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Call Centers Flourish

Ontario is fast becoming the call center capital of North American with 20 percent growth annually. More than 3,000 centers operate in the province, with the GTA representing a prime location: 1,500 centers employ 90,000 people. According to the GTA Alliance, that's close to a quarter of all centers in the country, representing such businesses as Allstate Insurance, American Express, AT&T Canada, British Airways, Cantel AT&T, Dell Canada, IBM Canada and Sprint Canada.

In London, Ont., TeleTech Holdings just opened an inbound center in Galleria Mall in downtown London, which now employs 325, but is slated for a complement of 800. Nearby Fanshawe College is now training teleprofessionals and managers, as are many community colleges, such as College Boreal in Sudbury.

The City of North Bay (three hours north of the GTA) welcomes a health care call center to town this fall, which is one of seven provincial pilot projects. This one involves a trial in telemedicine, run by MedCan Health Management, whereby qualified professionals answer inbound, toll-free calls from patients on a 24-7 basis, giving them constant access to health care advice. And further north, Sault Ste. Marie announces the addition of an outbound call center, RMH Teleservices, which employs 500 people.