Which Canadian cities are attracting Amazon offices or fulfillment centers?
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Executive summary
Amazon’s Canadian footprint is concentrated in major urban markets and selected secondary communities: Toronto and Vancouver serve as technology and office hubs while a sprawling logistics network places fulfillment, sortation and delivery facilities across Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia — notably Ottawa, Calgary, Delta/Richmond (Metro Vancouver), Mississauga/Toronto and several smaller Ontario centres [1] [2]. Recent expansions include mega‑warehouses under construction or opened in Ottawa and Calgary and new distribution/storage sites announced across BC and Ontario through 2025 [3] [4] [5].
1. Urban tech and corporate presence: Toronto and Vancouver as Amazon’s Canadian office anchors
Amazon explicitly lists Toronto and Vancouver among its North American tech hubs, reflecting corporate offices, AWS teams and higher‑skilled roles clustered in those cities rather than logistics sites alone; About Amazon’s facility page names both Toronto and Vancouver as key tech hub locations [1]. That corporate concentration complements the logistics estate but serves different strategic aims — talent and product development versus package throughput — and should be treated separately when mapping where “offices” versus “fulfillment centres” are locating [1].
2. Ontario: the densest logistics network — Toronto, Mississauga, Ajax, Brampton, Hamilton, Windsor, Richmond Hill, Sarnia and Cornwall
Ontario appears to be Amazon’s most saturated province: the company’s 2025 impact reporting and industry listings identify fulfillment or distribution facilities in Mississauga, Toronto, Ajax, Brampton, Hamilton and Windsor, with additional smaller “exchange point” parcel warehouses planned or cited in Sarnia and Cornwall by late 2025 [2] [5]. Ottawa deserves special mention as both an existing multi‑site market and the site of a new 3.1‑million‑sq‑ft distribution centre under construction in Barrhaven — a strategic mega‑site that the company and developers say will be its largest in Canada [3] [6].
3. Alberta and Western expansion: Calgary and Edmonton (plus Delta/Richmond and Pitt Meadows in BC)
Alberta has seen major investment: a multi‑million‑sq‑ft, robotics‑enabled YYC4 fulfillment centre opened in Calgary and the province now hosts multiple fulfilment, sortation and delivery stations according to reporting on facility openings [4]. In British Columbia the company operates fulfillment centres in Delta and Richmond, has announced a storage/distribution centre in Pitt Meadows and is reported to be organizing other sites such as New Westminster — signaling growth across Metro Vancouver beyond a single location [7] [8] [2].
4. Secondary communities and strategic “exchange points”: why smaller cities matter
Amazon’s network purposely includes smaller cities and “exchange points” to shrink last‑mile times: reporting highlights planned parcel warehouses and exchange points in Sarnia and Cornwall (Ontario) and multiple delivery stations that extend service to thousands of towns eligible for same‑ or next‑day delivery [5] [2]. These smaller investments often escape headline attention but are integral to the company’s promise of speed, and they also concentrate low‑wage logistics jobs — a point of political and labour contention in Canada as unionization efforts and municipal negotiations over permits intensify [8].
5. Competing narratives, reporting limits and what the available sources do not resolve
Public reporting and corporate summaries collectively name dozens of Canadian cities hosting Amazon facilities, but no single authoritative, up‑to‑date public list exists; industry blogs, real‑estate press and Amazon’s own pages must be read together to map the full footprint [9] [10] [1]. Sources emphasize investment totals and site counts [2] while local reporting zeroes in on specific mega‑projects such as Ottawa’s 3.1M sq. ft. centre [3] [6] or Calgary’s YYC4 [4]. Readers should note potential agendas: company pages highlight jobs and service improvements [1] [2], commercial real‑estate outlets spotlight project scale and investment [6], and logistics blogs compile operational addresses for sellers [9] [10], so cross‑checking remains necessary for precise facility counts and opening timelines.