Nokia Canada, the federal government, Ontario government and the City of Ottawa plan to turn the company's Ottawa facility into a research and development technology centre. The project will also receive $72 million in total funding from the three levels of government.
Nokia Canada plans to begin site construction in 2023 and expects to open the new facility in 2026. This will transform Nokia's 26 acre campus located at the Kanata North Business Park into a sustainable, accessible mixed-use corporate, residential and commercial hub.
ReNew Canada reports that Nokia Canada plans to invest CAD 340+ million in:
- Labs
- Equipment
- Labour
- Operating costs
"Today's announcement reinforces Nokia's commitment to the Canadian market, where we have invested $1.4 billion in R&D over the past five years. Nokia's R&D hub will generate net-new Canadian IP and bring innovative advanced telecommunications and cyber security technologies to market, helping us achieve our goal of improving people's lives in Canada and across the world."
President of Nokia Canada | Jeffrey Maddox
The government of Canada is finalizing plans to provide up to CAD 40 million via its Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) and the Government of Ontario, through Invest Ontario, will provide CAD 30 million to the project. These contributions will support the long-term capability of Nokia, Canada and Ontario in:
- Cyber security
- R&D
- Next-gen technology
- 6G
- Provide high-paying jobs in construction and technology
"This monumental investment from Nokia shows once again that there is no better place for businesses to grow and jobs to be created than here in Ontario. We are proud to work alongside our partners to secure hundreds more in demand, high skill jobs for the Ottawa region and we welcome this long term commitment from Nokia to our province, and our workers."
Ontario Premier | Doug Ford
The new Ottawa facility will support Nokia's global target of 50 percent greenhouse gas emission reduction by 2030 by implementing sustainable technologies, including:
- Water side heat recovery
- Air side heat and energy recovery
- Water side free cooling
- Rainwater harvesting
The transformed campus is expected to enable Nokia Canada to grow its Ontario-based team by more than 340 positions to 2,500, 2,160 of which will be based in Ottawa, increase co-op and intern positions for university and college students in STEM fields by 100 to 400 per year, and introduce new, cutting-edge lab space and equipment.
Global News states that Nokia Canada and the federal government has been trying to reduce the dependence of Canadian telecom companies on Huawei and ZTE, the two largest Chinese telecoms equipment makers, in favour of non-Chinese sources according to Dwayne Winseck, a communications professor at Carleton University.
LOOKING FOR MORE MIXED-USE PROJECTS IN ONTARIO?
In May, the federal government announced it was banning Huawei Technologies and ZTE from selling 5G equipment to Canadian telecom companies.
The Opposition Conservatives and other critics have long pressed the Liberals to deny Huawei a role in building the country's 5G infrastructure, arguing that it would allow Beijing to spy on Canadians more easily and give the company access to an array of digital information based on how Canadian customers use internet-connected devices.
Christopher Parsons senior research associate at Citizen Lab said the expansion of Nokia's Ottawa facility could be a possible attempt by the Trudeau government to gradually slow Huawei's ability to make use of Canada for research and development.
Nokia said the tech hub will also significantly expand its capacity in cyber security, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
DataBid is currently reporting on this project - Nokia Canada Mixed Use Development Kanata North Business Park - Ottawa (0055080822)
