The IT Nerd

Canada’s job market may be slowing, but career growth isn’t disappearing, it’s becoming more concentrated. New data from LinkedIn’s Top Companies 2026 shows that opportunities to build skills, get promoted and move internally are increasingly clustered within financial institutions and enterprise tech firms. 

This year’s ranking is dominated by banks and global technology companies, pointing to a shift in where long-term career mobility is still holding up as AI and digital transformation reshape hiring. 

This year’s Top 10 Companies in Canada are: 

1. TD 
2. Desjardins 
3. Scotiabank 
4. CIBC 
5. Amazon 
6. RBC 
7. ServiceNow 
8. SAP 
9. BMO 
10. Okta 

The data also highlights the growing importance of AI, digital and transformation-focused skills across roles, not just in tech, but across the broader economy.  

Read more here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/linkedin-top-companies-2026-25-best-employers-grow-your-n6p9f/

The Class of 2026 is graduating into one of the toughest entry-level job markets in years, where ‘entry-level’ roles increasingly require experience, AI is reshaping expectations, and traditional career paths feel less reliable than ever. 

For many new grads, the challenge isn’t just competition. It’s knowing where to look, and how to get started in a market that no longer follows a clear path. 

To make sense of this shift, LinkedIn is releasing its annual Grad’s Guide, a data-backed look at how early-career opportunities are evolving and where they’re emerging for new grads today. The guide highlights the fastest-growing jobs and industries, offering insight into where opportunities are expanding and what new grads should prioritize as they enter the workforce. 

It also comes as LinkedIn rolls out AI-powered tools designed to tackle one of Gen Z’s biggest barriers: not knowing where to start. These tools help identify relevant roles, understand fit, and navigate a more fragmented job search. 

You can read the guide here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/linkedin-grads-guide-2026-linkedin-news-svpqe/

As Canada’s job market remains competitive and professionals look for clarity on where to focus their time, LinkedIn has just released its annual Skills on the Rise report, revealing the fastest-growing skills shaping Canada’s workforce in 2026.   

This year’s data shows demand accelerating across both advanced AI capabilities and foundational business skills, signaling that employers are prioritizing professionals who can implement new technologies while strengthening operational resilience, financial oversight, cybersecurity, and leadership.   

Here are some of the fastest-growing skills in Canada highlighted in the report: 

• AI Engineering & Implementation  
• Data & AI Strategy  
• Operational Efficiency  
• Financial Operations & Analysis  
• Cybersecurity & Risk Management  
• Business and Revenue Growth  
• Stakeholder Management  
• Leadership & People Management  

These trends point to a clear shift in Canada’s labour market, employers are investing in AI and automation, while doubling down on risk management, financial oversight and leadership to navigate uncertainty.  

You can explore the full list of Canada’s fastest-rising skills here.

Canada’s job market continues to evolve, with technology, infrastructure investment, and essential services shaping where opportunity is growing. To help job seekers make sense of these shifts, LinkedIn has released their annual Jobs on the Rise ranking for 2026, highlighting the fastest-growing roles across Canada and the trends defining the future of work.   

This year’s list points to two clear trends. AI-driven roles continue to grow as technology becomes embedded across industries, alongside sustained demand for jobs that support Canada’s energy systems, healthcare services, and major construction projects.  

The top 5 roles in Canada include:  

• AI engineers  
• AI consultants & strategists  
• Power systems engineers  
• AI/ML researchers  
• Commissioning managers 

LinkedIn Jobs on the Rise 2026: Canada (Top 15)  
  

1. AI engineers  
2. AI consultants & strategists  
3. Power systems engineers  
4. AI/ML researchers  
5. Commissioning managers  
6. Chief product officers  
7. Clinical services managers  
8. Fraud investigators  
9. Construction managers  
10. Founders/Entrepreneurs   
11. Car sales managers  
12. Cardiologists  
13. IT support specialists  
14. Psychotherapists  
15. Database analysts  

Methodology  

LinkedIn Economic Graph researchers examined millions of jobs started by LinkedIn members from January 1, 2023 to July 31, 2025 to calculate a growth rate for each job title. To be ranked, a job title needed to see positive growth across our membership base and sufficient job postings in the past year, as well as have grown to a meaningful size by 2025. Identical job titles across different seniority levels were grouped and ranked together. Internships, volunteer positions, interim roles and student roles were excluded, and jobs where hiring was dominated by a small handful of companies in each country were also excluded. 

