The highway that stretches from Toronto to Waterloo is 105km (65 miles), creating a corridor that powers one of the largest tech clusters in North America. Talent, ideas and innovation flow easily between the two communities.
The Toronto-Waterloo Corridor connects the midsized Waterloo region and the larger Toronto area. In CBRE’s report, both Waterloo and Toronto stood out as top contenders in the North American tech talent market. Toronto was listed at #3, while Waterloo entered the top 10 for the first time. Toronto and Waterloo are the only two communities in CBRE’s top-25 to be within 105km/65miles of each other.
Key Takeaways
- The Toronto-Waterloo Corridor has 373,600+ tech workers within a 100km/65mi radius
- The Corridor added the most tech jobs in all of North America in 2025
- Both regions boast significant strengths in engineering, software and AI talent
- Young professionals in their 20s make up a larger percentage of the population in Toronto and Waterloo than in San Francisco or New York
- Locating in Waterloo allows your company to tap into the Corridor’s tech talent while taking advantage of Waterloo’s lower costs, research ecosystem and superb quality of life
Thinking about joining our ecosystem? Find out how the Toronto-Waterloo Corridor builds tech talent resiliency and vitality year after year with these four key questions:
Why did the Toronto-Waterloo Corridor stand out in CBRE’s report?
Toronto and Waterloo did exceptionally well in the rankings, both regions moving up on the overall list of best tech talent markets in North America. Here’s why:
- Workforce size: The Toronto-Waterloo Corridor is home to 373,600+ tech workers, with tech talent making up more than 10.5% of Waterloo and Toronto’s total employment.
- Workforce growth: Waterloo’s workforce is growing at an incredible rate of 58.2%, the second-best in North America. To top it off, the Toronto-Waterloo Corridor added the most tech jobs in all of North America in 2025.
- Education: Toronto was in the top ten for tech degree completions and educational attainment. More than 662,000 students attend 16 post-secondary schools in the Toronto-Waterloo Corridor, including two of the top engineering and computer science schools in the country (the University of Waterloo and University of Toronto).
- AI ecosystem: The Toronto-Waterloo Corridor is one of the top AI markets in North America, with several universities producing AI-specific talent and major companies deploying applied AI.
Where are the Corridor’s key tech talent strengths?
Tech is a broad term. So is talent. Here are the Toronto-Waterloo Corridor’s specific strengths in tech talent:
- Software talent: There are 151,700 software developers and programmers employed in the Corridor. In terms of concentration, 58% of software engineers work in the tech industry in the Waterloo area – above the American and Canadian averages.
- AI talent: AI tech talent equaled 26,300 in the Corridor in 2025, more than Austin, Washington D.C., Dallas, Boston and Atlanta.
- Engineering talent: In the Corridor, there are 34,500 technology-related engineers. That’s more than any other market in the entire CBRE report.
- Population trends: The Toronto-Waterloo Corridor has a strong presence of young professionals. 19.1% of Waterloo’s population is in their 20s, which is more than any other market, and 15.9% are in their 30s. In Toronto, people in their 20s make up 16.3% of the population, while people in their 30s make up 15.7%.
- Talent pipeline: There were 5,291 computer engineering degree completions in the Toronto-Waterloo Corridor in 2023 (the most recent year the data was collected). Plus, the Corridor is home to the largest computer science program in North America, the University of Waterloo.
How does the Corridor stack up against other tech clusters in North America?
The Toronto-Waterloo Corridor is the third largest tech cluster in North America. Here’s how it stands up to other comparably sized tech powerhouses across specific types of talent.
Source: CBRE Scoring Tech Talent, 2025
Which city in the Corridor is right for my business expansion?
The Toronto-Waterloo Corridor is a superb tech ecosystem, but at the end of the day, you still need to decide which city is best for your business expansion or relocation.
Here’s the Waterloo pitch:
- The Waterloo region is a fast-growing midsized tech hub with bustling urban areas and idyllic rural landscapes
- With lower business costs, Waterloo offers more opportunities for cost savings across taxes, salaries, R&D and more
- Our business community is collaborative, and offers opportunities to partner with research centres, innovation incubators and top tech schools
- Waterloo provides access to all the amenities of big city living, but with a better quality of life and lower cost of living
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