Halton Region Joins Toronto’s Bid for Amazon’s Second HQ

Halton Region is officially in on the Greater Toronto Area’s Amazon HQ2 bid, and there are three local sites in mind for the multi-billion dollar project.

Halton Region is officially in on the Greater Toronto Area’s Amazon HQ2 bid, and there are three local sites in mind for the multi-billion dollar project.

Halton has partnered with the GTA municipalities – Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Durham Region and York Region – to submit a joint bid for a second North American Amazon headquarters (known as Amazon HQ2) under Toronto Global – the foreign direct investment attraction agency for the Toronto Region.

“The Toronto Region response to Amazon HQ2 demonstrates that the Toronto Region has the quantity and quality of talented people at a competitive cost that will allow Amazon to fulfill its strategic objectives,” said Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr.

“Halton’s highly skilled labour force, access to leading educational institutions and strategically located employment lands bolsters the Toronto Region bid for Amazon’s second headquarters and for accommodating the future growth of Amazon’s various lines of business.”

Three sites in Halton Region are among the preferred locations included in the Toronto Global bid – the Hwy. 401 Fronting Lands in Milton’s Derry Green Business Park, Trafalgar Rd. and Hwy. 407 in Oakville, and the Bronte Meadows employment area in Burlington.

Halton Region already has a “thriving technology industry cluster employing nearly 9,500 professionals,” reads a news release, and is home to headquarters of major multinationals, including Siemens, Ford Canada, L3 Wescam, Evertz, Tim Horton’s.

Amazon HQ2 involves an investment of more than $5 billion U.S. in construction and more than 8 million sq. ft. by 2017 with as many as 50,000 skilled jobs – it will be equal to their current campus in Seattle.

In addition to Amazon’s direct hiring and investment, construction and ongoing operation of Amazon HQ2 is expected to create tens of thousands of additional jobs and tens of billions of dollars in additional investment in the surrounding community.

Halton Region “is proud to have worked closely with our Halton local municipal partners, Toronto Region municipal partners and Toronto Global on assembling this proposal and introducing Amazon and the world to what the Toronto Region has to offer,” reads a news release.

Word of a potential bid came to light last month, and made headlines again.

The Regional Municipality of Halton serves more than 500,000 residents in Oakville, Burlington, Milton, and Halton Hills.

What do you think about HQ2 setting up shop in Halton?