Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the investment “a massive win for Canada and our dynamic tech sector.” Credit: IBM.

US tech giant IBM is to invest a reported C$1bn ($730m) to expand its semiconductor packaging and testing plant in Bromont, Quebec, Canada.

The investment is expected to be made over a period of five years through 2029 and will focus on advanced semiconductor components.

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The first phase of the plan, worth C$187m per IBM and C$227m per Bloomberg, will see the expansion of the existing Quebec plant and the construction of a new research and development lab, as well as the creation of around 280 skilled jobs. The Canadian and Quebec governments will reportedly provide a combined incentive package of about $73m (C$100m) for this first phase.

Darío Gil, senior vice president and director of research at IBM commented: “IBM has long been a leader in semiconductor research and development, pioneering breakthroughs to meet tomorrow’s challenges. With the demand for compute surging in the age of AI, advanced packaging and chiplet technology is becoming critical for the acceleration of AI workloads.

“As one of the largest chip assembly and testing facilities in North America, IBM’s Bromont facility will play a central role in this future. We are proud to be working with the governments of Canada and Quebec toward those goals and to build a stronger and more balanced semiconductor ecosystem in North America and beyond.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau added: “Today’s announcement is a massive win for Canada and our dynamic tech sector. It will create high-paying jobs, invest in innovation, strengthen supply chains, and help make sure the most advanced technologies are Canadian-made. Semiconductors power the world, and we’re putting Canada at the forefront of that opportunity.”

This is IBM’s second major investment in the Quebec region of Canada announced in recent weeks. Earlier this month in April, it unveiled plans to expand its cloud operations with the launch of a new Cloud Multizone Region in Montreal.

Headquartered in New York, US, IBM has operations in over 175 countries and around 282,000 employees globally.