Tech Roundup

Edmonton earns high marks for affordability in startup spotlight

Startup Genome's 2026 Global Startup Ecosystem Report recognized Edmonton as a rising North American ecosystem, with a particularly strong showing for affordable talent. The report, released June 17 at VivaTech in Paris, ranks Edmonton third in North America for affordable talent. Software engineers earn an average of $65,000 here, compared with a continental average of $101,000. The City of Edmonton's new economic action plan, called Edmonton Advantage, also points to the city's relative affordability — the city is the least expensive market in North America for an average tech firm to operate in, according to CBRE's 2025 Scoring Tech Talent report.

The city placed in the continent's top 10 for funding runway — a measure of how long startups can stretch capital from a venture round. The report also points to Edmonton's growing economic impact. Edmonton Unlimited, which contributed to the report, said the region generated $1.1 billion in ecosystem value between July 2023 and December 2025 — a 77% increase over the comparable period used in the 2021 report. Ecosystem value is based on startup valuations and exits, offering one measure of how much wealth local companies are creating as they scale.

Edmonton was also listed among North America's top 50 ecosystems for performance, funding momentum, and research-and-development strength. That momentum has been tied to Edmonton's depth in AI, big data, life sciences, and cleantech, as well as lower operating costs compared with larger U.S. centres. "Edmonton's is an ecosystem on the rise — one where the convergence of AI, life sciences, and cleantech is creating the conditions for globally significant innovation," JF Gauthier, the CEO of Startup Genome, said in a release.

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This roundup was sponsored by Edmonton Unlimited.

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