Top 10 most requested IT jobs in Canada in 2022

It is no secret that there is a talent shortage in the IT industry in Canada. In fact, a 2021 report from the Information and Communications Technology Council estimated that Canada’s employers would need to fill an additional 250,000 technology jobs by 2025. Even with recent layoffs from several tech giants, there are still more open roles than there are candidates to fill them—making it extremely difficult for employers to find top IT talent.

As a leading staffing firm for Canadian IT recruitment, we’ve seen first-hand this increased demand for talent—with a wide variety of requests for different job titles and in-demand skill sets. Whether you need contract staffing services, a permanent hire, or full-service project management solutions for an ongoing contract, Altis Technology Recruitment has you covered. If you’re looking for support hiring your next IT candidate in this hot market, submit a job requirement, and we’ll connect you with Canada’s top talent.

On the flip side, if you are looking for a new IT job in Canada or trying to launch your career in tech, you’re in the right place. Register with us today to find your next exciting opportunity in IT.

"The IT market is hotter than ever. Here’s what we recommend to stack the deck in your favour: Invest in courses and certifications relevant to your field, continuously interview to stay atop of market trends, and work with a staffing firm like Altis Recruitment who can act as your hiring partner guiding you through the current IT employment landscape."

James McLaughlin

Recruitment Manager, Altis Technology Recruitment

To help you navigate this hot market, we’ve put together a recruiter-backed list of the most requested IT jobs and the skills that are trending in 2022.

1. Programmer/Software Developer

The job: Programmers / Software Developers are IT experts who use programming languages to produce computer software. These professionals can be referred to as developers, programmers, coders, or software engineers.

Skills required:

• .NET / JAVA
• MVC / ASP.NET / Spring / Hibernate
• HTML / CSS / JavaScript
• RDMS (SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, etc.)
• Agile / Scrum

Educational background and/or experience:

• University degree or college diploma in Computer Science or Computer Programming.

Salary Range:

• Contract hourly: $50 – $100 / hour
• Annual salary: $80,000 – $120,000+

What organizations are looking for:
CRM / ERP experience (ex: Dynamics, SAP, PeopleSoft)

2. Help Desk Technician

The job: Help Desk technicians communicate with clients over the phone or in-person to assist them with fixing software and hardware-related computer issues and getting their systems back up and operating smoothly.

Skills required:

• Customer service
• Effective communication
• Windows OS / Office 365
• Peripherals (monitors, keyboards, printers, scanners)

Educational background and/or experience:

• College degree in Computer Science, Network Administration, or other information technology-related field.

Salary Range:

• Contract hourly: $25 – $40 / hour
• Annual salary: $45,000 – $90,000

What organizations are looking for: Bilingualism in French and English

3. Systems Administration

The job: System Administrators oversee the maintenance, configuration, and ensure the reliable operation of computer systems, particularly multi-user computers (like servers). The goal of a system administrator is to meet the users’ needs in terms of computer uptime, performance, resources, and security.

Skills required:

• Microsoft OS, Linux, UNIX
• Cloud administration (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)
• Scripting (PHP, Python HTML, JavaScript)
• Access management (two-factor authentication)
• Hardware (printers, scanners)

Educational background and/or experience:

• University degree in Computer Science, System Administration, Network Administration, or related field of study.
• 3+ years’ experience with technical support and/or system administration.

Salary Range:

• Contract hourly: $40 – $60 / hour
• Annual salary: $75,000 – $100,000

What organizations are looking for: Cloud expertise (Azure, AWS, Google Cloud)

4. Business Analyst

The job: Business Analysts evaluate recent and historical business data with the main objective of enhancing organizational decision-making procedures.

Skills required:

• Communication and interpersonal skills
• Critical thinking and reasoning
• Negotiation
• Modelling (BPMN)
• Report creation
• RDMS (SQL Server, Oracle)

Educational background and/or experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Business Management, or any information technology-related field.
• Business Analysis certifications would be strong assets (ex: CBAP, IBA-PBA).

Salary Range:

• Contract hourly: $50 – $80 / hour
• Annual salary: $80,000 – $120,000

What organizations are looking for: CRM / ERP experience (ex: Dynamics, SAP, PeopleSoft), bilingualism in French and English, BSA skillset (high technical knowledge/expertise)

5. Project Manager

The job: A Project Manager oversees a project’s planning, implementation, and delivery. The project manager oversees the entire project undertaking and manages the project scope, the project team, and the resources allotted to it.

