Butterfield Bank has now opened its first fund service office in North America with a dozen employees.

By the end of this year the new office in downtown Halifax is expected to employ 40 people for Butterfield Fund Services and may eventually may have as many as 400 staff servicing the hedge fund industry from the Nova Scotia base.

Providing jobs for Canadians comes with a multi-million dollar incentive from the province's government, which is reported to have agreed an incremental payroll tax rebate of $7.7 million if job targets are met.