Ontario Construction News staff writer
Mississauga is gaining global attention in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector with a growing number of international investments including Cognizant, HCL Technologies, and Infosys.
“Mississauga is located in the Toronto-Waterloo technology corridor and has become a top Canadian city for innovative and technologically driven companies to call home,” said Mayor Bonnie Crombie.
“Tech companies are attracted to Mississauga for its location, large talent pool and educated and diverse workforce. We are very pleased to see investments from Cognizant, HCL Technologies and Infosys which bring hundreds of jobs along with upskilling opportunities to our local workforce.”
Recent investments and expansions in Mississauga in the ICT sector include:
Cognizant opened a 50,000 sq. ft. regional technology and service delivery centre in 2018 that includes training rooms, a digital lab and co-innovation space for clients and has since continued to expand.
“Mississauga is an important hub for Cognizant’s Canadian operations, and we are proud to be a longstanding member of the community,” said Jay MacIsaac spokesperson at Cognizant.
“This is a vibrant market with top technology talent and academic institutions, as well as being home to many of our large clients in banking, insurance and retail. Since opening our delivery centre, we’ve continued to expand, occupying nearly 100,000 sq. ft. of office space and creating well over our initial goal of 600 local jobs.”
HCL Technologies opened a new state-of-the-art 350 seater global delivery centre in Mississauga earlier this year – one of the largest centres for HCL in Canada. The company plans to create 2,000 new employment opportunities across Canada in the next three years, engaging Canada’s diverse and highly skilled local talent to serve its global clients.
“HCL is a global IT leader that chose Mississauga for the potential to tap into a diverse community, skilled talent base and academic institutions,” said Joelien Jose, executive vice-president, Country Head – HCL Canada.
“In addition, Mississauga is well centred in the Greater Toronto Area, very well connected and also home to many Fortune 500 companies which were key considerations for our expansion.”
Infosys recently announced it will aim to create 500 new jobs at the company’s new digital development centre. In response to surging demand for training, re-skilling and learning by employers, Infosys plans to double its Canadian workforce to 4,000 employees by 2023.
“Global tech companies that land in Mississauga are welcomed in a supportive business friendly environment with the help of the economic development office (EDO) that takes a partnership approach to business,” said EDO director Bonnie Brown. “With a dedicated team of business development professionals, EDO offers a variety of services to help companies set up operations and make the right connections to be successful in the North American market.”