Categories: Lifestyle

Amazon expands its Toronto presence & adds Canada’s first in-office store of its kind

Image via JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock

There’s a big change coming to Amazon’s Toronto Tech Hub! Amazon announced today, September 5th, that the company has plans to add to its YYZ18 office downtown in late 2024. The addition will include 79,000 square feet of space covering three floors.

Not only that, there’s also a brand-new Just Walk Out technology store at the existing office where employees can ‘grab and go’ food and beverages from brands including Greenhouse, Cove Gut Healthy Drinks, and Well.

The expansion

Currently, 3,500 employees work at the Toronto Tech Hub at the YYZ18 office at 18 York Street.

While the project will take until around 2026 to open, it’s a pretty exciting development for the city and the Amazon Toronto Tech Hub!

Just Walk Out

Image via Amazon Canada

Today, September 5th, also marked the opening of the first Just Walk Out store at the YYZ14 office at 120 Bremner Boulevard – the first at any Amazon office in Canada.

A second location is planned for the YYZ18 office at 18 York Street later this year. The store offers a variety of ‘grab and go’ items for those that work in the office.

“Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), including computer vision, machine learning, and generative AI, as well as sensor fusion, Just Walk Out technology enables shoppers to grab what they want and simply leave the store. To enter the store, Amazon employees use their credit card at the entry gate,” says Amazon.

“Just Walk Out technology associates the shopper with their payment instrument, and detects the items taken from or returned to store shelves, creating a virtual shopping session. When employees have completed their visit, they simply leave the store, and their payment instrument will be charged for the items they took with them.”

The future is bright! Keep an eye out for the Amazon Tech Hub expansion and possibly some job openings, Toronto!