Amazon is on a fast track to dominating the world in every market. Coming off a massive quarter with its share price soaring above $1,000 USD per stock, the company recently announced plans to acquire Whole Foods for a whopping $13.7 billion USD.
Amazon says it loves Canada and is committed to helping the country flourish.
“We are excited to tell you a little more about Amazon here in Toronto,” said Tamir Bar-Haim, country manager for the Amazon Media Group.
“I grew up in Richmond Hill, went to Wilfred Laurier University, and followed the tech jobs at the time and left for Seattle. I spent eight years there with seven years Amazon’s corporate headquarters. I always knew that I wanted to come back home to Toronto and help create more jobs here,” said Bar-Haim.
“Amazon was drawn to Toronto because of the amazing talent here.”
“I was not alone. Amazon was drawn to Toronto because of the amazing talent here. We opened this office in 2015 and I’ve spent the past two years squarely on building and hiring some great talent. Today, we are thrilled to finally have a moment, open the doors and invite you all in to see what we are working on.”
Amazon Canada now employs over 3,500 people across the country and 600 are currently located in Toronto.
“We’re growing and proud to be telling a story. And by the way, we are hiring about 200 new jobs in Toronto,” said Bar-Haim. The positions will be solely focused on software development, cloud computing human resources and fulfillment technologies.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne was present at the announcement, stating, “Amazon’s announcement today is great news for all of us. It’s a terrific news story. It’s a great story for this region. There is no denying that we are in a period of innovation in our economy, not just in Ontario but around the world.”
Amazon Canada now employs over 3,500 people across the country and 600 are currently located in Toronto.
“The work that Amazon is doing demonstrates that effort. Technology is changing our lives every single day in so many new ways. That actually gives us two options as a province: we can either choose to follow or choose to lead. We are choosing in Ontario to lead. We want to thank Amazon for choosing Toronto,” said Wynne.
There’s still no word yet, however, regarding the launch of the Amazon Echo in the Canadian market, even as Google prepares to debut its Home AI speaker on June 26th.
But if in-Canada development work on the AI is any indication, it’ll come soon.
The Ontario government notes in its accompanying press release that the Toronto office will contribute to “some of Amazon’s highest-priority global technology development projects,” including Alexa.
Meanwhile, the company is establishing a software development office in Ottawa, with “an exclusive focus on development projects for Alexa.”
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