Nokia plans to transform its Ottawa, Canada, facility into a research and development hub, focusing on information and communications technology (ICT) and cyber security.
Nokia Canada plans to invest $248 million in labs and equipment, labor, and operating costs between 2023 and 2027.
The Government of Canada is finalizing plans to provide up to $29 million via its Strategic Innovation Fund. The Government of Ontario, through Invest Ontario, will provide $22 million to the project. And the City of Ottawa, through Hydro Ottawa, will make a capital contribution of $1.5 million.
Site construction at Nokia Canada’s existing 26-acre campus will begin in 2023, and the company expects to open the new facility in 2026. The new R&D hub will be part of a greater mixed-use development with residences and businesses.
Nokia Canada expects to create more than 340 new jobs, adding to its existing 2,000 employees based in Ontario. And it expects the R&D facility to provide co-op and intern positions for college students and attract highly-skilled, global talent to Canada’s tech and telecom ecosystem.
Pekka Lundmark, president and CEO of Nokia, stated: “Nokia is helping to drive Canada’s tech leadership. This world-class, sustainable R&D hub will be one of Nokia’s most dynamic developments.”
Nokia Canada is a major supplier to Canada’s leading telecommunication carriers, providing 5G radio and core technology, fiber-to-the home, IP-routing, optical networks, cyber security, submarine cable and network management software.
The new Ottawa facility will support Nokia’s goal to reduce its global greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030. The facility will include water-side heat recovery, air-side heat and energy recovery, water-side free cooling and rainwater harvesting.
Jeffrey Maddox, president of Nokia Canada, said: “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.”