IT services major Infosys on Wednesday said it will set up a new digital development centre at its largest Canadian office in Mississauga, a move that will help in creating 500 high-quality jobs in the Toronto region over the next three years.
Spanning nearly 50,000 sq ft and bringing significant investment from Infosys to the country, this digital development centre will train, upskill, and reskill employees in the technologies needed to help Canadian businesses accelerate their digital transformation, Infosys said in a statement.
It will also enable Infosys to better collaborate with clients to develop cross-functional solutions to pressing business challenges, it added.
Infosys, in the Toronto region, currently serves businesses in the financial services, healthcare, communications, retail, and natural resources sectors.
The centre will help nurture and expand core capabilities in artificial intelligence, data science, automation, and machine learning, the statement noted.
In response to surging demand for training, re-skilling, and learning by employers, Infosys had previously committed to double its Canadian workforce to 4,000 employees by 2023.
The digital development centre will play a key role in this expansion and lead the building of digital capabilities and training for the next generation of IT talent to support Canadian businesses.
"We are proud to power digital Canada through the skills of the future and do our part in supporting post-pandemic economic recovery. The Toronto Region met all of our criteria when deciding where to set up the digital development centre, create new jobs and scale our business offerings,” Infosys President Ravi Kumar said.
He added that talent and high-tech know-how are in abundance in the region, there is a real aptitude for new workplace development strategies, and many of Infosys'' clients are based here.
"Even better, this will enable us to be part of an ecosystem that reaches across the region, linking the private sector with innovative research and learning institutions in Canada,” he said.
While the digital development centre is the first of its kind in Canada for Infosys, it is based on the proven model of six similar digital centres in the US that recruit from local colleges and provide training and digital career paths.
Infosys said it has seen exponential growth in Canada and is firmly committed to strengthening its presence and hiring top tech talent across major hubs.
Within the last two years, Infosys has created thousands of jobs across Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal, and most recently, Calgary.
The company hires graduates from over 14 local post-secondary educational institutions, such as the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo, to build a strong pipeline of tech talent.