A constantly increasing number of companies use offshore or nearshore dedicated software development services to minimize expenses. Many of them, especially US ones, are starting to explore the Canadian tech market. Big companies and startups are wondering how to find software developers in Canada. Local educational institutions are quickly cranking out top-level tech workers. Besides, the salaries in the country remain lower than in Silicon Valley.
In this article, we have rounded up the main reasons to hire a dedicated development team based in Canada. Read on to learn more about the local tech market and its perspectives.
IT Development Market in Canada Today
With big tech companies opening their offices in Toronto and other Canadian cities in 2022, the local IT industry started to remind Silicon Valley. According to Statista, the revenue in the software development market is expected to reach US$24.16 bn in 2027. This year alone, the market volume of the enterprise software segment might reach US$6.95bn.
Taken from https://www.statista.com...
Due to the programs offered by local universities that take top positions in world rankings, Toronto quickly became the third-largest tech hub in North America. The country has a transparent and liberal immigration policy, making it easier for professionals to relocate to this country. Besides, it’s popular among companies looking for highly-qualified tech workers. We have created this guide on hiring developers from Canada to help you make an informed decision.
Reasons to Choose Canada to Hire a Dedicated Development Team
Canada has a booming market with a fast-growing tech industry. This is why many U.S.-based tech giants and startups are looking for ways to hire a dedicated software development team Canada. Several reasons drive them to source the Canadian market for new talents.
World-known companies are beefing up their presence in Canada and actively hiring new staff members in such cities as Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, among many more. They are looking for talented software engineers willing to work for lower salaries than U.S.-based professionals. While the average annual pay of a software engineer in Canada is $84.7K, in the U.S., this number is $122K yearly. Thus, by hiring a dedicated development team in Canada, tech companies can save money.
Streamlined Collaboration
Due to similar time zones, you can keep in touch with the team and provide timely feedback. If you decide to hire software developers in Canada, you can be sure that they will complete the project within the set timeframe. You won’t face any miscommunication issues either as Canadian teams use English as their primary language. A dedicated software development team will work only on your project, which guarantees that you will get top-level results.
Large Pool of Tech Talents
According to stats, the pool of tech talents in Canada grows faster than in the U.S. In 2021, the number of IT engineers in the country increased by 1.6%. There are over 289k tech workers based in Toronto alone, while Montreal has 148k talents. Vancouver has 115k IT professionals, while Ottawa is estimated to have 81k tech workers. It makes it easier to hire dedicated development team in Canada as there are so many specialists to choose from.
Overview of IT Education in Canada
Known for many top-ranking universities, Canada remains a great bet for those who want top-quality education and build careers in the booming IT industry. Providing cutting-edge educational programs and abundant job opportunities, Canadian universities set up streamlined application processes for those who want to study computer science and related disciplines. As a result, 27 Canadian universities were listed in the Computer Science Ranking released in 2022.
The University of Toronto, known for its programs in computer technology, is ranked 18th in the world. Meanwhile, Fanshawe College is famous for providing comfortable learning conditions for international students and IT-related programs that meet the labor market demands. This is why many companies are looking for a way to hire a dedicated development team from Canada, knowing that local IT professionals stand out for their strong technical backgrounds.
However, while it takes 3-4 years for a student to complete a BA degree in computer science, IT, or computer engineering in Canada, the duration of a coding boot camp may range from 15 hours to 40 weeks. Besides, boot camps are more affordable and teach marketable skills, which explains their rising popularity in Canada.
What IT Industries are Most Common in Canada?
The IT consulting industry in Canada employs 345K people, and its market size reached $84bn. Due to over 94K IT-related businesses on the local market, you will easily hire developers in Canada who have a solid technical background and relevant skills.
The tech sector in the country is expected to grow by 22.4% by 2024. The highest-paid jobs are in the software development industry. However, IT business analysts, data scientists, project managers, QA analysts, cloud architects, and network engineers are also in high demand.
As Canada has established itself as a fast-growing tech hub, such companies as Meta, Google, and Amazon started to source the market for local talents. Ottawa, Toronto, Waterloo, Montreal, Vancouver, Quebec, and Calgary stand out for their skilled tech workers, which makes it easier for foreign companies to hire dedicated software developers in Canada. The country has four leading tech sectors: IT services and custom software services, Telecom and Internet services, tech manufacturing, and software development.
