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Narrowed down from a list of almost 240 North American cities, e-commerce titan Amazon has selected Toronto as one of 20 shortlisted cities for HQ2—their new $5 billion second headquarters. While several of the bidding cities have offered economic incentives such as tax cuts to make their bids more attractive to Amazon, Toronto's response to the company's Request For Proposals (RFP) was structured purely on the region's merits, including a highly educated workforce and political stability.
Toronto Mayor John Tory released an official statement following today's announcement that Toronto was the only Canadian city to make the shortlist:
"Today, Amazon announced that the Toronto Region is one of 20 cities on the shortlist for Amazon HQ2. The Toronto Region has emerged as a global centre of innovation and technology because of our talented, diverse and inclusive workforce. We have incredible home grown success stories and Amazon would further accelerate our success by investing more than $5 billion in construction and creating as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs."
In the statement, the Mayor reiterated the City's commitment to making sure that Toronto is well equipped for projects such as the proposed Amazon HQ2, with ongoing investment in transit, affordable housing, and parks. The Mayor's statement closed with words of encouragement for Amazon and regional mayors and chairs, saying "I'm glad that Amazon agrees that Toronto is worth considering and I look forward to working with Toronto Global and my fellow GTA mayors and regional chairs as we continue to go through the bidding process over the coming months. I will continue to do whatever I can to bring good secure jobs to Toronto. They are crucial to our ongoing success."
Toronto's 'Bid Book' for Amazon' (77Mb download) covers opportunities in municipalities across the entire Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (except for Niagara Region) while also including the Kitchener-Waterloo area.
Let us know what you think using the comments section below. You can also join in the discussion by visiting our associated Forum thread for the bid.