Today, LinkedIn released its annual Top Startups list, spotlighting the 15 Canadian companies redefining innovation across AI, tech, health, and finance. These fastest-growing startups are creating jobs, attracting top talent, and shaping the country’s next wave of growth.  

Nearly 70 per cent of this year’s honorees are new to the list, underscoring how quickly Canada’s startup landscape is evolving. From AI copilots and fintech disruptors to health tech breakthroughs, these companies reflect the country’s rapid renewal and the new frontiers of opportunity for Canadian professionals.  

Top 15 Canadian Startups 2025:   

1. Pine 
2. Hiive 
3. Manmade 
4. Vosyn 
5. Motion (Creative Analytics) 
6. Beautifi 
7. PostGrid 
8. Orchestry 
9. Quandri 
10. Orennia 
11. Tali AI 
12. Waabi 
13. Cozey Canada 
14. Traferox Technologies Inc. 
15. Alli Therapy 

Methodology 

LinkedIn’s methodology is based on growth and demand — two key attributes that are synonymous with successful startups. We look at unique LinkedIn data across four pillars:

• Employment growth: Percentage headcount increase over methodology time frame, which must be a minimum of 10%, over the methodology time period
• Engagement: Non-employee views and follows of the company’s LinkedIn page, as well as how many non-employees are viewing employees at that startup. 
• Job interest: Rate at which people are viewing and applying to jobs at the company, including both paid and unpaid postings. 
• Attraction of top talent: How many employees the startup has recruited away from any global LinkedIn Top Company, as a percentage of the startup’s total workforce. Data is normalized across all eligible startups.

The methodology time frame is July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. 

From vague job titles to time-wasting applications, the job hunt is often more draining than empowering. According to new LinkedIn data, 69 per cent of Canadians want a less painful process, and 73 per cent are looking for roles that match their skills — not just their job titles. The message is clear, job seekers want smarter, more personalized support.  

To meet this demand, LinkedIn is rolling out a new AI-powered job search aimed at putting clarity, control, and confidence back in the hands of job seekers.  

Instead of relying on filters or job titles, users can now describe what they want in plain language, and LinkedIn’s AI will interpret intent and deliver more relevant, personalized results. The reality is, people don’t find their ideal jobs by checking boxes like salary, title or location. It starts by expressing what you want, and now, with AI, Canadians can finally turn their aspirations into real opportunities.  

Additional updates now live in Canada: 

• Hiring Insights: New transparency features show how active and responsive a company is before you apply, so you can move faster and with more confidence.  
• AI-powered coaching in LinkedIn Learning: All members can now run mock interviews tailored to their goals, while Premium subscribers can build fully customizable scenarios and get actionable feedback.  
• More ways to upskill: LinkedIn is offering free access to its top 10 AI courses of 2025 through May 31, plus curated job-seeking courses free to all members through June 30.  

Today LinkedIn unveiled its 2025 Top Companies list for Canada, spotlighting 50 workplaces that are now hiring big, investing in employee development and fostering long-term career growth. This year, Canada’s financial sector stands out, claiming six of the top ten spots, a reflection of both the industry’s stability and its investment in talent.  These companies are not only hiring across roles in finance, tech, and operations, but also doubling down on reskilling initiatives and internal mobility to help employees grow and pivot. 

Here’s the full list of LinkedIn’s Top Companies in Canada 2025: 

1. Scotiabank
2. TD
3. Desjardins
4. CIBC
5. Thermo Fisher Scientific
6. Doane Grant Thornton
7. Autodesk
8. RBC
9. Oracle
10. BMO

These organizations are redefining the future of work by offering employees opportunities to upskill, embrace career mobility, and thrive in innovative environments.

Methodology

Their methodology uses LinkedIn data to rank companies based on eight pillars that have been shown to lead to career progression: ability to advance; skills growth; company stability; external opportunity; company affinity; gender diversity; educational background and employee presence in the country. Ability to advance tracks employee promotions within a company and when they move to a new company, based on standardized job titles. Skills growth looks at how employees across the company are gaining skills while employed at the company, using standardized LinkedIn skills. Company stability tracks attrition over the past year, as well as the percentage of employees that stay at the company at least three years. External opportunity looks at Recruiter outreach across employees at the company, signaling demand for workers coming from these companies. Company affinity, which seeks to measure how supportive a company’s culture is, looks at connection volume on LinkedIn among employees, controlled for company size. Gender diversity measures gender parity within a company and its subsidiaries. Educational background examines the variety of educational attainment among employees, from no degree up to Ph.D. levels, reflecting a commitment to recruiting a wide range of professionals. Finally, employee presence in the country looks at the company’s number of employees in the country relative to other companies, as a means of capturing companies that provide a diverse work environment and more opportunities for career advancement and networking. 

