Ceridian Canada will open what it calls a "centre of excellence" in Charlottetown in May, bringing 40 jobs initially, a number it hopes will increase to 100.

'Starting salaries are probably $40,000, $50,000.'— COO Dave MacKay

The company offers human resources consulting, including general services like payroll management — which it does for 40,000 businesses in Canada — training, and more specialized ones such as trauma counselling. At a news conference Tuesday, chief operating officer Dave MacKay took exception to the suggestion the office would be another call centre.

"Call centre? I mean my employees would be very upset with you if they were called call centre employees," said MacKay.

"These are highly skilled.… The starting salaries are probably $40,000, $50,000. I mean, I don't consider those to be call centre-type jobs."

The company is eligible for the province's innovation and tax credit program, incentives worth up to $3 million.

The province also has an agreement with Ceridian to provide training and skills development services for provincial civil servants.