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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (center) poses for a photo with Ford and Canadian government officials Thursday, March 30 at the Essex Engine Plant in Windsor, Ontario. (Benjamin Raven)

WINDSOR, ONTARIO -- In what has been a busy week, Ford announced a C$1.2 billion investment into its Canadian operations with C$600 million going to the Essex Engine Plant in Windsor.

The C$1.2 billion in investments (US $903 million) have all come in the last six months.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in attendance for the Thursday, March 30 announcement in Windsor, and said the federal and Ontario government will make matching investments of C$102.4 million.

The investments will add 300 software and hardware engineers to a newly established Ottawa Research and Engineering Centre. One-hundred additional jobs will be based in the United States to support the new Ottawa team.

Ford's new Ottawa research center will focus on "advanced engineering for telematics software and connected vehicle service." Meaning it will hone in on vehicle modems, new driver-assist features and autonomous vehicles. The center will have hubs in Waterloo and Oakville, Ontario, in addition to U.S.-based operations in North Carolina and Florida.

The investments will help create 800 "good, middle class" jobs and protect thousands more for Canadians, Trudeau said during the news conference.

"This is about positioning Canada as a global centre for automotive innovation, creating better opportunities for Canadians, and keeping Canada's automotive manufacturing sector competitive," he said. "These are the kind of things that can happen when we all work together."

These investments will also add a new global engine program to the fold, which has a 15-day launch goal.

Earlier in the week, Ford announced $1.9 billion in investments at home in Michigan. Tuesday's announced investments include $850 million to the Michigan Assembly Plant, $150 million to support 130 jobs at its Romeo Engine facility, and $200 million to add an advanced data center to support the automaker's future with mobility.

This investment combined with Ford's January investment of $700 million into the Flat Rock Assembly plant. Combining those investments is how we get to the $1.9 billion figure for the company's new investments in Michigan in 2017.

For Ford of Canada, the C$1.2 billion of investments in the last six months alone comes from a C$700 million investment in November combined with the C$500 million announced Friday.

For Trudeau, it was somewhat of an emotional return to the plant his father helped break ground on while he was Canada's Prime Minister back in 1978. He called it an emotional day, as he was able to hold the shovel his father held the day officials broke ground on Ford's Essex Engine Plant.

It was also an emotional day for Unifor president Jerry Dias and Local 200 president Chris Taylor, who negotiated a new labor agreement with Ford at the conceptual buzzer back in November 2016.

Dias, who gave a fist pump ripped his tie off the moment he stepped to the podium, displayed his passion for the Windsor workers in attendance by telling them umpteen times that this was "their day."

"I would like to congratulate the PM as I like him a hell of a lot more than the other guy," Dias said to a room packed full of Canadian government and Ford officials. "This signals that Canada knows how to create real jobs. We have 1.2 billion reasons to be here today."

After the event, Joe Hinrichs, Ford President of the Americas, declined to comment on the specific nature of the engine program and any possible ties to the hotly-anticipated return of the Ford Bronco and Ranger.