To be eligible, companies must have had at least 500 employees in the country as of Dec. 31, 2024. Attrition can be no higher than 10% over the methodology time period, based on LinkedIn data. Similarly, organizations that have had layoffs of 10% or more of their workforce based on corporate announcements or public, reliable sources between Jan. 1, 2024 and the list launch, are not eligible. These decisions are made by the LinkedIn News team based on company statements and/or reputable news outlets. Only parent companies rank on the list; majority-owned subsidiaries and data about those subsidiaries are incorporated into the parent company score. The methodology time frame is Jan. 1, 2024 through Dec. 31, 2024. This analysis represents the world seen through the lens of LinkedIn data, drawn from the anonymized and aggregated profile information of LinkedIn’s members around the world.

They exclude all staffing and recruiting firms, educational institutions and government agencies. We also exclude LinkedIn, its parent company Microsoft, Microsoft subsidiaries, and Deloitte, which is Microsoft’s independent third-party auditor, from the list.

About company insights

Company insights were sourced from LinkedIn Talent Insights and include the parent company and majority-owned subsidiaries. Data reflects aggregated public member data from active LinkedIn profiles in the relevant country and includes employee profiles associated with the parent company and majority-owned subsidiaries on LinkedIn. We exclude members who identify as interns or contractors. All insights reflect a 12-month time period looking back from January 2025. Top locations were categorized as the regions or cities that employed the largest percentage of each company. Skills data was derived from measuring the most frequent unique skills among a company’s employees, relative to other companies. Most common job titles represent the occupations most common within each company. Largest job function measures the function area most prevalent within each company. Flexible work availability measures jobs flagged as “remote” or “hybrid” by the company or containing similar keywords.

Get ready to level up your LinkedIn experience! Today, LinkedIn launched Zip, a fast-paced, logic-based game designed to give professionals a quick mental boost while sparking meaningful connections within their networks.  

Zip offers a quick, brain-boosting puzzle designed to challenge players while encouraging meaningful connections. With new shareability features, it’s easier than ever to spark conversations, strengthen relationships, and network in a fresh, productive way. 

With over 2.5 million weekly active players engaging with LinkedIn games, play has evolved into a tool for building relationships.  With Canada ranking among the top five markets for LinkedIn gameplay, professionals are embracing these experiences to recharge and engage with their networks in a low-pressure, enjoyable way. 

You can play here.

LinkedIn has released the 2024 Canadian Top Startups List, featuring 15 emerging companies attracting attention and top talent in 2024. Eleven new companies are on this year’s list including Pine, Sweat and Tonic, Quandri, and Felix.  

As the landscape of work changes rapidly around professionals, from what we do to how we do it, startups are a natural place to look for forward thinking and innovation around the future of how we live and work. LinkedIn’s Top Startups list is the place to find the startups Canadians should be paying attention to, whether they’re looking for a new job or inspiration from those leading us through change. 

2024 Top Startups Canada List

1. Cohere
2. Float
3. PostGrid
4. Hiive
5. Pine
6. SALT XC
7. MedMe Health
8. Quandri
9. Sweat and Tonic
10. Carbon6
11. Felix
12. Kensington Grey Agency
13. Zūm Rails
14. OwnersBox
15. pH7 Technologies

Additional details can be found here.

Methodology

LinkedIn measures startups based on four pillars: employment growth, engagement, job interest and attraction of top talent. Employment growth is measured as percentage headcount increase over methodology time frame, which must be a minimum of 10%. Engagement looks at non-employee views and follows of the company’s LinkedIn page, as well as how many non-employees are viewing employees at that startup. Job interest counts the rate at which people are viewing and applying to jobs at the company, including both paid and unpaid postings. Attraction of top talent measures how many employees the startup has recruited away from any global LinkedIn Top Company, as a percentage of the startup’s total workforce. Data is normalized across all eligible startups. The methodology time frame is July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024.  

To be eligible, companies must be fully independent, privately held, have 30 or more full-time employees, be 5 years old or younger and be headquartered in the country on whose list they appear. We exclude all staffing firms, think tanks, venture capital firms, law firms, management and IT consulting firms, nonprofits and philanthropy, accelerators and government-owned entities. Startups who have laid off 10% or more of their workforce based on corporate announcements or public, reliable sources between July 1, 2023 and the list launch, are not eligible. These decisions are made by the LinkedIn News team based on company statements and/or reputable news outlets.