King St. may hum with early morning dealmakers, but beneath the bustle lies a talent paradox: Toronto added 11,700 jobs in January 2025 (Toronto Workforce Innovation Group), yet boards say a vice president search still drags on for six months. Shortlists are often reduced to a single credible contender and offers are frequently declined. A surplus of coordinator and middle manager résumés hides a real scarcity of seasoned C‑suite leaders, a gap that now dominates Bay Street strategy meetings.
One of the clearest signals comes from the Toronto Region Board of Trade’s May 2025 “Winning Formula” action plan, which states that Ontario’s talent pipeline “is strong at the entry level, but weak where it matters most: C‑suite leaders.” The comment sits in a section devoted to strengthening talent pipelines and has become a touchstone for every executive search briefing deck circulated on Bay Street this year.
When the search proves difficult, boards often turn to three Toronto‑based partners with documented results:
- Lock Search Group: Founded in 1983, Lock operates from 11 Canadian offices (including its Toronto headquarters) and two in the United States.
- Summit Search Group: Ranked number 49 on Forbes 2025 Canada’s Best Executive Recruiting Firms.
- True North Search: A boutique practice serving clients across North America from its Toronto base.
Demand Outpaces Supply at the C Suite
Hard data from Statistics Canada’s Job Vacancy and Wage Survey for Q1 2025 confirms the imbalance. The average offered wage for vacant senior‑management roles rose 13.7% year over year to $88.15/hour, the steepest increase among all ten occupational groups. By contrast, vacancies requiring only a high‑school diploma fell by 66,800 positions, pushing the unemployment‑to‑vacancy ratio at that level up to 2.9 job seekers per opening.Front‑line search consultants echo the numbers. A February 2025 Canadian market briefing from Hunt Scanlon Media describes “a relatively limited talent pool” that “demands creative sourcing strategies, especially for senior roles.” Recruiters interviewed for the report note they now look internationally to build a list of even three credible finalists.
Compensation Pressures and the Cost of Living
Money cannot conjure executives out of thin air yet it dominates negotiations. Toronto housing prices keep rising faster than senior pay levels and the Canadian dollar remains soft against its United States counterpart. A chief marketing officer comparing a Rosedale mortgage with an equally senior package in Austin, Texas sees their purchasing power curtaled. While employers can respond with equity top‑ups, relocation allowances, hybrid‑work concessions and accelerated bonus schedules, it remains difficult for companies to match the cash components offered by their Fortune 500 peers in the US.Hybrid Expectations and Cross‑Border Competition
Remote work removed geography as a constraint and made Toronto both the hunter and hunted. The streetcar gliding past Liberty Village this morning carried a vice president who reports to a California board without leaving her condo. Domestic employers therefore confront a market where physical proximity no longer guarantees loyalty and where candidates can find better paying opportunities south of the border.Immigration Wins and Bottlenecks
Canada’s Global Talent Stream lets companies import specialised managers in as little as two weeks, but executive level visas still attract heavier scrutiny and longer timelines. Boards hesitate to entrust multibillion dollar strategies to a candidate whose work permit might come under review during proxy season. Furthermore, recruiters courting foregin leaders discover that nostalgic ties to Toronto fade when family logistics prove cumbersome and when rival cities can finalise paperwork in half the time.Sector Snapshot: Where Leadership Demand Is Rising
- Technology – Toronto added 95,900 tech jobs between 2018 and 2023, a 44% surge that led North America (CBRE). Scaleups in AI, fintech and climate tech are doubling headcount yearly, driving searches for chief product and technology officers.
- Financial services – All five Big Five banks are headquartered downtown, making Toronto the continent’s second largest financial centre. More than 360 fintechs now operate in the GTA (Toronto Global), fuelling demand for chief compliance, risk and data officers versed in real‑time payments and cloud migrations.
- Life sciences and health tech – Employment reached 30,490 in 2023, a 35% year‑over‑year jump (City of Toronto). Boards want chief scientific and medical officers who can translate lab breakthroughs into FDA‑ready filings.
- Film, television and digital production – Direct spending hit $2.6 billion in 2022, with new sound stages at Pinewood and Cinespace and a long‑term Netflix commitment (City of Toronto news release). Studios are recruiting production presidents and VFX chiefs.
- Artificial intelligence – Ontario’s AI sector created 17,196 new jobs in 2024–25 and launched 70 startups, half in Toronto (Ontario Ministry of Economic Development). Firms need chief AI officers able to embed models safely and profitably.
- Clean technology – Ontario hosts 852 cleantech firms, more than any other province, and the federal Smart Renewables Program forecasts 650,000 clean‑energy positions nationwide by 2030 (Natural Resources Canada). Boards are chasing CEOs who can navigate carbon markets and infrastructure finance.
- Advanced manufacturing and electric vehicles – Volkswagen’s $7B battery plant in St. Thomas will create up to 3,000 direct and 30,000 indirect jobs by 2027 (Ontario Newsroom). Tier‑one suppliers are recruiting operations and supply‑chain executives familiar with gigafactory scale.
- Interactive media and gaming – Animation and VFX employment in the region grew 42% over five years, making Toronto North America’s third‑largest cluster after Los Angeles and Vancouver (Ontario Creates). Studios seek creative‑tech leaders who can marry artistic pipelines with cloud render infrastructure.
Looking Ahead
Benchmarks from an October 2024 study by Medallion Partners show a typical Canadian C‑suite search taking 90 to 120 days, roughly triple the 35 to 45 day cycle for non‑executive hires. Search partners expect the imbalance to linger until at least 2026 because investment and sector diversification keep expanding leadership demand faster than universities or immigration can replenish supply. Boards that cultivate director level talent internally and open confidential conversations with potential successors years before vacancies open up will perform best.
