Cisco, Ontario deal may create up to 1,700 jobs

Cisco and the Ontario government today announced an agreement that could see the networking company spend as much as $4 billion over the next 10 years to expand its operations in the province.

Premier Kathleen Wynne and Nitin Kawale, president of Cisco's Canadian unit, attended a news event Friday in Toronto to release details of the plan.

The 10-year agreement could create up to 1,700 new jobs in Ontario, primarily focused on research and development. The province would make a total investment of $190 million over that time (about $111,000 per job) which is contingent on the company meeting certain investment and job targets.

"Together with the province we will create high value jobs that will stimulate the economy," Kawale said in a release.

"Today's announcement is about supporting our talented technology workers," Wynne added. "Together, we're going to show the world what Ontario can do."

Cisco says the deal could help it expand its workforce in the province to 5,000 by 2024. In a release Friday​, the government called the plan "the largest job-creating investment in the history of Ontario's technology sector."

Most of the jobs will be located in Toronto and Ottawa.

The information and communications technology sector employs about 250,000 people in Ontario, making the province the third-largest hub in North America for the sector, after California and Texas.