Ontario's Liberal government announced Friday it would provide a $120-million grant to Waterloo-based Open Text Corp., Canada's largest software company.

Premier Kathleen Wynne said the grant will help create as many as 1,200 "well paying" jobs as Open Text invests $2 billion to expand its operations in Toronto, Peterborough, Kingston, Ottawa and Waterloo over the next seven years.

The grant and investment by Open Text will bolster Ontario's position as North America's second biggest centre for information and communications technology, behind California and ahead of Texas, added Wynne.

"This investment is a terrific example of how government can partner with business to help create jobs and grow the economy," she said.

Open Text, which started as a technology spinoff from the University of Waterloo in 1991 with four employees, now has more than 8,000 workers worldwide. The company reported Thursday that net earnings for the three months ended March 31 soared to $45.8 million, or 33 cents per share, as revenue rose to $442.8 million.

Over the past seven years, annual revenues at Open Text have grown nearly 130 per cent to $1.36 billion. Shares of the company have strengthened as well, rising more than 160 per cent over the past five years.