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CALGARY – Shaw Communications announced Wednesday it is making changes to its customer care operations.

Call centres in Calgary and Edmonton will be closed and operations in Kelowna will be reduced, affecting roughly 1,600 jobs as the company consolidates ten existing call centres into seven new centres of expertise.

Over the next 11 months, positions will be shifted to Shaw’s operations in Victoria, Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Montreal. Affected employees will be offered a relocation package and a move to one of the new centres, or they can apply for a different position within the company, or take a severance package.

Shaw says the consolidation follows a year-long review of its operations and is designed to improve service to its customers.

“Our customers can expect even better and more consistent experiences, whether they are ordering new services, requesting technical support, or inquiring about their account,” said Chris Kucharski, senior vice president of the consumer division at Shaw Communications.

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The company says it will not be outsourcing any of the affected positions.

“We are a proud Canadian company, and the Shaw family and the Shaw management team was very clear about reaffirming its commitment that all customer care operations should be located in Canada,” said Chethan Lakshman, the company’s vice president of external affairs.

The changes won’t affect employees working in other parts of Shaw in Calgary, Edmonton, or Kelowna and call centres in Nanaimo, B.C. and Mississauga, Ont. will also be unaffected by the changes.

The changes will be phased in across the country over the next year.

Shaw Communications is the parent company of Global News.