A new headquarters in Mississauga is one of two Ontario projects currently in the works for Microsoft Canada.

IT Still Humming

Ontario is home to more than 8,000 IT companies, most of which are clustered in and around Toronto, Ottawa and Waterloo. Toronto, the largest IT center, has leading companies in every IT sector, with digital media and the Internet sectors especially strong. The area generates annual IT revenues of over $26 billion. Ottawa's strengths are in telecommunications and networking, computer software, photonics and R&D. Annual revenues there are $13.5 billion. In Waterloo, microelectronics and computer software companies are abundant, generating $1.7 billion in revenues annually.
        Microsoft Canada has two projects in the works — a new, $46-million headquarters in Mississauga and development of a Microsoft Global Technical Support Center (GTSC), which will create 50 jobs initially. GTSCs provide software and systems user support. Similar centers operate in Texas, North Carolina and Washington.
        "Microsoft, looking to reduce costs, looked at various locations and felt that the language skills of the work force in Canada, the technical skills of the work force in and around southwestern Ontario and the favorable costs associated with the rate of exchange between the U.S. and Canada — not to the Canadians' benefit, unfortunately — made this a desirable location," says Teresa Deveaux, acting manager of the Mississauga GTSC. "This part of southwestern Ontario has some great technical universities and colleges, which is critical from a hiring perspective."