BlackBerry, federal government pour $350M into autonomous cars

BlackBerry and the federal government are spending a combined $350 million on autonomous vehicle technology, whichthey say will create hundreds of new jobs and co-op placements.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeaumade the announcement alongside BlackBerry CEO John Chen Fridaymorning at the BlackBerry campus in west Ottawa's Kanata North neighbourhood.

BlackBerry pledged $310.5 million tocreate 800 new jobs and maintain an additional 300 positions in the next 10 years. It alsopromised1,000 co-op job placements for students from 10 unspecified Canadian post-secondary schools.

The federal government is spending $40 million from its Strategic Innovation Fund to help develop new softwareTrudeau called the "central nervous system" of the autonomous cars of the future.

Trudeausaid BlackBerry will also be making a new diversity plan and creating scholarships for women and Indigenous students.

It's also spending $5 million on cybersecurity, according to a news release.

• QNX looking to drive up interest in Kanata autonomous vehicle hub
• Switching gears, Canada's BlackBerry opens autonomous vehicle hub

Barrie Kirk, the co-founder and executive director of the Ottawa-based Canadian Autonomous Vehicle Centre of Excellence, or CAVCOE, said the new investment is a signal of the Kanata North hub's potential.

"I think in terms of developing the technology, it's a really big deal," he said.

"There's already a wonderful cluster of AV [autonomous vehicle]related activities in KanataNorth and this isfurther evidence that this is a very significant cluster."

Neither the news release nor announcement specified where the new jobs and placements would be.

Canadian winter-specific

Richard Yu, a professor at Carleton University's school of information technology, has been collaborating with BlackBerry QNX to develop and test autonomous vehicles.

"We have some special issues, especially the harsh winters here," he said.

"We cannot just use the technologies developed in the U.S., so we need to have some big investment, especially from the government and from local industry."

In January, Ontario Transportation Minister JeffYurekannounced changes to the automated vehicle industry that would make it easier to test autonomous vehicles in the province, eliminating the need for an operator to be seated behind the wheel during testing.

Instead, the cars will be allowed to operate completely driverless on public roads, either with a passenger inside or with an operator controlling the car remotely.

BlackBerry subsidiary QNX opened its testing hub for autonomous vehiclesin Kanatain late 2016.

In 2017, the company tested an autonomous carin the Ottawa suburb, markingthe first timethat an autonomous car had driven on its ownon a public road in Canada.