Your Montreal fintech recruitment specialists
Nexus IT Group recruits fintech professionals for Montreal employers: payment systems and financial software engineers, quantitative developers, risk and compliance engineers, data and platform engineers along with the CTOs and heads of engineering who run regulated products. We place contract, contract-to-hire and permanent staff across the sectors that make Montreal a distinct fintech market, from the banks and pension funds headquartered downtown to the payments platforms built out of Griffintown and Old Montreal.
Our Montreal candidate network has been built over years of searches for banks, pension funds, payments companies and wealth management technology firms across the metro. Every search runs outbound to passive engineers, with three calls before you see anyone and a shortlist within 4 days, the same fintech recruiting process we run for clients nationwide. Candidates are screened on the payment, risk or compliance systems they have actually shipped, so the first interview is about fit rather than verification.
Companies that staff their fintech roles with Nexus IT Group
Nexus IT Group will quickly staff your open Montreal fintech roles with high-quality committed candidates
81%
of our successful candidates are submitted within one week
92%
of our candidates will accept your offer
96%
of our candidates are employed with your firm after 12 months
Where Montreal hires fintech talent
Four sectors carry most of the demand, and payments technology leads the news after Montreal-based Nuvei agreed in June 2026 to acquire Payoneer for US$2.75 billion.
Banks
National Bank of Canada runs its head office at 800 Saint-Jacques Street with roughly 33,200 employees, alongside Desjardins, whose executive management is based in Montreal, and Laurentian Bank.
- National Bank of Canada
- Desjardins
- Laurentian Bank
Payments and digital assets
Nuvei agreed in June 2026 to acquire Payoneer for US$2.75 billion, creating a combined platform expected to process more than $500 billion in annual payment volume.
- Nuvei
- Lightspeed Commerce
- Shakepay
Pension funds and institutional investors
PSP Investments runs its chief business office from Montreal, part of a fund that reported roughly CA$299.7 billion in net assets as of March 2025.
- CDPQ
- PSP Investments
- Fiera Capital
Financial software, data and insurance
Montreal-built Croesus runs wealth management workflows behind more than 100 financial institutions, and Intact Financial runs one of its AI and data research labs from the city.
- CGI
- Croesus
- Intact Financial
What fintech roles pay in Montreal (CAD)
| Role | Low | Median | High | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quantitative Researcher (total compensation, CAD) | $85,600 | $107,200 | $158,800 | Levels.fyi, Sept 2026 |
| Machine Learning Engineer (total compensation, CAD) | $87,900 | $108,500 | $199,000 | Levels.fyi, Sept 2026 |
| Data Scientist (CAD) | $106,300 | $133,900 | $159,900 | Robert Half 2026 Salary Guide |
| Market Risk Analyst (CAD) | $75,500 | $87,000 | $100,000 | Robert Half 2026 Salary Guide |
| Credit Risk Analyst (CAD) | $75,000 | $90,000 | $102,000 | Robert Half 2026 Salary Guide |
| Compliance Analyst (CAD) | $80,300 | $101,000 | $119,300 | Robert Half 2026 Salary Guide |
| Fraud Investigator (CAD) | $57,900 | $72,700 | $82,600 | Robert Half 2026 Salary Guide |
| Financial Analyst (CAD) | $68,900 | $80,800 | $90,500 | Robert Half 2026 Salary Guide |
Every figure on this table is in Canadian dollars, for the Montreal metro in 2026. The Levels.fyi rows are self-reported total compensation including bonus and equity, shown as the 25th percentile, median and 75th percentile; the Robert Half rows are the 2026 Salary Guide starting salary bands by experience level, shown as low, midpoint and high. Treat these as ranges, not a benchmark to offer against.
What shapes a Montreal fintech search right now
Payment supervision now runs on an annual cycle
The Bank of Canada's Retail Payment Activities Act put every registered payment service provider under formal supervision, requiring a risk management and funds safeguarding framework and an annual report as of 8 September 2025. Montreal-based payment companies file that report again on each anniversary, alongside registration reviews for new applicants and enforcement action against unregistered operators. That keeps risk, compliance and platform engineering roles open at the city's payment processors through every reporting cycle.
