General Motors has plans to expand research into self-driving vehicles – in addition to opening a new software centre in Markham, Ontario, later this year.

The initiative would see the automaker creating more than 700 new engineering jobs – over the next few years.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Kathleen Wynne joined the company at GM headquarters in Oshawa for the announcements – which marks a major shift towards the development of autonomous vehicles – which some observers say is poised to become an important sector over the next several years.