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Comment by bryanlarsen | Hacker News Reader

If Canadian cities were in serious competition I think there'd be more than one of them on the list. There are a good number of American cities smaller than Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Ottawa/Gatineau on the list, let alone Montreal and Vancouver. I suspect that Toronto is the token Canadian city and won't get serious consideration.

I don't blame them, in this era of Trump hyper-nationalism there'd be a huge blow-back for choosing a Canadian city.

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Toronto might be the token Canadian city, but it's also the strongest contender Canada has to offer, by far. I would not rule them out.

> I don't blame them, in this era of Trump hyper-nationalism there'd be a huge blow-back for choosing a Canadian city.

Ironically, one reason a Canadian city would offer such big advantages - immigration - is also the main reason for the Trump hyper-nationalism. That tension is interesting. I don't know to what extent politics plays into this but teaching American politicians a lesson about whether they really want to continue playing to the cheap seats on immigration might be a plus for Amazon.

And under the Trump administration, I bet a lot of liberal Americans would be interested in an opportunity to work in Canada and acquire Canadian citizenship "just in case"...

Vancouver is de facto their current HQ2, no? Mostly used to funnel hires to Seattle through L-1 visas, but still.

Keep in mind Amazon is constantly looking for and hiring tons of tech workers. I live in Europe and I'd have a hard time taking their hiring events seriously if I could end up in Winnipeg (no offense). But the same is true for quite a few US cities on the list, though, and it makes me believe they probably aren't considering half of those locations seriously, like other people pointed out.

They are probably put off by hiring issues. Even if they pay over market rates it’s hard to convince people to live in Vancouver because of the high cost of living

Vancouver is right next to Seattle, and wouldn't diversify Amazon in terms of time zones or meterological/geological catastrophes. I don't know enough to say for sure, but I think Amazon has a preference for English-speaking cities which would indicate against Montreal.

Honestly, I think Toronto is a huge dark horse. It's an incredibly attractive location to relocate candidates to and isn't subject to American visa laws. I think the main reason smaller Canadian cities didn't make the cut is because Amazon doesn't really want to go that far north. Toronto is already south of Seattle, for instance.

Do any of those cities have good international flight options? I live in Montreal, the the options are very limited compared to Toronto.

I expect Montreal would be completely ruled out because of the language laws, incidentally. Fine for a branch office, unacceptable for a second HQ.

So, I'm not sure you're right about Toronto being a token candidate. I believe it's the best candidate in Canada.

But, moving to Canada is a big choice. So big you'd really want to consider only the top 1-2 candidates.

I do wonder what kept Vancouver off the list though.

> I do wonder what kept Vancouver off the list though.

Housing crisis.

More likely the same thing that kept Portland off - they want more distance between HQs.

Or the fact that their employees would need to sell their organs in order to afford single-bedroom apartments.

But I'm curious, have they actually publicly stated that they want a lot of geographical distance between the old and new HQ? It's an assumption that informs a lot of what's being said here.

They haven't said it, but probably because it's not a criterion cities can do anything about.

Having HQ2 far away from Seattle reduces business risk from e.g. major earthquakes.

Having HQ2 far from Seattle also means they can pull out of a different labor pool.

Seattle is more expensive though, so if anything they might just get their Seattle employees wanting to move south to still be in the PNW.

I see this sentiment coming a lot from Portlanders.

I understand that rent is rising in your area. That is awful.

But you do realize that Portland's rent is comparable to the rent in many other US metros? In fact, it's cheaper than quite a few! With better infrastructure and poverty rates!

I'm from Chicago, and the rent in Portland is pretty comparable. You can find cheap rent in Chicago if you don't mind commuting 45-60 minutes each way and living in an (almost) literal war-zone. When was the last time you witnessed a drive by? Or had an active gang-shooter outside your house having a gun-fight with other bangers?

I see this sentiment coming a lot from Portlanders.

I understand that rent is rising in your area. That is awful.

Did you intend to post this as a reply to someone else? Someone from Portland?

And probably the fact that it's so close to Seattle. Geography matters to a company like Amazon and putting up a large hub right next to the first one isn't the best choice.

Toronto's housing isn't that far behind Vancouver. Locals on local salaries cannot afford it.

Yeah, the map of shortlisted cities has a pretty conspicuous buffer around Seattle.

Moreover, it's less than 150 miles away from Seattle

I second that about Montreal. The language laws are absurd. Getting a temporary work permit to work in Quebec is even weirder. The permanent residents of any other provinces cannot get health care in Quebec without Quebec's CSQ certificate which will take ages to get after you apply. The infrastructure is in ruins. Amazon will have a hard time getting skilled workers in Quebec than the rest of Canada.

To be clear, I'm optimistic about Quebec. It's growing rapidly, unemployment is low, and there's an increasing energy visible in the streets.

But, I think it would be crazy for an american, anglophone company to place a second HQ here. It would dramatically cut the talent pool.

Also, apologies for the triple comment on this thread. It seems each edit of my top comment added a comment.

Do any of those cities have good international flight options? I live in Montreal, the the options are very limited compared to Toronto.

I expect Montreal would be completely ruled out because of the language laws, incidentally. Fine for a branch office, unacceptable for a second HQ.

So, I'm not sure you're right about Toronto being a token candidate. I believe it's the best candidate in Canada.

But, moving to Canada is a big choice. So big you'd really want to consider only the top candidate.

Do any of those cities have good international flight options? I live in Montreal, the the options are very limited compared to Toronto.

I expect Montreal would be completely ruled out because of the language laws, incidentally. Fine for a branch office, unacceptable for a second HQ.

So, I'm not sure you're right about Toronto being a token candidate.

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