It has announced the opening of an autonomous driving research facility in Ottawa, a move that will result in the company more than doubling its staff at QNX's Kanata headquarters in the coming years.
BlackBerry's wholly owned software manufacturer, QNX
Has become the driving force for most of the world's car production.
Kanata's software runs from routine diagnostics to blindness
On-site inspection system-
Car Entertainment Network
US Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen also attended the announcement.
Chen said the company will spend up to $100 million on employees at the Kanata plant, and QNX's Ottawa business will add up to 650 new employees.
He promised to spend more money to support himself.
The whole company is driving the car on its own initiative, but it doesn't specify how much it costs.
The company currently has about 400 employees in Ottawa.
BlackBerry has about 5,000 employees in Canada.
BlackBerry will release its latest financial report on Tuesday morning, which is expected to include more financial details about the announcement.
"Our record of innovation in mobile security and the leadership we have shown in automotive software make it very suitable for us to dominate the embedded smart market in future cars," Chen said . ".
Chen declined to disclose the time frame for the new investment, saying only that the new investment will take place in the next few years.
The Prime Minister welcomed the announcement, saying it was good news for families as it would create more Heights
To provide jobs for the technology industry in the national capital.
"BlackBerry is helping our country become a global leader in the development of software and security for connected cars and autonomous vehicles," Trudeau said . ".
"This center will create a great middle.
Provide first-class job opportunities for Canadians, new opportunities for fresh graduates, and further position Canada as a global innovation center.
Last month, BlackBerry signed a new deal with Ford Motor.
Develop software for future vehicles.
On Monday, Chen said BlackBerry was working with Ford to develop self-driving cars.
Since the company decided to part ways with Microsoft in 2014, QNX has been working with Ford.
Microsoft has been providing timing software for Ford.
Car entertainment system
QNX software has been installed on more than 60 million cars around the world.
In the vast majority of cases, it sells software to third parties --
Third-Party part manufacturers, install QNX software on parts that are subsequently shipped to the manufacturer.
BlackBerry has no intention of entering itself, Chen said.
Driving car manufacturing, but it sees QNX as a big market opportunity to provide software to companies that want to develop themselves
Drive a car.
Since the first acquisition of Harmon International in 2010 with undisclosed amounts, QNX has become an increasingly important piece of BlackBerry business. The Ottawa-
The BlackBerry-based company has been included in BlackBerry's ranks to help the company update with new, secure BlackBerry flagship devices, operating systems that provide better touch-screen capabilities, apple Inc. , market leader . ) competition.
The IPhone is also popular.
BlackBerry has now stopped producing operating systems for its phones, and announced in September that it will outsource all hardware manufacturing to other companies, ending production of BlackBerry phones and technologies for decades.
Monday's statement showed that the once powerful mobile phone company is now focusing on the market opportunities brought about by QNX.
Little Ottawa is the world leader in software operating systems for cars and medical devices.
Its software even runs on military equipment, including some tanks and the International Space Station.
John Wall, head of BlackBerry QNX, said he was excited about the opportunity.
He said: "We are in the right space at the right time, adding that in view of the competitive environment of science and technology talents in the capital, hiring an additional 650 people will be a difficult hill for the company to climb.
"My goal is to hire people at the highest speed I can.
The company's current office on Farrar Road is not big enough to accommodate the staff it wants to add, he said.
He said the company may need to expand to the vicinity of the BlackBerry on an innovation-driven basis, and with BlackBerry layoffs in recent years, the innovation-driven has slowly disappeared.