Microsoft centre big news for Vancouver, B.C., Canada, says Prime Minister Trudeau

Mayor Gregor Robertson; Janet Kennedy, Microsoft Canada president; Brad Smith, Microsoft Corporation president and chief legal officer; Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; Premier Christy Clark
Mayor Gregor Robertson; Janet Kennedy, Microsoft Canada president; Brad Smith, Microsoft Corporation president and chief legal officer; Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; Premier Christy Clark

Christy Clark says Microsoft should make Vancouver its global headquarters

Politicians were out in force to mark the official launch of the Microsoft Canada Excellence Centre in Vancouver on Friday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, accompanied by various MPs and cabinet ministers, Premier Christy Clark and Mayor Gregor Robertson all spoke at the event.

“This is big news for Microsoft, said the prime minister. “It’s also big news for Vancouver, for British Columbia and for Canada as a whole. Microsoft’s decision to add as many as 350 new development jobs to their Vancouver operations is a real vote of confidence in the community and in the talents and expertise of Canadian workers.”

The $100-million, 142,000-square-foot development facility, located in the Nordstrom building, will eventually house 700 developers working on new technologies and applications ranging from apps (Skype, OneNote, MSN) to gaming products (Gears of War), interactive television app (NFL for Xbox and Windows 10), mixed reality (Microsoft HoloLens) and accessibility products (Seeing AI).

“We are here because we’re committed to Vancouver,” said Microsoft corporate president and chief legal officer Brad Smith at the launch. “We believe in opportunities to connect Vancouver and Seattle and build new bridges across the border in ways that will help both of our countries and our economies and our people move forward.” The company’s Vancouver developers and interns are able to collaborate with others at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, on projects like the Seeing AI, an app to help the visually impaired.

Premier Christy Clark emphasized that the province pulled out all the stops to help increase Microsoft’s presence in Vancouver, in particular through an immigration agreement that exempts some international trainees and core staff from labour market impact assessments. The premier said that B.C. welcomes the best and the brightest from around the world. “Microsoft is such a fantastic example of how when people come from around the world, they can create more jobs for British Columbians and for Canadians,” she said. “They can transfer that talent and that knowledge that stays here and enriches us. Yes, we are a mining province and a lumber province and an agricultural province and an LNG province, but our biggest resource is people.”

The next step, she said, is to make the Microsoft Canada Excellence Centre the headquarters of Microsoft Canada—and then to make it Microsoft’s global head office, like Sony Digital, downstairs in the same building, which just moved its headquarters from Los Angeles to Vancouver. “I don’t know about you guys, but I think we can compete.”


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