TORONTO — Thomson Reuters unveiled plans Friday to create 400 jobs in Canada over the next two years, including at a new technology centre in Toronto.
Initial hiring will start in the coming weeks, with a focus on the company’s cognitive computing initiatives.
The global information and media company says its chief executive officer and other management roles will also be relocating to Toronto in 2017 as part of the initiative.
The company — which has about 52,000 employees around the world — currently has its principal executive office in New York City but retains a corporate headquarters in Toronto. It currently has about 1,200 positions in Canada.
“Canada is not only our home, it is home to an emerging ecosystem of world-class technology talent,” Jim Smith, president and chief executive officer of Thomson Reuters, said in a statement.
The company says it’s attracted to a pool of talent within an innovation clusters that includes Toronto and Waterloo Region, an area that includes headquarters for Canada’s big banks and insurance companies, universities and fintech developers.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said the move shows the province remains a competitive and rewarding place for companies to invest.
“With this announcement, Ontario’s greatest strengths are on full display: a diverse and highly skilled workforce, a culture of innovation and a dynamic business climate,” she said in a statement.
Thomson Reuters originated in Canada and owned a national chain of newspapers, before it diversified and evolved into an information services provider to the financial, legal and other professional communities.
It also owns Reuters, one of the world’s largest news organizations — which was acquired by Thomson Corp. in 2007.
The Thomson family, through its private holdings, continues to be majority owner of The Globe and Mail but the publicly traded company Thomson Reuters no longer owns newspapers.