Today, Premier Kathleen Wynne joined Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and General Motors executives to announce that General Motors has chosen Ontario, Canada, to significantly expand its engineering and software development work. The company’s investment will also boost the province’s economy and create more than 700 jobs.
As the top vehicle producer in North America, Ontario has quickly become a global automotive hub. The province’s robust automotive presence is the primary reason General Motors chose Ontario for this investment, which will allow the renamed Canadian Technical Centre to play a leading role in the development of the next generation of connected, autonomous and alternative-fuel vehicles.
In fact, Ontario is the only sub-national jurisdiction to have five major global automotive assemblers: Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda and Toyota. The province’s success in this industry is largely due to Ontario’s vast engineering and research talent and the climate of innovation driven by leading sectors in automotive, information technology and clean technologies.
In addition to the investment, General Motors will build a major software development centre in Markham and upgrade its cold weather testing facility in Kapuskasing, doubling the length of its test track. The company will also expand its Ontario-based engineering team by more than 700 new positions over the next few years.
Ontario has been a longstanding and proactive partner to the automotive sector, investing over $1.1 billion since 2004 to leverage more than $12 billion in total industry investment. Ontario is also the first Canadian province to allow on-road testing of automated vehicles to help foster the development and commercialization of disruptive technologies that will define the industry’s future.
