Since 2010, Amazon has made direct investments of more than $40 billion into Canadian operations, from capital expenditures such as building out data infrastructure to operating expenditures, including wages for 45,000 full- and part-time employees throughout the country.
This investment has resulted in Amazon contributing $33 billion to Canada’s GDP over the same time frame, according to an independent analysis from economic consulting firm Keystone Strategy.
Amazon’s investments in Canada are estimated to have indirectly supported more than 87,000 jobs across areas like construction, logistics, and other professional services.
And that is not the only impact Amazon aims to have North of the border.
Amazon’s 2023 Canada Impact Report shows the various ways the company has made its mark in the country, from 200 million Prime parcels delivered quarterly to Canadian involvement in Prime Video content.
And since 2013, AWS has helped train more than 200,000 Canadians with cloud computing skills. The company offers hundreds of hours of free, self-paced training and more than 600 free digital courses in up to 14 languages.
“There is something for everyone with courses ranging from foundational to advanced and for business leaders as well as technologists,” says Coral Kennett, Education Lead for AWS Canada.
Amazon currently employees 10,000 people in BC, 25,000 in Ontario, 1,800 in Quebec, and 6,000 across the Prairies, according to the annual report. Fewer than 100 Amazon workers are employed in the Maritimes.
The company did not disclose how many roles in Canada are technology related, or how many are full-time versus part-time or seasonal—but Amazon does house Tech Hubs in Vancouver and Toronto, where software development engineers and user experience designers work on Alexa, cloud computing solutions, and more.
“Amazon is proud to be recognized as a top employer in Canada,” states Victor Romia Portoles, Director of Customer Fulfillment Operations, in Amazon’s Impact report.
You don’t have to take the word of Portoles, a mere human. You can instead ask one of the canines who have benefited from Amazon’s “Dogs at Work” policy—an employee perk offered at the Vancouver and Toronto Tech Hubs.
Introduced earlier this year, Dogs at Work gives eligible employees the opportunity to bring their dogs to work in a safe way, with designated spaces and events for dogs as well as free treats for good boys.
“People from all walks of life come to Amazon to develop their careers—and we invest in programs that help both our employees and all Canadians learn critical skills to move into in-demand, technical or non-technical roles within Amazon and beyond,” the report reads.
Check out last year’s report here.
