The pandemic has not slowed the growth of Montreal’s information technology (IT) sector, quite the contrary. Despite an overheating of employment in this area, the digital turn of companies, in a way forced by the specific circumstances of recent months, could prove to be very profitable for the metropolis in the longer term.
Job creation in IT accelerated faster in Mont-real than in virtually any other major North American city in 2019 and 2020. This is what the fifth edition of a sector study unveiled on Tuesday reveals. and carried out jointly by the Institut du Québec (IDQ), Montréal international and the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM). By interpreting data from Statistics Canada and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the study concludes that the number of IT jobs in Montreal increased by 15.7% during these two years, compared to 10.9% for Toronto. and 7.4% for Vancouver.
With Boston (+ 4.7%), the three Canadian cities are the only North American metropolitan markets to have experienced an increase in employment in technologies during the pandemic.
The only slightly negative note for Montreal IT professionals: the average increase in salaries caused by this increased demand was less pronounced here (+ 4.8%) than it was in Vancouver (+ 5.6%). ) and Toronto (+ 5.4%). Analysts explain this situation by a greater availability than elsewhere in Canada of workers specialized in technologies.
“The scarcity of an IT workforce is very present in Montreal, but employers seem to be doing quite well in terms of hiring compared to the rest of the country,” explains Emna Braham, deputy director of the ‘Institute of Quebec. In an important nuance that will please Prime Minister François Legault, who has made catching up with the wages of Quebec compared to the rest of Canada one of his priorities in terms of economic policy, Mr.me Braham specifies, however, that the increase in wages still varies a lot depending on the type of job in question.
Thus, certain job profiles with a strong presence in Montreal, such as those found in the multimedia sector, have seen their salaries increase more rapidly than those in other sectors. Overall, Montreal is also lagging behind on parity in IT. In 2020, women held 19% of jobs in the sector, which range from IT support agents to department managers, while they held 22% of these same jobs in Toronto as well as Vancouver.
To ensure that the province’s economy takes full advantage of the effervescence in this sector, the three organizations behind this study are calling for a corresponding review of the workforce training and retention programs, as well as immigration programs. The recruitment aid in IT announced Monday by the Quebec Minister of Labor and Employment, Jean Boulet, is also well received by stakeholders.
“We can see that the Quebec economy has indeed taken a digital turn,” says Mr.me Braham. We no longer need only technology specialists, but professionals in different fields who have a good knowledge of technologies. We are no longer talking about technical skills, but about an ecosystem of skills. “
53,000 workers waiting
As part of its mandate to attract and then locally support foreign investors, the Montréal international organization launched a website called Talent Montréal last February, intended to facilitate the recruitment of foreign technology experts. This site currently has a bank of some 53,000 candidates ready to work for a Montreal employer, says Christian Bernard, vice-president international talents, business intelligence and communications at Montreal international. “If the borders remain open, we expect 2022 to be a very busy year in terms of international recruitment,” he said.
Montréal International has even set up a team specializing in “international labor mobility” to speed up the processing of the paperwork required to hire workers located outside the country. The organization calculates that expanding the pool of workers specialized in technologies will improve the competitiveness and productivity of Montreal and Quebec in a sustainable manner.
“The scarcity of IT workers is observable in all the markets with which Montreal competes,” continues Mr. Bernard. We are currently creating more IT jobs than many other cities, but recruiting is getting harder and harder. “
“Technology is present in every business, and those that adopt it faster have higher productivity. The availability of an IT workforce is therefore critical for the entire Quebec economy, ”says Emna Braham.