Shopify and the quant shops set the pay ceiling
The median Montreal software engineer reports $111,700 CAD in total compensation, while Shopify's Montreal engineers average $157,400 CAD, and a machine learning engineer here has a median package of $108,500 CAD against $107,200 CAD for a quantitative researcher. A bank, pension fund or insurer hiring a senior engineer in Montreal is bidding against those numbers for the same data and platform skills. A search has to lead with scope and equity rather than base salary alone.
Nuvei is absorbing Payoneer
Nuvei agreed on 15 June 2026, from its Montreal head office, to acquire New York-based Payoneer for US$2.75 billion in cash, creating a combined platform expected to process more than $500 billion in annual payment volume and generate roughly $3 billion in annual revenue. The deal adds Payoneer's cross-border payouts, multi-currency accounts and banking network to Nuvei's existing payment acceptance business across more than 190 countries. Integration work at that scale keeps payments, platform and compliance engineering hiring open at Nuvei's Montreal offices through the deal's close and beyond.
Onsite expectations vary by employer
Nuvei and Lightspeed Commerce both run an onsite workspace model at their Montreal head offices, Fiera Capital's roles split between hybrid and in-office by department, and Shakepay operates remote-first with offices in Montreal and Toronto that staff can visit on covered travel. Those candidate pools do not overlap, so a search has to be scoped to the employer's own attendance rule rather than assumed from the sector. Confirming the expectation before the first call avoids losing a candidate over a mismatch discovered at offer stage.
Searches we have completed for Montreal employers
SEO Analyst
Our client is an SEO, online media, and SEM agency focusing on brand building and customer acquisition to deliver measurable success. Due to continued growth they asked nexus IT group for help in find a Sr SEO Analyst. The SEO Manager was looking for a swiss army knife. The ideal candidate brought a technical SEO background with Python and enterprise site experience.
Data Analytics Manager
A large pork producer and food-processing company that has been a multi-year client with openings across the US asked us to help them in their need for 3 Data Analytic Managers. The Director of Data Engineering was looking for data professionals who could develop a deep understanding of operational processes and identify needs, then use technology to deliver impactful reporting solutions. With our expertise in data analytics our data scientist recruiters got right to work. We sourced 790 candidates, narrowed it down to our top 35 candidates and ended up submitting 12 candidates to the client and they ended up making all 3 hires
DevOps Engineer
Our client is a digital insurance company, powering partners around the world to drive business growth and customer value with insurance. Our client asked us to help them find several DevOps Engineers with Azure experience. The ideal candidate will help build and scale a SaaS startup using repeatable processes. The biggest challenge was sifting through the hundreds of candidates that required sponsorship to work in the US. Our client was not willing to sponsor for this role so our DevOps staffing team used creative sourcing strategies to get infront of the right candidates. We ended up hiring 3 DevOps Engineers and sourced 232 candidates.
Software Engineer
A 3 year old startup who is transforming insurance buying by providing a digital insurance engine and world-class underwriting capabilities tasked nexus IT group with hiring a few mid-level Software Engineer. The challenge is that the client wasn’t looking for a developer who just follows orders and writes code, instead, they wanted a developer who would participate in grooming requirements and then follow those requirements to craft solutions of his/her own design. Unfortunatley, their salary range was not competitive with the market so we had to source 1,501 candidates to find someone who doesn’t require sponsorship, willing to work within the salary range, and someone who was a entrepreneural. We ended up filling the role within about 4 weeks of receiving the req.
Full Stack Engineer
A digital agency with a unique blend of strategic, media, creative and technical services tasked nexus IT group to find a Full Stack Engineer quickly. They had origianlly hired someone through a referral but that ultimately didn’t work out and this left them in a pinch. The Full Stack Engineer needed to have agency experience along with Martek, Pardot, Salesforce, and Marketo. It was important that this person could develop and launch large websites from scratch. Our software development recruiters sourced 76 candidates resulting in just 1 submitted candidate and that candidate being hired.
