GM expected to announce 1,000 engineering jobs in Ontario

General Motors appears set to announce Friday the addition of 1,000 highly skilled engineering and software jobs in Ontario over the next several years.

CBC News has learned that the automaker will expand the company's Canadian operations and focus on development of self-driving cars, shared vehicles and other mobility systems.

The jobs will mainly be based inOshawa and Markham, Ont. GM already has a tech centre in Oshawa, and it's believed that facility will see around 300 new engineering jobs added.Markham will be the home for a new software development centre with around 700 new engineers.

When asked for comment, the company confirmed it would have an announcement on Friday, but declined to offer any more details.

"On June 10th, GM Canada will be making an announcement at our Canadian Engineering Centre," GM spokeswoman Jennifer Wright said in an email.

"While there is speculation about the news, GM Canada is looking forward to sharing the news during the event on Friday, June 10th and we cannot confirm or speculate in the meantime."

GM currently employs 9,000 people across Canada, but has run as high as tens of thousands of employees in previous decades.

The future of the once iconic GM plant in Oshawa has been clouded since the company announced it will phaseout production of the Camaro in 2017.The Camaro has beenthe main vehicle made there in recent years, although GM recently added a small amount of Equinox production there.

The president of auto workers union Unifortold CBC News thatwhile he had no personal knowledge of what GM plans to announce on Friday, "I welcome any sort of investment GM is making in Canada."

"But the most important would be solidifying GM's footprint in Oshawa," Jerry Dias said.