market for tech employment comes with the second highest average monthly apartment rent, at USD $2,973 (CAD $3,924). At number 5 overall, Toronto is the top-rated Canadian tech market, with the considerably lower average apartment rent of USD $1,224 (CAD $1,616). Vancouver is ranked 8th among the 50 markets and posts an average apartment rent of USD $1,228 (CAD $1,621).
After Quebec City, which is slotted 35th in the overall list, the lowest average apartment rents among the 50 markets are found (in ascending order) in Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary, Waterloo Region and Ottawa. As tech hubs, they are placed 12th, 39th, 21st, 18th and 11th respectively.
The six U.S. cities with the lowest average apartment rents are Cleveland, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Columbus, Cincinnati and St. Louis, ranging from a high of USD $1,221 (CAD $1,611) to a low of USD $1,123 (CAD $1,482). Of these, St. Louis earns the highest ranking among the 50 tech markets, in the 32nd spot. Looking at the two U.S. cities sandwiched between Toronto and Vancouver in the overall rankings, the average monthly apartment rent is USD $1,669 (CAD $2,203) in Austin and USD $2,698 (CAD $3,561) in Boston.
Average earnings for tech workers are likewise lower in Canada. Calgary boasts the highest average tech wage — at USD $77,844 (CAD $103,000) annually — for the eight Canadian cities. However, that is 10 per cent short of the lowest average tech wage among U.S. cities, at USD $86,899 (CAD $114,707) in Indianapolis, and trails the highest average annual wage, of USD $157,457 (CAD $207,843) in the San Francisco Bay area, by more than 50 per cent. Montreal tech workers post the lowest average annual earnings — USD $65,682 (CAD $86,700) — more than 58 per cent behind their contemporaries in the San Francisco Bay area.
Nevertheless, differences in housing costs help to narrow the Canada-U.S. gap in disposable income. The ratios of average rent to average tech earnings are the lowest in Quebec City and Montreal — at 12.7 per cent and 13.4 per cent respectively — of the 50 markets. Ottawa, Waterloo Region, Edmonton and Calgary are also grouped with the bottom third.
Average rent-to-wage ratios of 19.6 per cent in Toronto and 20 per cent in Vancouver push those two cities into the top half of the list. However, they are still far back from the ratios of 34.2 per cent in Manhattan, 29.5 per cent in Los Angeles and 28 per cent in Boston.
