Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie says he’s excited the Royal City is part of Toronto’s bid on Amazon’s short list for a second North American headquarters.
Amazon received 238 applications for the opportunity and the Toronto region’s bid is the only Canadian candidate among the 20 applications still being considered.
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“The City of Guelph immediately knew we couldn’t do it alone, but that we could really be an extra benefit to someone else,” Guthrie said in an interview after the announcement on Thursday morning. “We felt that the best one would be the Toronto Global bid.”
According to their website, Toronto Global is an organization representing municipalities in southern Ontario that seeks global companies interested in expanding to the Toronto region.
Guthrie said Guelph has a lot to offer up.
“With Amazon purchasing Whole Foods, getting into foods and groceries, we felt that Guelph could really be a player to support the Toronto Global bid to Amazon.”
On the university’s website, it says the Ontario Agricultural College is recognized as Canada’s largest and most renowned agricultural college, and a global leader in education, research and service in agriculture, food, and environmental sciences.
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Guthrie said it’s important to work with other regions and municipalities involved in the bid, including the City of Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Durham Region, and Kitchener-Waterloo.
“No longer is it the competitiveness of city against city,” Guthrie said. “We need to be binding together and partnering together with each other so that we can put forward strong proposals such as this one.”
“And to be shortlisted this way, it just proves that Guelph is a player and that adds benefit to a region for such a large bid like this.”
The other 19 locations Amazon will also consider include New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver and Nashville.
Guthrie said even if the Toronto Global bid is not selected, it still sends a strong message to be on the short list.
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A decision by Amazon is expected to be made later this year.
An Amazon spokesperson says the process taught the company about several new communities across North America that it will consider as locations for future infrastructure investment and job creation.
The company plans to invest more than $5 billion in the forthcoming headquarters and hire 50,000 highly paid employees in the city housing it.
— With files from the Canadian Press