MONTRÉAL — Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) announced today an investment of $15.9 million through its Strategic Innovation Fund to support a $77-million project with EXFO Inc. to create a 5G centre of excellence in Montréal.
EXFO is a Quebec City-based telecom testing, monitoring and analytics solution provider. Founded in 1985, it is the parent company of 31 global subsidiaries and employs 1,900 people globally including 732 in Canada, according to a press release.
“Through this project, EXFO intends to develop one of the world’s first artificial intelligence (AI) based automated network solutions that will autonomously run 5G network testing and quality assurance centres in Canada and around the world,” the release explains.
This new 5G centre of excellence “will develop and commercialize four new AI-centric technology platforms to support the deployment and operation of the next generation 5G telecommunication networks,” the release adds.
“EXFO will invest $77 million in Quebec, securing long-terms contracts with Tier 1 global telecom partners.”
The project will create 50 new high-skilled jobs in the Montréal region, according to the release. “At the same time, EXFO will foster the next generation of innovators, supporting as many as 40 co-op positions.”
“We are delighted to receive this funding from the federal government that will allow EXFO to leverage advanced cloud computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to accelerate solutions delivering better insights while automatically predicting and detecting issues and outages in 5G networks,” said Philippe Morin, CEO of EXFO, in the release. “Ultimately, our innovations will help service providers in Canada and beyond deploy 5G networks faster and more efficiently than ever before.”
“Canada’s world-class AI sector is getting even better thanks to the investment announced today,” said François-Philippe Champagne, minister of innovation, science and industry. “Our government will continue to promote and scale up innovative solutions that bring economic growth and jobs to all Canadians. That is why we are supporting projects like this one to develop one of the world’s first AI automated network solutions for 5G technology. We will always encourage and support made-in-Canada technology and ensure Canada remains a world leader in this field.”
“Quebec is the second-largest tech industry hub in Canada, and Canada is already a world leader in high value-added sectors, including AI. We are so glad that EXFO has decided to continue growing their business in Quebec and Montréal,” said Rachel Bendayan, parliamentary secretary to the minister of tourism and associate minister of finance, who announced the federal government’s investment on behalf of Minister Champagne.
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