Fortinet has announced an expansion of their threat intelligence and research and development operations, based out of Burnaby, British Columbia.

The move helps solidify the cyber security solutions company as a leader and driver of innovation and growth in the Metro Vancouver area. Fortinet has operated in Burnaby since 2000 and fostered the boom of not only B.C.’s technology sector but Canada as a whole.

“Burnaby, British Columbia and Canada at large has played a critical role in the growth of Fortinet from a startup to the global leader in high-performance cyber security,” said Derek Manky, global security strategist at Fortinet in a release. “It has been exciting to play a role in Fortinet’s contribution to the success of the community in British Columbia over the past 13 years and we look forward to continuing that momentum going forward.”

The expanded facilities will house up to 1,000 new jobs in technology. These will help staff a state-of-the-art data centre and upgrade Fortinet’s FortiGuard Threat Intelligence and R&D centres. This will triple Fortinet’s present operations in Metro Vancouver and double operations in the rest of Canada.

The current campus in Burnaby can support 1,700 people but only has about 700 employees, so there is plenty of room to expand without adding more infrastructure. The campus will continue to serve as an R&D hub for the rest of the company.

Fortinet has been one of B.C.’s top employers of the year for the past three years and continues to develop cybersecurity talent in the country. They work closely with customers like the government of Canada to ensure that they are protected from any kind of digital threat.

“When looking for places to invest, companies such as Fortinet look for the most innovative countries – the ones with the most skilled and creative people who can turn ideas into solutions,” said Navdeep Bains, Canada’s minister of innovation, science and economic development. “Our government is proud to be a customer of a company that invests in Canada, creates more jobs for middle-class Canadians and equips Canadians with the skills they need to thrive in the fast-growing market for cyber security products.”

Fortinet aids the largest enterprise, service providers and government organizations in the world by helping to address meaningful security challenges. The company empowers clients with seamless protection across expanding attack surfaces while also giving them the power to take on the ever-increasing performance requirements of a borderless network.

Fortinet ranks number one in most security appliances shipped worldwide and has over 320,000 customers.