5 Steps to Find & Hire Dedicated Development Team in Canada
If you are wondering how to hire software developers in Canada, follow the steps described below to find a DDT for your project. Using these methods, you can save time and hire a team of professionals to bring your ideas to life.
Practice Networking
Many professional developers communicate with their peers on forums and online platforms. After signing up for a forum frequented by IT professionals based in Canada, outline the specifics of your project and ask for referrals. It will help you find talents with relevant experience.
Advertise Your Project
Instead of relying solely on word of mouth, launch a marketing campaign. Grab the attention of developers and show them the advantages of working on your project. Use Medium, YouTube, and LinkedIn to promote your project. After reading reviews written by your clients, tech professionals will become more interested in cooperation.
Organize a Hackathon
When you have already created a checklist and sourced the talent market, bring them together by inviting them to a hackathon. During such events, coders and other IT professionals combine their efforts to solve various issues. Send invites to your hackathon and incentivize developers to take part in the competition. If the participants enjoy the challenge, they might likely agree to establish a partnership with you.
Interview the Best Candidates
After selecting the most suitable candidates, perform a background check and invite the top talents to an interview. Select the professionals who are best suited for a job.
Discuss Contract Terms and Sign an Agreement
When you find software developers in Canada ready to work on your project, sign an agreement with them and set deadlines. You also need to rent premises, buy computers, and find the most efficient way to organize your team's workflow.
As all the steps described above might be time-consuming, entrust hiring a dedicated team to our dedicated software development center. We will quickly find suitable candidates, conduct interviews, and hire top talents.
Difficulties of Hiring Developers in Canada
Foreign-based companies interested in hiring developers from Canada might need help when trying to source suitable candidates and convince them to accept an offer. Below, we have outlined some issues that you might face.
Large Pool of Talents
If you have a tight hiring timeframe, it might be a daunting task to source candidates, narrow down the selection by finding those professionals who might be interested in your project, as well as conduct background checks and interviews. By outsourcing this task to a trusted company, you can save time.
High Salary Expectations
Due to the difference between the annual salaries of developers based in the US and Canada, Canadian developers are often less inclined to accept an offer if it doesn’t allow them to get a higher salary. The annual salary of US developers ranges from $106,730 to $131,790 in top-10 tech hubs, while Canada-based developers get $78,000.
Skill Shortage
Companies increasingly complain that it becomes more difficult to source talents with relevant experience as software jobs were historically geographically-bound. Many developers living in large technological hubs of Canada have stable jobs. Thus, it is less likely that they will be interested in working for foreign companies that don’t provide health insurance, social benefits, and other perks they are used to.
Consider Integrio Your Trusted Partner
Being a well-established company known for its outstaffing services, Integrio Systems has a team of experienced professionals specializing in web and software development and based in Canada, Poland, and Ukraine. Integrio creates efficient solutions for companies of many sizes.
123Signup
It cooperates with 123Signup, the company that created a solution for businesses specializing in event and member organization management. Using 123Signup, businesses can expand their member lists and increase the number of people attending their events. This SaaS solution is suitable for those who want to scale up their businesses and minimize staff expenses.
The professionals working for Integrio helped 123Signup to modernize the legacy components of their code, streamline UI, and improve the functionality of modules. The Integrio team also added an in-built website builder with intuitive tools as well as implemented billing, POS, and third-party-service integration.
Volo Innovations
Another efficient solution developed by the Integrio team was a project for Volo Innovations. This startup wanted to create a member-management SaaS solution. Integrio Systems developed Volo from scratch. This scheduling app doubles as a billing tool. Besides, it facilitates the process of issuing invoices as well as makes it easier to manage newsletters and send notifications. Using it, businesses can improve the way they manage gyms and fitness centers.
To improve a client's experience, Integrio systems also developed Member Portal, which makes it easier for members to change their schedules. Due to the success of the app, the startup was acquired by Member Solutions. After ordering a professional code audit, the company was fully satisfied with the result and decided to establish long-term cooperation with Integrio Systems.
If you are looking for professionals that can create top-notch digital products, write programs and apps from scratch or modernize the legacy code, get in touch with Integrio Systems now!
