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Ontario Attracts RMH,
Labor availability and quality are some of the key reasons why Ontario is doing so well in attracting call centers, says Jim Fisher, Ottawa-based executive director of Call Ontario, telecom provider Bell Canada's call center team (www.bell.ca/call.ontario). "Our unemployment rate is 7.5 percent to 8 percent, and over 60 percent of our community colleges have a call center curriculum for both management and agents. So there are a lot of resources here. In addition, a recent study by KPMG showed that Canada is the most cost-competitive country of all the G-7 in which to do business, and of course that message carries over to Ontario and call centers as well."
"Ontario's unique multicultural population gives us a competitive advantage in attracting the call center industry here," says Al Palladini, the province's minister of economic development, trade and tourism, noting that one out of five multicultural workers in Ontario speaks at least one language other than English.
One of the biggest new moves in Ontario is RMH Teleservices' decision to locate its first Canadian call center in Brantford. The company officially opened the 35,000-sq.-ft. (3,252-sq.-m.) facility in September after beginning operations in July. But RMH used its grand opening to announce plans for an expansion that will almost double the call center's size. The firm now will employ more than 1,000 full- and part-time employees in Brantford.
"The results have exceeded our expectations and, as a result, we are taking additional space here," company CEO John Fellows says. The facility, set up in downtown mall space formerly occupied by an Eaton's department store, serves a single client -- telecommunications giant MCI.
The RMH facility is Brantford's second call center to locate in the downtown mall. Since opening about two years ago with 60 employees, Financial Collection Agencies has more than tripled its work force.
In other activity, two companies have sited large call centers recently in Sudbury. Toronto-based Omega Direct Response opened a major call center last year, and TeleTech's new facility will take over the entire second floor of the City Centre Mall, employing 750.
In Sault-Ste-Marie, SOO Connection has revealed plans for a new call center that could employ as many as 500. The company is renovating space in a former Woolco building.
Nu Comm Marketing, which already had a call center in Welland, Ontario, opened a second facility in the province last year in St. Catharines. When fully operational, the new office will employ about 100.
New in Quebec: Excel
U.S.-based long-distance telecom provider Excel Communications's new 284-employee Montreal facility is keyed to the firm's strategy for expanding into the European calling market. "We were first attracted to the province by the plethora of languages spoken, the availability of skilled workers and the dedication of the work force," reports Excel Canada's General Manager Stuart MacMillan. "Another advantage is the availability of prime real estate at very reasonable rates."
Those latest success stories follow Air France's 1998 decision to open a Montreal call center to serve Canadian and U.S. clients. "Our American customers, who really don't know where their calls are routed to, are extremely impressed with the service they receive," says Pascal Briodin, general manager of Air France Canada.
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Ontario also offers a surprisingly multilingual population, and that's a big attraction for many firms looking for call center sites.
Other new developments include Telecom Vision's new Montreal call center, which will employ 100. The 24-7 operation will serve the telecom leader's customers on five continents, offering service in 11 languages. And insurance firm Standard Life is adding almost 100 jobs at its existing Montreal facility.