What a senior developer really costs.
In Montreal, a senior software developer runs $95,000 to $166,000 in base salary alone, before employer taxes, benefits, and the months it takes to hire. Here are the numbers, sourced.
| City | Median wage1 | Median, annualized1 | Senior range2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal | $45.67/hr | $95,000 | $122,000 - $166,000 |
| Quebec City | $45.67/hr | $95,000 | $122,000 - $166,000 |
| Toronto | $48.08/hr | $100,000 | $125,000 - $169,000 |
The salary is only the visible part. Add mandatory employer contributions, benefits, equipment, recruitment fees, and 2 to 4 months of hiring time, and the real cost climbs well past the table above. A blended team changes the math: your local core stays, and vetted senior engineers we place and manage carry the rest. Our four published client results: 45 to 63% savings on engineering costs.
At Follosoft, we’ve been working with Betterfit and it allowed us to triple the size of my engineering team without busting my budget. Creating the full internal employee feeling with simple payment, clear schedule and continuous check-ins, there is no reason to carry the burden of a local employee for most of our roles. It’s the first dev-shop that truly takes care of acting as a fractional human resource for our tech department.
Common questions.
How much does a senior software developer cost in Montreal in 2026?
Base salary alone runs from about $95,000 (the Job Bank market median, annualized) up to $165,750 at the top of the Robert Half 2026 range. Employer taxes, benefits, equipment, and recruitment typically add more on top.
What does the fully loaded cost add on top of salary?
Mandatory employer contributions (QPP, EI, QPIP, CNESST in Quebec), benefits, vacation coverage, equipment, software, recruitment fees, and management time. Our comparisons deliberately exclude these, so the savings shown are conservative.
How do Betterfit clients pay 45 to 63% less?
A blended team: your local core plus vetted senior engineers we place and manage. Published results across four clients: Inex 63%, Follosoft 55%, GridBank 50%, ProAthlete 45% savings on engineering costs vs local hiring.
Is cheaper talent lower quality?
Our retention numbers say no: 98% of placed engineers stay, and 100% of client partners have stayed with us. Every engineer is senior, vetted against production work, and managed after placement.
How fast can a senior developer start?
You get a shortlist in days and a vetted senior engineer in your standups within weeks, against a typical 2 to 4 month local hiring cycle for senior roles.
Sources: 1. Government of Canada Job Bank, NOC 21232 (Software developers and programmers), regional hourly wages, reference period 2023-2024, retrieved July 24, 2026. 2. Robert Half 2026 Canada Salary Guide, senior software developer annual ranges by city. 3. Client savings published at betterfit.ca/work. Local cost is salary only, before employer taxes, benefits, and overhead.