Amazon to open logistics facility outside Calgary
As Calgary pursues the second corporate headquarters of Amazon, it’s about to nab some regional jobs from the e-commerce giant in another form — hosting a new distribution centre.
The Seattle-based firm is expected to announce Thursday that it will be opening up a “fulfilment centre” in the Calgary area, creating about 750 full-time positions, sources said.
The facility will be located outside city limits in Balzac, with the company packing and shipping orders received from online customers.
“Having 750 jobs is a significant opportunity,” said a source close to the announcement. “We’re just pleased that they are coming to the region.”
Amazon has more than 4,000 full-time employees in the country, but does not have any major operations in Alberta.
It runs six distribution centres across Canada, with four located in the Greater Toronto Area and two in the Vancouver area. It also has corporate offices in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.
Thursday’s announcement is expected to be attended by local and company officials, as well as Premier Rachel Notley.
“We are very pleased that Amazon chose Alberta as place to invest,” said one government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The new facility will be located in Rocky View County, which has become a growing logistics and distribution hub. It has attracted companies like Walmart, which opened a $115-million food distribution warehouse in the area in 2010.
It also comes as municipal and provincial governments have been pursuing out-of-province companies to enter the local market, in an effort to help diversify Alberta’s economy following two years of recession and high unemployment.
“Certainly landing a company like Amazon will help us attract others,” said one source.
Provincial and Calgary Economic Development (CED) officials have been talking with Amazon for months about bringing the company to Alberta.
In recent weeks, CED has also spearheaded local efforts to become home to the U.S. company’s second corporate headquarters, a bidding process known as HQ2.
The U.S. company announced this week it has received 238 proposals from across North America, from 54 cities and regions interested in hosting the project.
Once the location for its second headquarters is selected next year, Amazon expects to spend US$5 billion and create up to 50,000 new jobs over time for HQ2.
Thursday’s announcement in Balzac is not related to that project.
The company is the largest e-commerce retailer in the world, posting net sales of US$37.9 billion for the three months ending June 30, 2017.