Arun Kumar, a senior product manager for BlackBerry, shows off the new BlackBerry 10 during the global launch of the new Blackberry 10 smartphones in Toronto on Wednesday, January 30, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
February 07, 2013 - 9:18 AM
HALIFAX - The Nova Scotia government is giving tech giant BlackBerry (TSX:BB) $10 million over five years to help the company keep at least 400 jobs in the province.
Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter says in return, BlackBerry has committed to spend $4 million a year on a facility that would purchase new equipment and conduct research and development.
Last summer, the company laid off about 95 people from its Halifax-area operations following its announcement that it would be reducing its global workforce by 5,000.
Neither Dexter nor company officials would confirm how many people currently work at the Halifax office.
A company official says the government approached BlackBerry asking what it could do to help it stay in Nova Scotia after the last round of layoffs.
The funding comes two days after the launch of the new BlackBerry Z10 smartphone in Canada.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013