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Dell Canada plans to shut down its Edmonton call centre this spring, a move that could put more than 900 employees out of work and will further decrease the computer maker's Canadian presence.

The announcement comes just two days after Dell revealed it was downsizing its Ottawa operations and scrapping plans to expand in the Capital region.

A spokesman for Dell Canada, a division of Dell Inc. of Round Rock, Tex., said that although a firm date had not been set for the closing of the company's Edmonton facility, the call centre was expected to close its doors some time between May and July. The calls handled by the Edmonton facility will be transferred to the company's other call centres.

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"More than 900 employees will be affected and offered other jobs within Dell or severance and career placement services," the company said in a statement.

Formerly the world's No. 1 personal computer maker, Dell's sales have lagged Hewlett-Packard Co. for more than a year. To increase sales, Dell has recently moved outside its mail-order model and started selling computers through retailers such as Wal-Mart.

As a result, the company said in June that it plans to streamline operations by cutting 10 per cent of its global work force, about 8,800 jobs.

Dell Canada spokesman Blair Patacairk said the Canadian layoffs were a part of that global strategy and would not say whether a higher Canadian dollar had anything to do with the decision.

"This has been a difficult decision," Dell Edmonton site leader Dave Vanden said in a statement. "We have a good team of people, and will do all we can to help them and our community partners through this transition."

Dell opened its first customer call centre in Edmonton in 2004 and moved into a new 155,000 square foot facility in 2006.

On Tuesday, the company announced it was abandoning its plans to increase its employee base in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata and would also be trimming an undisclosed number of its existing workers.

That announcement came just 14 months after Dell revealed plans to double its presence in the capital by erecting a new three-storey office complex near its original call centre. Dell had planned to hire about 500 new employees this year to staff the new facility, which was to open this spring and was to eventually accommodate about 1,000 workers.

The company has not decided what it will do with the unfinished and unoccupied building.