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Amazon HQ2 is not coming to Vancouver

Toronto remains in a crowded race focused east of Lake Superior

Vancouver won’t be home to Amazon’s HQ2.

The retail behemoth announced Thursday morning that the only West Coast city to make the shortlist was Los Angeles; the only Canadian city is Toronto. Two-thirds of the remaining candidates are east of Lake Superior, far from Amazon’s existing Seattle headquarters.

This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although Amazon’s $5 billion project would have added 50,000 jobs to Vancouver, there were concerns about the effect on a housing market that has already become too expensive for most Vancouverites.

The other issue: where to find the 8.1 million sq.ft. of required land?

The provincial government had kicked in $50,000 to help Vancouver and Surrey create a bid.

You won't find Vancouver on this map of cities still on Amazon's list of candidates for its second hAmazon announced Thursday morning that the only West Coast city to make the shortlist was Los Angeles; the only Canadian city is Toronto.

"We have a fast-growing tech sector and several U.S. companies, such as Microsoft, Electronic Arts and Sony Imageworks, have already established a presence here because of the talent base that B.C. offers,” Premier John Horgan said in a press release last September. “Amazon HQ2 is an opportunity to create thousands of well-paying jobs for the people of B.C., which will greatly benefit our communities and the tech sector and create spin-off benefits for related industries."

Last November, Amazon's Vancouver office announced it was leasing new space in downtown Vancouver for 1,000 new employees.It is slated to open in 2020.