Meta (Facebook) Announces $500k Grant for Metaverse Research in Canada

Tuesday afternoon, Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, revealed plans to create a new Canadian engineering base in Toronto. According to the company, the hub is expected to create 2,500 new jobs, both remote and in-office, over the next five years. The Toronto hub will launch Canada’s first WhatsApp, Messenger, and Remote Presence engineering teams and expand the current Canadian Reality Labs and AI Research teams, according to a statement released Tuesday.

Meta has announced a significant new investment in the Canadian tech sector, including plans to create a new 2,500-person engineering base in Toronto and introduce a new $500k grant program for Canadian researchers to fund new metaverse-aligned technology investigations. To begin, Meta is constructing a new, purpose-built engineering lab focused on next-generation development as part of an expansion of its current Canadian Reality Labs and AI Research teams.

The hub will aid in the development of Meta’s new virtual reality technology, dubbed the “metaverse,” which will debut in 2021. Shared virtual spaces in the metaverse allow users to collaborate, play, and socialize with one another.

“We want to collaborate directly with Canadians, who are already preparing for this future, to shape it from the outset,” said Garrick Tiplady, vice president of the global business group and country director at Meta in Canada, in a statement.

“Canada has always been a significant part of Meta’s life. We’ve helped millions of Canadians and businesses connect, create, and thrive, and we’re excited to use these investments to continue supporting the Canadian economy and innovation ecosystem.” During the announcement, Premier Doug Ford and Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation, and Trader Vic Fideli were present. “This significant investment is a powerful vote of confidence in our skilled and varied workforce, and it builds on Meta’s long-term commitment to our province,” the premier stated.

The majority of incoming roles, according to the business, will be “engineering-focused,” focusing on “extended reality experiences and Meta technologies,” with remote openings allowing people from all across the country to join the tech industry. At the announcement, Rachel Curren, public policy manager at Meta in Canada, remarked, “You don’t have to reside in downtown Toronto to work on constructing the metaverse.” Ford noted, “Many of these jobs will be remote and work from home.” “As a result of this investment, the rest of the province outside of Toronto will see their prospects rise.”

During Tuesday’s event, the business also offered $510,000 in funds for 17 Canadian research institutes. It plans to use those facilities to investigate “metaverse-building breakthroughs.” According to the corporation, the University of Toronto, Ontario College of Art and Design, and the University of Waterloo will be three of the 17 research laboratories. The corporation, formerly known as Facebook Inc., changed its name to Meta Platforms Inc., or Meta for short, in October 2021. According to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the change was intended to highlight the company’s dedication to establishing the metaverse.

About Buying Land in Metaverse

It’s no secret that the housing market is booming, but the Covid epidemic is causing a new, lesser-known land rush. Some investors are spending millions of dollars on land plots that aren’t in New York or Beverly Hills. In actuality, the plots do not exist in the real world. Instead, the region is found online in a collection of virtual worlds known as the metaverse by IT insiders. Since Facebook said it was going all-in on virtual reality and changing its company name to Meta Platforms, plot prices have risen by 500 percent in the previous two months.

Real individuals interact as cartoon-like figures called avatars in these virtual worlds, comparable to a real-time multiplayer video game. People can already enter these worlds using a regular computer screen. Still, Meta and other businesses have a long-term ambition of creating 360-degree immersive worlds that people will enter through virtual reality goggles such as Meta’s Oculus.

“To some, the internet world is as significant as the actual world,” Oren Alexander, a Miami-based real estate broker, says to CNBC. “What matters is not what you and I believe in but what the future does.”

Kiguel claims that the metaverse, like real estate, is all about three things: location, location, location. “There are spots where people congregate when you first enter the metaverse — those areas would surely be a lot more valuable than areas where no events are going on,” Kiguel added.