LinkedIn, the social networking site for professionals, now has now more than two million Canadians among its global membership, the company announced Monday.

The LinkedIn web site was launched in 2003 and is the largest professional networking site in the world with more than 60 million members representing 200 countries.


The Mountain View, Calif. Based company says thousands of Canadians join LinkedIn each day and there are more than 20,000 LinkedIn Groups related to Canada.

Companies like KPMG, Research In Motion and Royal Bank of Canada already use LinkedIn’s enterprise solutions to hire and retain top talent in Canada, it notes.

“Canada is one of LinkedIn’s fastest growing markets,” said Arvind Rajan, vice president of international, LinkedIn.

“We are looking forward to establishing offices in Toronto and hiring a Canadian country manager so we can continue to drive brand awareness in Canada.”

LinkedIn’s Canadian operation will work closely with the company’s Mountain View, Calif. headquarters and with its other international operations in Europe, Australia, India and the Netherlands.

In the immediate future, LinkedIn’s Toronto office will focus on setting up LinkedIn’s operations in Canada and working on user engagement, strategic partnerships and marketing. Long term the Toronto office will focus on building out LinkedIn’s diverse business model comprised of user subscriptions, advertising sales and software licensing.

IE