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Toronto could be home to Amazon's new headquarters

Toronto wants Amazon, and we're not afraid to show it.

But alas, like a modern-day, non-fictional Lady Mary Crawley, the Seattle-based tech giant has many eligible suitors right now – and only one can be involved in its forthcoming major expansion.

The e-commerce juggernaut announced today that it is currently seeking a location for its second North American headquarters, aptly named "HQ2."

This campus is expected to bring billions of dollars in up-front and additional investments to whichever community holds it – and that's not including the 50,000 "high-paying jobs" Amazon will need to fill when its new headquarters is up and operational.

North American cities of more than one million people that meet Amazon's criteria are invited to submit proposals to the company, which encourages them to "think big and creatively when considering locations and real estate options."

"We expect HQ2 to be a full equal to our Seattle headquarters," said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in a press release issued Thursday. "We’re excited to find a second home."

Toronto Mayor John Tory, among others, is excited for Amazon to find that second home too. Here. In Toronto.

"We are a bold, innovative city that has plenty of homegrown tech talent," the mayor stated on Twitter this afternoon. "We continue to attract talent & companies from around the world."

"City staff are working with Toronto Global to make sure we put together an attractive bid for this opportunity," he continued. "I will be leading the charge to make the case that Amazon should call Toronto home."

Tory's already done a bang-up job in this regard for other industries, but does Toronto have what it takes to outbid Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Montreal, Memphis, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh and any other city that throws its hat into the ring?

Yes. The answer to that question is undoubtedly yes.

With our highly-skilled and educated workforce, the value of our currency, and consistently high rankings in reports on high-tech, we might have a pretty good shot.

Fingers crossed that HQ2 is built in Toronto, for Amazon's sake – and fingers crossed that Amazon brings 1-hour booze delivery along with it, for our sake.

Lead photo by

Amazon


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