Province kicks in $50K to woo Amazon to Metro Vancouver

The B.C.government is contributing $50,000 to support Metro Vancouver's effort to woo Amazon into selecting the city as the site for its second headquarters.

"I want to ensure that Amazon H2Q comes to British Columbia," said Premier John Horgan at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Vancouver on Friday.

The cash influx will help Metro Vancouver partners, including the cities of Surrey and Vancouver, prepare a submission to house the Amazon campus.

The province's fast-growing tech sector is already home to several American companies and offers unlimited possibilities for technology firms like Amazon, Horgan said.

B.C. will consider supporting proposals from other cities in the province as well, he said.

Langford, a city on Vancouver Island, and other communities on the southern part of the Island are preparing to submit bids.

Earlier this month, the tech titan announced it is hunting for a site for a second North American headquarters, which would employ up to 50,000 people and comes with a planned $5 billion US investment.

Some doubts in Vancouver

In Vancouver, theVancouver Economic Commission (VEC), headed by Mayor Gregor Robertson, is responsible for charming Amazon into heading north.

But not all Vancouver politicians are embracing the bid. Earlier this month, Coun. Adriane Carr said the city should carefully study the impacts Amazon would have on housing, transportation and small business.

She told council last week she was concerned that introducing thousands of new high-paying jobs to the city could cause housing to become even more unaffordable.

Several other Canadian cities have also expressed interest,including Toronto, Halifax, Winnipeg, Montreal and Edmonton.

Amazon is accepting responses to its request for proposals until Oct. 19.

With files from CBC News