Sr Full Stack Engineer
One of the world’s leading providers of reinsurance and insurance tasked us with identifying several Full Stack Engineer’s for their growing team. The Full Stack Engineer’s are working on several the key technology initiatives leveraging cutting edge data, cloud and integration technologies. Working within the Technology solution team, they are involved in designing and developing end to end applications. Our software development recruiters vetted 572 candidates and our client hired 8 of the 15 Full Stack Engineers that we submitted.
DevOps Engineers
This fast-growing cybersecurity software firm provides a unique information security offering to clients in both the government and commercial industries. Our client was trying to expand their DevOps engineering team but was running into multiple obstacles in their recruiting process. They kept losing out on candidates to other offers before they could finish interviewing the candidate and were really struggling to find candidates that were truly senior-level DevOps Engineers. With our extensive background in successfully recruiting DevOps Engineers, our client reached out to us once they had exhausted all of their internal recruiting options. We met with the DevOps Engineering Manager to understand the technical environment, the team’s culture and the future growth of the team and company. Within two weeks of receiving the position from our client, they offered a candidate we had recruited to their team and he started a few weeks later as their Sr. DevOps Engineer.
Data Scientist, Data Engineers, Data Analytcs
This digital media firm provides Fortune 500 companies like Capital One, Viacom, PayPal and others in Advanced Analytics modeling, forecasting, marketing and advertising expertise. Our client was in a real bind, they had understaffed Advanced Analytics teams for 6 of their high priority clients. Not only had they just lost their Manager of Talent Acquisitions, but their key leadership on the Advanced Analytics team left the firm in the middle of their expansion. Having had previous experience working with Digital Media firms and brand side marketing teams within Data Analytics, Data Science and Data Engineering, we were brought on to handle end-to-end recruitment for their Advanced Analytics teams. Initially, we met with the stakeholders, gathering key requirements for the various gaps within their analytics teams. We helped shape the hiring process for a variety of skill-sets( SEO, SEM, Programmatic, A/B Testing, Research, Predictive Modeling, MMM, MTA etc) Salary levels, and set in a service level agreement to allocate the necessary resources.
Four ways to staff a Montreal fintech team from a retained CTO search to contract build capacity
Executive Search (Retained)
We run retained searches for fintech leadership in Montreal, including CTO, VP of Engineering, Head of Platform and the risk and compliance technology leaders that regulated products require. Investors and boards frequently sit in on these processes, whether the company is a payments platform in Griffintown or a pension fund managing part of Quebec's retirement assets, so the shortlist has to survive a board conversation as well as a technical one. Our retained placements hold a 96% candidate retention rate.
Direct Hire
Fintech engineers in Montreal are courted heavily and rarely answer adverts, so our recruiters work outbound into payments, risk, compliance and core banking depending on what the role actually touches. We deliver a vetted shortlist within 4 days of taking the requirement. One New York asset manager with $5.6BN under management had us screen 287 candidates and submit six inside two weeks, with the hire starting five weeks after kickoff.
Contract Staffing
Regulatory deadlines, integrations and annual filings arrive with dates attached and often need capacity rather than headcount, as the Retail Payment Activities Act's annual reporting cycle shows every fall. We serve as both the recruiter and the employer of record for the contract term, which keeps co-employment risk off your side and gives you a clean way to convert the engineer if the work becomes permanent. Our contract placements hold a 94.3% quality of hire ratio.
Recruitment as a Service
A Montreal fintech scaling after a funding round or an acquisition is usually hiring across engineering, data and product at the same time, which is where per-placement fees stop making sense. Our Recruitment as a Service subscription handles candidate marketing, sourcing, screening and delivery for the whole plan, leaving your Montreal engineers the technical assessment. We generate an engaged pipeline for a named fintech role in under 7 days.
What our fintech clients have said about working with Nexus IT Group
The great thing about nexus IT group is that it has a smaller family feel, but they are able to deliver IT candidates better than the largest IT staffing suppliers that we work with. They have delivered high quality cybersecurity professionals for several years to our firm.
