With news that Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has officially named its 20 finalist cities for its second headquarters making headline news across North America, the inclusion of Toronto as a potential city to host the continent’s second headquarters has many debating the potential impacts of such a move on the country’s overall tech scene.
While the obvious economic impact of having a potential additional 50,000 high-paying tech jobs in the Toronto area is great, many have noted that the ability of a Toronto-area or Canadian company rivaling Amazon in size would be greatly diminished with the introduction of an Amazon headquarters in Canada.
The argument that an Amazon headquarters in Canada’s largest city would suck up all the country’s tech talent and make the creation of new jobs and industries within the country much more difficult is a reasonable concern to be voiced. Canada has produced some world-class tech companies, and while many have come across difficulties in competing with larger American and global firms, I argue that a Toronto HQ may be a good thing for the Canadian economy in the long-term, given the fact that the majority of new employees are unlikely to come from Canada or the U.S., but rather from other tech-oriented countries in emerging markets.
Absorbing new tech talent into the Canadian ecosystem could provide a long-term boon for the economy, should said employees want to stay and circulate within the Canadian tech economy.
Invest wisely, my friends.
