Canada’s growing tech talent is drawing more investment to cities like Toronto and Montreal, but the country could lose momentum if it doesn’t do more to encourage industries to scale up, according to CBRE Ltd.

The country lacks “tech clusters,” dense areas of activity that contain critical mass for companies and educational and research institutions, the Toronto-based brokerage said in a report Thursday. Tech clusters like those in San Francisco and Seattle have helped propel those cities to global success but Toronto is the only Canadian city competitive enough to rank among powerhouses in North America.

Oshawa, Ontario was the fastest growing tech talent market from 2012 to 2017, jumping 71 per cent to 3,000 new tech jobs. Toronto led in terms of absolute growth with a 52 per cent jump to 82,100 new jobs. Venture capital funding doubled to a record in 2017 from 2013 and has reached $1.7 billion this year, slightly ahead of the first half of last year. Canada’s tech industry accounts for 23 per cent of office space requirements and 5.3 per cent of all workers.

Read the full story at calgaryherald.com.