I’ve been in Talent Acquisition for 15 years and have used many IT staffing firms over the years. I highly recommend Nick and nexus IT group over any other IT staffing services. nexus’ commitment to quality and delivery is top tier. They take the time to understand your needs, provide thorough screening, and make sure that candidates have a positive on-boarding experience.
Working with nexus IT group has made my job much easier. Having a recruiting firm who specializes in IT and within my industry, and who understands our specific culture and hiring needs has been instrumental in our talent acquisition talent strategy.
Capital One has used nexus IT group’s recruitment services for a number of IT positions at varying levels, over the past 4 years. We’ve had a high success rate working with nexus IT group which is a testament to the caliber of their work and their internal sourcing and vetting practices.
I’ve dealt with a lot of hiring firms in my 18 years in the investment banking profession, and the majority of them have been awful to mediocre at best. Dealing with Nexus IT Group, on the other hand, was a breath of fresh air. After only one one opening, I was blown away by the quality and quantity of resumes I received. Nexus IT Group pays close attention to my demands and requirements. As a result, the individuals who were referred to me were excellent fits for our open positions. I appreciate the personal and professional expertise you offer to the process.
SAIC provides government services to several federal agencies across the US. We needed to recruit several new cybersecurity talent for our growing practice area. Travis quickly understood our business and the requirements of each cybersecurity need. nexus IT group showed patience, flexibility, and expertise in the search process. If you’re looking for good cybersecurity recruiters then you can’t go wrong with nexus IT group.
It is hard to put into words what nexus IT group has done for our organization. nexus IT group knows exactly what we look for and they get the right candidates 99% of the time. Anyone looking to hire tech talent would be lucky to have nexus IT group on their side. They have great work ethic, responsive, and a wide array of market knowledge.
We’ve enlisted the help of a number of IT recruiting firms in the past. Nexus IT Group has contributed to the success of many great hires by working professionally, diligently, and efficiently. We contacted Nexus IT Group after being introduced to them, and we were instantly impressed by their promptness and ability to focus on our needs. We received 3 resumes the same day and 3 more the next day, and we were able to hire four people in less than a week. We added an additional individual through Nexus IT Group a few weeks later as a result of vast network, service and professionalism. I highly recommend working with Nexus IT Group.
Frequently asked questions about fintech recruiting in Montreal
It starts with a discovery call to define the role, the stack, the regulatory context and the onsite expectation. From there our recruiters run an outbound campaign to passive engineers in the Montreal market and hold three calls with each candidate before you see them, then deliver a shortlist of two or three. We stay in touch with every placed candidate for two years, and we travel for retained leadership searches.
Mostly the banks and pension funds headquartered downtown, the payments and digital asset platforms built in Griffintown and Old Montreal, the institutional investors managing Quebec's retirement and public assets, and the wealth management and insurance technology firms running engineering and data labs out of the city. Those are the employers running platforms large enough to need specialist engineers, which is where an outside recruiter earns its fee. We also take searches from smaller Montreal fintechs hiring their first payments or compliance engineer.
It depends on the role and on how far the compensation sits from the market. A payments engineer or data engineer search typically produces a shortlist within a week, while a quantitative developer or CTO search takes longer. Current Montreal salary bands, shown in Canadian dollars, are a reasonable first check on whether a budget is in range, and where we have an active pipeline we can deliver candidates the day the contract is signed.
Both, and the mix follows the work. Contract and contract-to-hire is common for regulatory filing cycles, platform migrations and integration projects such as the Nuvei-Payoneer transaction, while permanent placement and retained search cover the standing engineering and product teams. We are the employer of record for the length of any contract, so the engineer can be converted later if the work proves ongoing.
Ask how many fintech roles they filled in the last twelve months and what their twelve-month retention is, then ask whether the recruiter on your search has placed the same role before. Our own figures are 96% of placed candidates still employed after twelve months and a 92% offer acceptance rate. A recruiter who cannot answer those questions for Montreal specifically is guessing at the market.