President Diamond backs Toronto bid for Amazon HQ2

Friday, October 20, 2017

OCAD University President Sara Diamond is supporting Toronto Global’s bid to land the next Amazon world headquarters.

In the official response submitted yesterday to the Amazon HQ2 Request for Proposal, Dr. Diamond is quoted championing the Toronto Region’s highly-educated workforce and futureproofed talent pipeline.

“Amazon has always relied on powerful design, integrated with leading-edge technology to anticipate markets and reach new markets,” states Dr. Diamond. “Partnership with Amazon would supply them with top-tier digital and design talent and provide research possibilities and career opportunities for students.”

The submission unites ten distinct municipalities from Kitchener-Waterloo to Durham under a “Toronto Region” banner that, according to Toronto Global—the arms-length organization created to market the GTA internationally, represents 20 percent of Canada’s GDP.

Amazon says it expects the project to produce as many as “50,000 high-paying jobs” and to invest over $5 billion in new construction.

Final site selection is expected in 2018. A link to the nearly 200-page submission is available here: https://torontoglobal.ca/amazon