Already rivals when it comes to selling smartphones, Huawei and BlackBerry may now find themselves in the same position when it comes to attracting the best and brightest workers.
Huawei, a Chinese organization, is the largest telecommunications company in the world.
Last year, it sold 100 million smartphones – the third-highest total of any manufacturer in the world.
And now it’s coming to Waterloo.
The provincial government announced Tuesday that it is giving the Canadian arm of Huawei a $16-million grant.
In return, the company plans to beef up its operations in the province.
“By investing $16 in Huawei, they’re going to be investing $212 million here in Ontario – and likely more than that,” Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid told CTV News.
Huawei says the funding will help it create 250 jobs in Ontario, including about 25 in Waterloo.
The company already has what Scott Bradley, its Canadian vice-president of corporate affairs, calls a “small staff” working out of the David Johnston Research and Technology Park.
Bradley says the company’s local work will focus on research and development, particularly in the area of enterprise security – something BlackBerry, still headquartered just down the road, is well known for.
“Certainly the talent that exists in the region is significant,” Bradley said in an interview.
Asked why the province was giving money to a Chinese company to move to Waterloo and compete against an established local player, Duguid responded that the grand reflects the “incredible global appetite” to attract companies involved in research and development.
“Those jobs, without our investment, could well go somewhere else,” he said.
“We want as many companies around the world as possible to have a very significant investment in this province.”
