TORONTO: The Ontario government has welcomed the decision by HCL Technologies to expand its Canadian operations with a new global delivery centre in Mississauga.
The company is making a significant investment to build the centre which will employ 350 people in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector when it opens, eventually growing to 500 positions.
The announcement was made by Premier Doug Ford, Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, C Vijayakumar, CEO of HCL Technologies and Joelien Jose, HCL Canada Country Head, during a tour of the centre.
“HCL’s decision to expand its operations in Mississauga makes a lot of sense as the GTA is home to the second biggest tech industry in North America after Silicon Valley,” said Premier Ford.
“We are laying the foundation for a strong economic recovery in Ontario and companies like HCL will play a significant role in our future success.”
Doug Ford later tweeted: “This morning, I joined Minister Victor Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, Nina Tangri, MPP for Mississauga-Streetsville. Parliamentary Assistant to @ONeconomy, and Deepak Anand, MPP Mississauga Malton at HCL Technologies’ launch of their new Global Deliveries Centre in #Mississauga. HCL is a $10.02 Bn company and G2000 Organization with 159,682 employees in 50 countries. Thank you @hcltech for investing in Ontario.”
Over the past two years, the Government of Ontario and Toronto Global have worked with HCL to secure Ontario as the destination for HCL’s new Canadian delivery centre. Minister Fedeli first met with HCL at their headquarters in New Delhi during a Trade and Investment Mission to India in November 2019, and again during Ontario’s virtual mission to India in December 2020. Discussions further solidified Ontario’s strong collaboration with the company and their continued growth and investment within the province.
“Ontario’s deep talent pool, cutting edge innovation ecosystem, and competitive business costs make our province an ideal place for investment,” said Minister Fedeli.
“We are proud that HCL selected Ontario as the home for their new facility. And it is a direct result of our government’s action to increase investment opportunities through trade and investment missions to position Ontario as a leader in innovation and technology.”
HCL Technologies is an Indian multinational IT services and consulting company with offices in 50 countries and a worldwide network of R&D innovation labs and delivery centres. The Mississauga Global Delivery Centre will be one of the largest for HCL in Canada and will house co-innovation labs for customers to collaborate, develop and deliver solutions for their businesses. The HCL Group has committed to creating 2,000 new jobs across Canada in the future.
“We are very excited to continue expanding our operation in Ontario with our largest facility yet in Canada, “ said Jagadeshwar Gattu, Senior Corporate Vice President, HCL Technologies.
“The new Global Delivery Centre in Mississauga provides an opportunity for HCL Technologies to expand our best-in-class digital innovation in Ontario and support our global clients while creating great IT Industry job opportunities in this community. We look forward to more growth and opportunities in Canada in the coming months.”
HCL will provide next-gen services including digital and analytics solutions, cloud consulting and migration, cybersecurity, IT infrastructure and application services.
“From our newest center, clients can experience a whole new world of technological innovation enabled by leading-edge immersive technologies, HCL’s best in class Intellectual property solutions and a unique design thinking approach to some of the most complex problems of Canadian enterprises,” said Joelien Jose, EVP & Country Head – Canada.
In order to position Ontario as a top tier destination for job-creating investment, the government has established Invest Ontario, a “one stop shop” for businesses and investors with an initial focus on advanced manufacturing, life sciences, and technology. It will move at the speed of business and drive greater economic growth.
• Ontario has over 20,000 tech firms operating in the province, employing over 320,000 technology professionals.
• Toronto is North America’s fastest-growing tech market, adding about 80,100 tech jobs in the past five years. Toronto has nearly equaled the number of tech jobs created in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2013.