Ford Motor Co. will hire approximately 400 employees from embattled communications company BlackBerry Ltd. as part of sizable new investments in Canada that include a connected-vehicle research centre in Ottawa, the smartphone maker said Thursday.
Ford said the Ottawa research centre is part of a $500 million Canadian (US $376 million) investment. The company also plans to increase sustainability and fuel economy research at its Windsor and Oakville operations. The company said it will hire approximately 300 engineers in Canada and 100 additional hardware and software engineers in the U.S. to support the work of the Canadian team.
The new Ottawa Research and Engineering Centre in Canada will focus on research and development across infotainment, in-vehicle modems, gateway modules, driver-assist features and autonomous vehicles, said Ford. Additional facilities will be located in Waterloo and Oakville, Ontario, as well as Cary, North Carolina and Sunrise, Florida. It will be Ford's first centre focused on connectivity research and advanced technology in Canada.
Automakers have been racing to secure engineering talent to ensure they don't get left behind as vehicles become increasingly automated. Ford has said it expected to have a self-driving taxi available by 2021. Last month, the carmaker invested US $1 billion over five years in Argo AI, a startup that makes autonomous vehicle software.
BlackBerry spokeswoman Sarah McKinney confirmed the transfer of 400 employees, saying it was part of the "pivot from hardware to software" for the company that grew famous as a maker of cellphones.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said Thursday that federal and provincial governments will provide Ford with conditional grants of up to $102.4 million Canadian dollars (US $77 million) for the projects.
"Today's investments will help create and maintain almost 800 great jobs for Canadians in Windsor and across Ontario, while equipping Canadians with the skills they need to design and build the cars of the future," Trudeau said in a statement Thursday. "This is about positioning Canada as a global centre for automotive innovation, creating better opportunities for Canadians, and keeping Canada's automotive manufacturing sector competitive."
The three largest North American automakers committed to pumping more than 1 billion Canadian dollars (US$751 million) combined into their Canadian operations last year.
Raj Nair, Ford executive vice-president, global product development and chief technical officer, said that connectivity is critical to the future of mobility.
"Whether it's providing information to help reduce congestion in cities, allowing vehicles and infrastructure to communicate to keep us safer on the road or simply knowing all your personal settings when you enter a self-driving vehicle, connectivity is the key," Nair said.
