Software Engineer Salary in Vancouver 2026: Government Wage Data and Posted Pay Ranges

The median wage for software engineers and designers in the Vancouver area is $62.50 an hour, about $130,000 a year for a 40-hour week, according to Canada's Job Bank (NOC 21231, Lower Mainland-Southwest region, based on Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey for 2023–2024). Software developers and programmers (NOC 21232) have a median of $52.40 an hour, about $109,000 a year. Below you'll find the full government figures, pay ranges from current Vancouver job postings, and what BC's pay transparency law and tax rates mean for you.

Software Engineer Salaries in Vancouver: Government Data

Job Bank reports wages by economic region. Vancouver is in the Lower Mainland-Southwest region. The low figure is the 10th percentile (10% of workers earn that or less) and the high figure is the 90th percentile (10% earn more). The last column multiplies the median by 2,080 hours, which is 40 hours a week for 52 weeks.

Occupation (NOC 2021 code)	Low (hourly)	Median (hourly)	High (hourly)	Median × 2,080 hours
Software engineers and designers (21231)	$34.62	$62.50	$99.04	$130,000
Software developers and programmers (21232)	$32.00	$52.40	$84.13	$109,000
Web developers and programmers (21234)	$20.00	$37.44	$65.00	$77,900
Data scientists (21211)	$32.45	$48.08	$88.94	$100,000
Cybersecurity specialists (21220)	$32.00	$45.67	$108.17	$95,000
Computer and information systems managers (20012)	$40.87	$67.31	$100.96	$140,000

Source: Job Bank wages for the Lower Mainland-Southwest region, updated 19 November 2025, reference period 2023–2024 (Job Bank: software engineers and designers, Lower Mainland-Southwest; other occupations via Job Bank wage search).

What these numbers do and don't cover

• They describe what people in the job were paid, across all employers and experience levels, not what employers are offering today.
• They are wages before tax. Job Bank says they include tips and commissions and don't include non-wage benefits.
• There is no separate code for backend, games, DevOps or machine learning engineers. Those jobs fall under the codes above, mostly 21231 and 21232.
• There is no breakdown by experience level. The low and high figures show how wide pay is spread: 10% of software engineers and designers in the region earn $34.62 an hour or less, and 10% earn $99.04 or more.

What Vancouver Employers Are Posting Now

BC requires pay in public job postings (see below), so posted ranges are a direct look at current offers. These examples come from Vancouver software engineering postings, checked on each employer's own job page on 24 September 2026. They are examples, not a sample of the whole market, and postings close, so some links may stop working.

Employer	Job title	Posted pay range (CAD a year)
Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies	Software Engineer II, Vehicle Data Services	$77,400–$102,620
Trulioo	Software Engineer (Fraud and Risk)	$110,000–$135,000
Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies	Senior Software Engineer, Cloud Gateway	$108,200–$143,430
Klue	Senior Software Engineer, DevOps and Security	$140,000–$195,000
Parallel Domain	Senior Software Engineer, Backend	$155,000–$175,000
Remarcable	Team Lead, Software Engineering	$150,000–$180,000

Both Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies postings also mention equity and a bonus, and Klue's mentions equity. For more, browse software engineer jobs in Vancouver (92 open on 24 September 2026). Every listing on LANDTHATROLE comes from the employer's own hiring system, such as Greenhouse, Lever, Workday or Ashby, and when the employer closes a job, it closes here too. Our Vancouver software engineer salary page summarises the pay ranges listed in Vancouver software engineer postings on the site and shows how many postings it is based on.

BC's Pay Transparency Act and Your Negotiation

Since 1 November 2023, BC employers must include the expected pay or pay range in every publicly advertised job posting. The rule applies to all employers with employees in BC except federally regulated ones (Government of BC). Two other points from the BC government help in a negotiation:

• The range isn't a hard limit. BC's guidance says applicants can ask for pay outside the advertised range, and employers can offer pay outside it.
• You don't have to share your pay history. Employers can't ask applicants what other employers have paid them (Government of BC).

Use the posted range as your starting point. If your experience goes beyond what the job asks for, ask for the upper end and say why.

BC Tax: What a Vancouver Salary Takes Home

For 2026, BC's provincial income tax rates run from 5.6% on the first $50,363 of taxable income to 20.5% on income above $265,545. Federal rates run from 14% to 33% (Canada Revenue Agency). CPP and EI contributions come off your pay as well.

Use the BC take-home pay calculator to see what an offer leaves you with, and compare it with the Ontario or Alberta calculator if you're weighing a move.

Job Outlook for Software Engineers in Vancouver

Job Bank also rates the job market for each occupation. For software engineers and designers in the Lower Mainland-Southwest region (Job Bank outlook):

• 2023–2025: Job Bank found a labour shortage, meaning there were more job openings than available workers.
• 2025–2027 outlook: "Moderate". Job Bank expects employment growth to create several new positions, with few openings from retirements and a moderate number of unemployed workers with recent experience.
• Size: about 24,960 people work in this occupation in the region. The biggest sectors are professional, scientific and technical services (52%) and information, cultural, arts, entertainment and recreation services (18%).

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Vancouver a good city for software engineers financially?

On pay, yes. Job Bank's median for software engineers and designers in the Vancouver area is $62.50 an hour, about $130,000 a year, higher than the Toronto region's $56.49. Job Bank rates the 2025–2027 outlook for the occupation in the region as moderate. Living costs matter too, so compare offers after tax and housing, not on salary alone.

How does Vancouver compare to Toronto for software engineer salaries?

By Job Bank's data, Vancouver-area medians are higher. Software engineers and designers: $62.50 an hour in the Lower Mainland-Southwest region against $56.49 in the Toronto region. Software developers and programmers: $52.40 against $48.08.

Which tech jobs pay the most in Vancouver?

Among the tech occupations in Job Bank's data for the Vancouver area shown above, computer and information systems managers have the highest median at $67.31 an hour, followed by software engineers and designers ($62.50), software developers and programmers ($52.40), data scientists ($48.08), cybersecurity specialists ($45.67) and web developers and programmers ($37.44).