Cisco to add 1,700 jobs in Ontario

Telecommunications equipment manufacturer Cisco Systems announced Friday plans to more than double its Canadian footprint with the hiring of 1,700 high-tech workers in Ottawa and Toronto within six years.

The San Jose, California-based company said it will also invest Can$1.8 billion ($1.7 billion) in the province of Ontario, which is providing a Can$220 million ($207.5 million) incentive to bolster its technology sector.

As well, Cisco held out the possibility of adding 2,000 more Canadian jobs by 2024, which would bring its total number of Canadian employees nationwide to 5,300.

"Canada continues to be one of Cisco's best success stories globally," Rob Lloyd, head of Cisco development and sales, said in a statement.

"Today's announcement ... is another milestone in driving our business in Canada."

Ontario has historically been Canada's economic hub, but has fallen on hard times in recent years as more and more traditional manufacturing jobs are lost and factories are closed.

As such, it has made significant efforts to attract new foreign investment.

The new Cisco jobs will include research and development, product engineering, product system and solution testing, systems engineering and advanced services.