Amazon says thanks, but no thanks Vancouver

Vancouver's bid to land Amazon's second headquarters has fallen short.

The e-commerce giant has announced a short listof 20 citieswhich will now vie to become home to Amazon HQ2. Toronto is theonly Canadian city to make the cut. The other 19 are located in the United States.

• Toronto makes cut of top 20 cities vying to be Amazon's 2nd headquarters

Greg Moore, Chair of Metro Vancouver and Mayor of Port Coquitlamsays he isdisappointed.

"It would have been a great opportunityfor our region to have that type of employer here, but at the same time Amazon already has quite a presence here in Vancouver. They employ over 1,400 people and they plan on growing that," said Moore.

Too close to Seattle?

Moore speculated that because many of the finalist cities are on the East Coast, Amazon may have an interest in geographically diversifying from its West Coast Seattle base.

He said part of the Vancouver pitch was focused on leveraging the proximity of Vancouver to Seattle.

• Montreal fails to make shortlist of cities vying for Amazon's 2nd headquarters

In a statement, the coordinating agency behind the Vancouver bidcongratulated Toronto and the other shortlisted cities.

"We continue to stand 100 per centbehind the metro Vancouver proposal the result of an unprecedented effort in regional economic development which fully demonstrates what Vancouver has to offer any business that chooses to make this region its home," reads the release from theVancouver Economic Commission.

VECspokewoman Ingrid Valou said the commission would be releasing the biddocument at a future date. She did not have the final figures on how much the bid cost.

In Sept. 2017 the provincial governmentkicked in $50,000 to support Vancouver'sbid campaign.

Canadian losers

The City of Langfordon Vancouver Island also submitted a bid, as did Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Sault Ste. Marie, Windsor, Hamilton, Ottawa, Montreal andHalifax.

Besides Toronto, the other cities onthe Amazon HQ2 short list are:

• Boston.
• New York City.
• Newark, N.J.
• Chicago.
• Washington D.C.
• Raleigh, N.C.
• Northern Virginia.
• Atlanta.
• Miami.
• Columbus, Ohio.
• Los Angeles.
• Dallas.
• Austin, Texas.
• Philadelphia.
• Pittsburgh.
• Indianapolis.
• Denver.
• Nashville.
• Montgomery County, Md.

The company estimates Amazon HQ2 will employ up to50,000 people in high paying positions.

Amazon said it received 238 applications in total and that itexpects to make a final decision this year.