AMAZON HQ
Ontario rules out new financial incentives to win Amazon headquarters
The Ontario government has ruled out giving Amazon Inc. any money or tax breaks as part of its plan to convince the online giant to establish a corporate headquarters in the province.
A plan to increase Ontario's number of science and technology graduates is at the centre of the province's plan, Ed Clark, the former TD Bank chief executive, said on Wednesday morning. Mr. Clark was chosen by Premier Kathleen Wynne to head the province's bid team.
"The Ontario government is not offering any new financial incentives to Amazon, nor any incentives that are not available to others who seek to grow or locate such jobs here," Mr. Clark said.
Amazon has said that it intends to spend more than $5-billion to build a second headquarters in North America, a project dubbed HQ2. The new headquarters will need as many as 50,000 employees and, according to Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, it will serve as "a full equal" to the existing headquarters in Seattle.
According to Mr. Clark, Ontario's key advantage is the province's labour force, which he said provides "great talent at a very competitive cost."
Instead of money to attract the technology giant, Ontario will look to increase the number of postsecondary students in the province graduating with degrees in science, technology, engineering or math – known as the STEM disciplines – by 25 per cent over the next five years.
The plan will also focus directly on artificial intelligence, with a goal to graduate 1,000 master's students in AI-related fields annually within five years.
Mr. Clark stressed that whether Ontario is successful in getting Amazon's new headquarters or not, it will go forward with the plan.
"It turns out that the province's best response to Amazon is to offer what we offer everyone, from companies established here, to those thinking of coming," he said, ruling out any special treatment for Amazon.
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