Amazon Second HQ

[Midtown Urbanist]

Has it not occurred to these people who think Toronto has a good chance of getting it because Trump being in power is going to make Amazon want to distance itself from the US that that reason is exactly why Toronto won't get it? Just imagine what kind of tweets the president would churn out if they were to make that decision, and besides that Trump is putting NAFTA in jeopardy which would make cross-border business all the more difficult

If NAFTA is repelled, we default back to our FTA from 1989 with the USA.

 

[Avenue]

I don't understand exactly what people refer to when they claim Toronto has immigration advantage, but it really doesn't. Many of the Amazon's employees will be Americans and it'll be a huge bureaucratic hassle to get them over here. As for bringing in third country nationals, Toronto as of now still has no advantage.

 

[ADRM]

I don't understand exactly what people refer to when they claim Toronto has immigration advantage, but it really doesn't. Many of the Amazon's employees will be Americans and it'll be a huge bureaucratic hassle to get them over here. As for bringing in third country nationals, Toronto as of now still has no advantage.

Nope, this is ridiculous and just plainly not based in fact. Don't want to listen to me? Oh, well, how about the person who's heading up NYC's HQ2 bid?

 

[Avenue]

Nope, this is ridiculous and just plainly not based in fact. Don't want to listen to me? Oh, well, how about the person who's heading up NYC's HQ2 bid?

View attachment 132651

Ridiculous? Getting skilled workers into Canada IS NOT necessarily easier bureaucratically or faster than doing so in the U.S. People just shallowly throw this around but it's not necessarily true.
Again, majority of the Amazon's employees will be American nationals, why put yourself through the trouble of getting them over to Canada?

 

[ADRM]

Getting skilled workers into Canada IS NOT necessarily easier bureaucratically or faster than doing so in the U.S.

As someone who has personally gone through both sides of the process, I can certainly personally attest that this was not true, even before President Shithole's racist immigration crackdown. And it's now unarguably true if you're nearly anything other than a WASP.

Even if it is true that the majority of Amazon's current employees are American, why would they want to significantly limit the available universe of talent from which they could potentially draw at a time when they need to undertake a massive hiring expansion?

From the RFP: "A highly educated labor pool is critical and a strong university system is required...The Project requires a compatible cultural and community environment for its long-term success. This includes the presence and support of a diverse population." Canadian universities have seen record interest from international students since the Muslim Ban was first announced, and that underscores a critical aspect of ensuring a long-term recruitment pipeline.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

Ridiculous? Getting skilled workers into Canada IS NOT necessarily easier bureaucratically or faster than doing so in the U.S. People just shallowly throw this around but it's not necessarily true.
Again, majority of the Amazon's employees will be American nationals, why put yourself through the trouble of getting them over to Canada?

Amazon HQ2 is going to be hiring a large amount of their employees locally.

A Toronto location can draw hires from every University in Ontario. That is a huge catchment area and a lot of talent.

 

[Northern Light]

Ridiculous? Getting skilled workers into Canada IS NOT necessarily easier bureaucratically or faster than doing so in the U.S. People just shallowly throw this around but it's not necessarily true.
Again, majority of the Amazon's employees will be American nationals, why put yourself through the trouble of getting them over to Canada?

Umm,

Under Global Talent Stream we process an application to get someone in and working in 2 weeks or less.

This is a real thing and happens all the time now.

Doesn't get much easier.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...ents/foreign-workers/two-week-processing.html

Let's add to that; for our less express programs, we still don't do lotteries.

We always offer a path to Permanent Residence and Citizenship.

We offer the above to international students here as well; including the right to work here immediately following graduation. (the U.S. absolutely has no equivalent)

There is NO comparison, our advantage is huge.

Doesn't mean we will get Amazon.............but let's keep the facts straight.

 

[MisterF]

Again, majority of the Amazon's employees will be American nationals, why put yourself through the trouble of getting them over to Canada?

Assuming that you're referring to the majority of HQ2's employees being American nationals, what makes you think that this will be the case? A company's headquarters (even a second one) will typically mostly employ people from the country where it's located. A Toronto HQ2 would be able to recruit from a huge pool of potential Canadian employees.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

Something to keep in mind is that Amazon already has a large presence in Vancouver, which shares the immigration advantage that Toronto has.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

From CBC Toronto:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/amazon-toronto-tech-talent-pipeline-cost-of-living-1.4497279

AoD

 

[SunriseChampion]

The last bit of that article above sums up my thoughts on this whole exercise.

Mullin says no matter what happens, it's important to remember that "we don't need Amazon.

"This was a confident bid by a confident city saying, 'we would like to have Amazon here, but we don't need them.' I think Toronto will continue to grow and prosper regardless of whether Amazon comes here or not."

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

The last bit of that article above sums up my thoughts on this whole exercise.

It is really a matter of whether Amazon will take up that office space or some other companies will.

 

[SunriseChampion]

I'm just glad none of our politicians were stupid enough to grovel at their feet with financial incentives, partially funded out of my paycheques (and yours). Check Amazon's valuation....they need our money about as much as we need a collective hole in the head (Ford Nation notwithstanding).

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I'm just glad none of our politicians were stupid enough to grovel at their feet with financial incentives, partially funded out of my paycheques (and yours). Check Amazon's valuation....they need our money about as much as we need a collective hole in the head (Ford Nation notwithstanding).

You almost wish NJ gets it with their $7B proposed public spend for the bid.

AoD

 

[ADRM]

Richard Florida had a great suggestion (which would obviously would never come to fruition): What should really happen at this point is all the shortlisted bidders coming together and saying "you know what, Amazon and World's Richest Guy, you don't need a solitary dime of taxpayer money for this, we're all pulling the straight fiscal incentives we offered, judge us based on the quality of everything else we offer."