The decision is made. You're opening a tech hub in Toronto. The budget is approved, the office search has started, and there are five or ten roles you'd like filled before the space is ready. What you don't have is anyone on the ground who knows how hiring works here.
Most US companies in this spot weigh the same handful of options. Send a US recruiter north for a few weeks. Hire a local agency. Or bring in a fractional recruiting partner, like InTandem, who already knows the market.
The playbook you hire with in San Francisco or New York doesn't transfer cleanly, and Toronto candidates notice the gaps fast. This article covers why so many US companies are building Toronto hubs, what to pay, where to put the office, what's different about employing Canadians, Ontario's 2026 hiring rules, the questions candidates will ask you, and how long it really takes to hire your first team.
Why are so many US companies opening tech hubs in Toronto?
Because the talent is real and still growing. In CBRE's latest Scoring Tech Talent report, Toronto ranks third among North American tech talent markets and added 75,000 tech jobs between 2022 and 2025, the largest gain of any market in the ranking (CBRE).
You can see it in who has already moved in. DoorDash chose Toronto for its first engineering site outside the US (BetaKit). Intuit moved its Canadian headquarters into downtown Toronto and described the city as a global talent hub (Intuit). The ecosystem runs from seed-stage startups to enterprise engineering teams, so there's experienced talent at every level.
There's also the part people say quietly. Dollar for dollar, a Canadian hire usually costs less than the same hire in a major US tech market, and you can still offer a salary that's very competitive locally. Add the same time zone as New York and a short flight from most US offices, and the business case writes itself.
That cost advantage is real. It just can't be the way you think about the people you're hiring, which is where the next section comes in.
What should you pay tech talent in Toronto?
Pay what the Toronto market pays, not what your US band works out to after a currency conversion. Those are two different numbers, and candidates know the difference.
The most common mistake we see is a US team taking its San Francisco or New York band, applying the exchange rate, and calling it a Toronto offer. Toronto salaries are lower than the Bay Area's, but Toronto isn't cheap to live in. Housing in particular is expensive, and a senior engineer here knows exactly what the last three companies offered them. If your number is built from a spreadsheet in another country, it shows.
A few rules that save a lot of back and forth:
Build bands from local data. Benchmark against Toronto offers for the same level, not a discount off your US range. CBRE's report publishes average tech wages by market, and a local recruiter can tell you what's closing right now.
Name the currency every time. Say CAD or USD in the job post, on the first call and in the offer letter. An unlabeled number reads like a lowball, even when it isn't.
Explain equity in plain terms. Canadian candidates are used to equity, but plans set up for US employees don't always work the same way here. Get your plan reviewed for Canadian staff before you lead with it.
Don't sell it as cheaper. The savings are your business case, not your pitch. Candidates who sense they're the budget option take the next offer that treats them like the main team.
Where in the GTA should your Toronto hub be?
Closer to your candidates than you think. "Toronto" on a job post usually means the Greater Toronto Area, and the GTA is big. It runs from Oakville and Mississauga in the west to Markham in the north and east, with the Kitchener-Waterloo tech corridor about an hour beyond that.
That matters because a lot of tech talent lives downtown or close to it, and the commute out to a suburban office park can be long. We've seen a US-led recruiting team advertise roles "in Toronto" when the office was in Oakville. Candidates in the city found out where the desk actually was and lost interest. Nobody had lied. The team just didn't know that, to a local, those are different places.
Before you sign a lease or post a role, think about:
Where your target candidates live. Engineers, product people and go-to-market talent don't all cluster in the same parts of the city.
How they'd get there. Toronto's transit works well along some routes and poorly along others. A location that's easy by car can be a long trip by subway and bus.
How many days in office you expect. A long commute that's fine twice a week becomes a dealbreaker at four or five.
What you call the location. Name the neighbourhood or city in the post. Being specific up front saves everyone time.
Does your employee experience work for Canadians?
It should, and it's the easiest place to lose trust without noticing. US companies that hire in Canada often build everything for their US team first and leave the Canadian team to figure out which parts apply to them.
It shows up in small ways. A benefits announcement in Slack that only covers US employees. A holiday calendar with US Thanksgiving on it and no Canada Day. A perk, a stipend or a 401(k) match that Canadians read about and can't use. Each one is minor. Together, they tell your Toronto team they're a satellite office, not part of the company.
Before your first Canadian hire starts, check that you have:
A Canadian benefits plan (health, dental and the extras people compare across offers), not a note that US benefits don't apply.
Canadian statutory holidays built into your calendar and planning.
Payroll in CAD through an entity or an employer of record, so pay doesn't swing with the exchange rate.
An equity plan that works for Canadian employees, reviewed with Canadian advice.
Company communications that include them. If an announcement only applies to one country, say so, and say what the other country gets.
Get these right and they quietly become a selling point. Toronto candidates who've worked for US companies before will ask about them.
What are Ontario's hiring rules in 2026?
Ontario changed the rules for job postings on January 1, 2026, and they apply to employers with 25 or more employees in the province. If your hub will grow past that size, build your hiring process around them from day one (Government of Ontario).
For publicly advertised postings, employers now have to:
Include pay. State the expected pay or a range, and keep the range to $50,000 a year or less. Roles paying more than $200,000 a year are exempt.
Disclose AI screening. If you use AI to screen, assess or select applicants, the posting has to say so, even if a third-party tool does it.
Say whether the job exists. Each posting must state whether it's for an existing vacancy.
