GM plan to hire up to 1,000 engineers in Canada a major boost for self-driving car's future
GM announced today it is substantially boosting the number of research and development workers by bringing the number of software engineers it employs in Canada to 1,000. They'll be tasked with developing the company's software for self-driving, autonomous connected cars.
The news that first trickled out earlier this week was made official at GM's Canadian Technical Centre in Oshawa, Ont., on Friday when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne drove into the facility in an all-electric Chevy Bolt, a clear symbol of the direction the industry is headed.
It's the biggest auto jobs deal in a decade
Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturing Association, says: "1,000 engineers is a centre of excellence. It means you're confident in the jurisdiction. It means GM is putting their money where their mouth is."
Volpe says this is the biggest auto sector announcement since Toyota decided to put a plant in Woodstock, Ont., in 2005.
"This is focused on the high value stream. It shows that Ontario and Canada have resumed a prime spot in the GM mindset."
Trudeau agreed with that assessment, saying, "In choosing Canada to be the home base for a global centre for software, GM is conforming the skills and ingenuity and inner potential for Canada's workers."
"It's a perfect fit in so many ways and I'm really glad that GM saw it that way too," the prime minister said.
GM plan to hire up to 1,000 engineers in Canada a major boost for self-driving car's future - Business - CBC News