Skills required:

• Effective communication
• Critical thinking and reasoning
• Planning and scheduling
• Negotiation / mediation
• Leadership
• Technical experience in the domain of the project(s)

Educational background and/or experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Business Management, or in any information technology-related field.
• A master’s degree or certificate in Project Management; Certification(s) in Project Management (ex: PMP, Prince2); relevant project experience.

Salary Range:

• Contract hourly: $80 – $120 / hour
• Annual salary: $95,000 – $150,000

What organizations are looking for: CRM / ERP experience (ex: Dynamics, SAP, PeopleSoft); bilingualism in French and English; infrastructure experience

6. Software Architect

The job: A Software Architect oversees all the planning and structuring of the software system as well as the creation of high-level design and framework standards. Additionally, they choose the platforms, coding standards, and tools that work best for their projects.

Skills required:

• Creative & detailed thinking
• Problem solving & conflict resolution
• Leadership & delegation
• Organization & scheduling
• Agile / Scrum

Educational background and/or experience:

• University degree or college diploma in Computer Science or Computer Programming.
• At least 7 years of experience in software development.

Salary Range:

• Contract hourly: $90 – $120 / hour
• Annual salary: $120,000 – $160,000+

What organizations are looking for: CRM / ERP experience (ex: Dynamics, SAP, PeopleSoft); data architecture; cloud architecture

7. Quality Assurance (QA) / Tester

The job: QA’s / Testers participate in the quality assurance phase of software development and deployment. Testers run both automated and manual tests to make sure the code written by developers is appropriate for the task at hand and that any defects or problems are fixed before a product is made available to general users.

Skills required:

• Effective communication
• Critical thinking and reasoning
• Organization
• Research & documentation
• Testing tools (E.g.: Selenium, TestComplete, QTP, Azure DevOps)

Educational background and/or experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or another information technology-related field.

Salary Range:

• Contract hourly: $40 – $80 / hour
• Annual salary: $60,000 – $85,000

What organizations are looking for: Automation with manual testing experience

8. Business Intelligence Developer

The job: A Business Intelligence (BI) Developer uses data analytics and technology to share crucial business information with decision-makers in their organization. They develop and maintain corporate software applications that direct business strategies through various visual methods.

Skills required:

• BI Tools (ex: PowerBI, Tableau, Oracle Business Intelligence)
• Reporting and visualization
• Requirements gathering
• Database administration / development

Educational background and/or experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.
• At least 7 years of software development and report development.

Salary Range:

• Contract hourly: $80 – $120 / hour
• Annual salary: $85,000 – $140,000

What organizations are looking for: PowerApps experience

9. Database Administrator

The job: Database Administrators make sure databases function properly. Systems for storing and protecting different types of data, like financial data and customer shipping records, are created or organized by database administrators and architects. Additionally, they guarantee that only authorized individuals have access to the data contained within the database(s).

Skills required:

• High attention to detail
• Patience
• Effective communication
• Critical thinking and reasoning

Educational background and/or experience:

• University degree in Computer Science, Database Administration, or another information technical-related field.

Salary Range:

• Contract hourly: $60 – $120 / hour
• Annual salary: $100,000 – $140,000

What organizations are looking for: Specific RDMS certifications; queries and report development experience

10. IT / Cyber Security Analyst

The job: A Cybersecurity Analyst, also known as an IT Security Analyst, oversees safeguarding a business’s servers and computer networks. They develop, assess, and put into practice security measures to stop security lapses and guarantee the safety of a company’s digital assets.

Skills required:

• Scripting
• Mastery of cybersecurity frameworks (ex: NIST, ISO, SOC2)
• Network security
• Operating systems (Windows, Mac OS, Android, iOS)
• Cloud (Azure, AWS, Google Cloud)
• Effective communication
• Critical thinking & reasoning
• Risk management
• Flexibility

Educational background and/or experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or relevant Engineering field.
• Relevant IT Security certifications (ex: CompTIA Security+, CISSP, CISM, CCSP, CISA).
• Relevant industry experience in cybersecurity.

Salary Range:

• Contract hourly: $60 – $150+ / hour
• Annual salary: $100,000 – $180,000+

What organizations are looking for: DevOps experience, infrastructure management experience, ethical hacking experience‍‍