Drop "Canadian experience." Postings and application forms can't require Canadian work experience.
Follow up after interviews. Anyone you interview must hear whether a hiring decision has been made within 45 days.
Two more things US teams often miss. Recruiters working in Ontario must be licensed, and employers aren't allowed to knowingly use an unlicensed one (Ontario). And there's no at-will employment. Once someone has worked for you for three months, ending their employment generally means written notice, termination pay or a mix of both, on top of any obligations under their contract (Ontario).
Rules also differ by province, so if you plan to hire outside Ontario, check each one. We're recruiters, not lawyers: have a Canadian employment lawyer review your offer letters and contracts before the first one goes out.
The upside is that the 45-day rule pushes everyone toward something good candidates already expect: close the loop with every person you interview. A structured interview process makes that much easier to keep up.
What will Toronto candidates ask a US company?
More than you'd expect, and earlier. When a US company opens a Toronto hub, strong candidates aren't only evaluating the role. They're evaluating whether the hub itself is a safe bet.
Be ready to answer these on the first call:
Is this office here to stay? People have watched satellite offices open with fanfare and close quietly. Tell them why Toronto, what the plan is, and who's backing it.
Who will I report to, and where are they? A manager in California is workable. A manager no one can name yet is a red flag.
Will Canadians get the same deal? Same equity, same career path, same access to interesting work as the US team.
What will the team look like in a year? Senior people want to know whether they're joining a growing team or a small outpost.
The senior tech community here is well connected. Candidates compare notes, and a messy process gets around quickly. Every person who goes through your interviews, hired or not, forms an opinion of the new hub and shares it.
The opposite mistake is rushing to fill seats so the office looks busy on opening day. Your first Toronto hires set the culture for everyone who follows, and a bad hire costs far more than a few extra weeks of searching.
How long does it take to hire your first Toronto team?
Longer than most hub plans assume. A typical search runs two months or more from kickoff to signed offer, and senior or specialized roles can take longer. Then there's the notice period: most Canadian professionals give their current employer at least two weeks, and senior people often give more.
Here's the rule of thumb we give clients: if you want someone ramping in the new year, the search should start in the fall. Start it in January, and you're realistically looking at an April hire.
So work backwards from the date the hub needs people in seats:
Pick the start date you actually need for each role.
Subtract notice periods of two to four weeks.
Subtract the search itself, roughly two months, more for leadership roles.
Subtract the setup work before a search can start: role definition, comp bands, your interview loop, and your Canadian entity or employer of record.
For a hub opening in the spring, that usually means the first searches should be running now. The roles you hire first, often a local engineering lead or site leader, will help you hire everyone else, so start there.
Who should run hiring for your Toronto hub?
Someone who knows the local market and can build the process your hub will run on. Here's how the usual options compare:
A US recruiter flying in: knows your company, but not Toronto comp, the GTA or how local candidates read a US offer.
A contingency agency: local reach, but you pay a percentage of salary per hire, and the agency is paid to fill seats, not to build your process. (Here's what recruiters typically charge.)
An employer of record: solves payroll, benefits and compliance before you have a Canadian entity. It doesn't find, assess or close a single candidate.
A fractional recruiting partner: a senior recruiter embedded in your team, on a flat monthly retainer, who knows the Toronto market and can scale up or down with your hiring plan.
For the build-out phase of a new hub, we think fractional recruiting is the strongest fit. You need local judgment on comp, location and candidate expectations now, plus a hiring process your first Toronto leader can take over later. You don't need a permanent recruiting team for a hiring push that will slow down once the hub is staffed. If you're new to the model, here's how a fractional recruiter works.
Frequently asked questions
Why do US companies open tech offices in Toronto? Access to a large, fast-growing tech talent pool, lower salary costs than major US tech markets, and the same time zone as the US East Coast. Toronto ranks third in North America for tech talent in CBRE's latest ranking.
Do I need an employer of record to hire in Canada? Not necessarily. You can set up a Canadian entity or use an employer of record to employ people before you have one. An employer of record handles payroll, benefits and compliance. It doesn't recruit for you.
Do I have to post salary ranges in Ontario? Yes, if you have 25 or more employees in Ontario. Since January 1, 2026, public job postings must include expected pay or a range of $50,000 or less, unless the role pays more than $200,000 a year.
Should I pay Canadian employees in CAD or USD? Most Canadian employees are paid in CAD, and local candidates compare offers in CAD. Whatever you choose, state the currency clearly in every posting, conversation and offer.
How long does it take to hire in Toronto? Plan on two months or more per search, plus a notice period of a few weeks. For a hub opening in the spring, start your first searches in the fall.
Opening a Toronto hub? Let's talk before you post the first role
We're a Toronto-based fractional recruiting partner, and helping US companies build their first Canadian team is work we do often. We join your team, work in your tools and run your searches end to end, from setting Toronto comp bands and scoping the first roles to sourcing, interviewing and closing offers. If you want more than open roles filled, we can also design the interview process, candidate experience and hiring plan your Toronto leader will take over once the hub is up and running. It's all on a flat monthly retainer that scales with your hiring, with no placement fees. You can see how the Strategy and Execution tracks work on our services page.
The best time to bring us in is before the first job goes live, while the comp, location and timeline decisions are still open. If you're planning a Toronto hub for next year, book a discovery call. In 30 minutes we'll talk through your hiring plan, flag what's likely to trip you up in this market, and tell you honestly whether we're the right fit.
