Amazon to Expand Vancouver Tech Hub and Create 3,000 Jobs

Amazon has announced plans to expand its Vancouver Tech Hub and create an additional 3,000 jobs in fields including e-commerce technology, cloud computing, and machine learning.

To mark the company’s latest investment in Canada, Amazon welcomed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to an event with its Vancouver employees, at the site of its future 416,000 square foot Development Centre above the Canada Post building on West Georgia Street.

Today’s announcement is the latest milestone in the company’s ongoing job creation in Canada, where it already employs over 6,000 people.

“Amazon is excited to create 3,000 more highly-skilled jobs in Vancouver,” said Alexandre Gagnon, Vice President of Amazon Canada and Mexico.

“Vancouver is home to an incredibly talented and diverse workforce, and these thousands of new employees will invent on behalf of our customers worldwide. Thank you to Prime Minister Trudeau, Mayor Robertson, and all our partners across Vancouver and Canada for welcoming us and helping to foster a strong local innovation economy.”

“Our vibrant cities, which are home to some of the best talent in the world, are poised to attract premier investment that creates the jobs of tomorrow. Canadians share your passion for invention and your commitment to excellence – and that’s why we are excited to see Amazon grow here in Vancouver,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“Amazon’s decision to bring another 3,000 jobs to Vancouver is great news for our city’s booming innovation economy,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “We are home to the fastest growing, most resilient and greenest economy in Canada and Amazon’s major expansion in our city means more long-term jobs for people who want to live, work and build a future in Vancouver.”

Amazon currently employs more than 1,000 researchers and engineers in Vancouver, primarily creating new products and services for the company’s international retail business and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

As part of the retail operation, local employees work to enhance the customer experience in areas such as mobile shopping, delivery experience, payment options, and Alexa.

Amazon will expand into a brand new location in QuadReal’s The Post redevelopment above the Canada Post building on West Georgia Street when the project opens in 2022.

This is in addition to Amazon’s current Vancouver offices – including its 156,000 square foot location in TELUS Garden which opened to Amazon employees in 2015.

On top of today’s announcement, Amazon also confirmed last November its plans to expand into another downtown site on Dunsmuir Street, which will open in 2020. The company expects to grow to 5,000 employees in Vancouver in the coming years across all of its locations in the city.