Google plans expansion in Toronto, Montreal, Waterloo, Ont.
Alphabet Inc. plans to expand its footprint in Canada, with the potential to more than triple its workforce in the coming years, the company announced Thursday.
Ruth Porat, Alphabet’s chief financial officer, said the expansion would see new offices in Toronto, Montreal and Waterloo, Ont.; that would give the tech giant enough space for up to 5,000 employees by 2022.
Currently, Alphabet has about 1,500 employees in Canada. It was not clear from Porat’s remarks how quickly Google actually plans to hire, or what factors will dictate whether they add jobs to fill those new offices.
Porat did not mention of the smart-city project being developed on Toronto’s waterfront by Alphabet subsidiary Sidewalk Labs. Google had previously floated the possibility of moving its Canadian headquarters to the development site as part of the deal, and it is unclear how the new office expansion fits into that plan.
A spokeswoman for Sidewalk Labs said that the Google headquarters in the Quayside development is still a possibility.
Google also announced Thursday that it is creating a startup accelerator in Canada, one of 12 around the world. In addition, Porat announced a $2.5-million grant to Npower, which will be used for tech skills training.
Finally, the company also released an economic impact report conducted by Public First, a third-party consulting firm. According to the report, Google is responsible for “$16-$23 billion in economic activity for over 500,000 businesses in Canada.”
In a “fireside chat” with Clearbanc co-founder Michele Romanow, Porat talked mostly about how Google services are supporting startups in Canada.
The visit to Canada comes at a pivotal time for Big Tech in Canada. Earlier this week, Google reported total revenue of US$134.8 billion from advertising, with the overwhelming majority of that money coming from ads on Google Search and Youtube.