Premier Kathleen Wynne was in Oshawa today to welcome a major investment by General Motors of Canada that will expand the automaker’s engineering and software development work in Ontario, create jobs and grow the economy.
Ontario attracted this investment by being a leader in innovation and investing in people’s talent and skills. For this expansion, GM will draw upon the province’s wealth of talent in engineering and research, and its expertise in automotive, cleantech, and information and communications technologies.
“GM selected Ontario to be a key software engineering hub for the future because of its wealth of talent and focus on innovation. Ontario is a leader in STEM graduates, artificial intelligence and mobile security and has shown its commitment to taking a regulatory approach that enables innovation,” Steven Carlisle, President and Managing Director, General Motors of Canada company said. G.M. is expected to bring the total of software engineers to 1,000.
Through this investment, GM will expand its engineering team in Ontario to create more than 700 new positions over the next few years.
GM announced that it will:
- Enhance the capabilities of its renamed Canadian Technical Centre in Oshawa to play a leading role in developing the next generation of connected, autonomous and alternative-fuel vehicles
- Create a major software development centre in Markham
- Upgrade its cold-weather testing facility in Kapuskasing.
The government is working to build Ontario up as a hub of the knowledge economy. As part of this, Ontario has become the first province to allow on-road testing of automated vehicles, which will help foster the development and commercialization of new technologies that have the potential to help improve fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions
G.M.’s announcement comes as the company prepares for labour negotiations. One of the Oshawa plants is scheduled to close in 2017.
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