It’s a big (and we mean really big) facility that will create hundreds of jobs close to home.
Representatives with Amazon gave a sneak peek Wednesday inside the company’s sprawling new facility currently undergoing interior construction at the Tsawwassen First Nation. It’s set to open sometime later this year.
The e-commerce giant last September at the new Delta iPort warehouse on 41b Street at the TFN’s industrial lands announced a plan to open the 450,000-square-foot fulfillment centre.
The facility, located across the street from the new Canada Border Services Agency’s container inspection facility, is to create almost 800 new jobs.
Reach Society's Renie D'Aquila (right holding cheque) accepts a $10,000 donation from Amazon
According to Amazon, “Full-time employees at Amazon receive competitive hourly wages, medical, vision and dental coverage, a group RRSP plan, stock awards, and performance-based bonuses starting on day one.”
Amazon also has another centre in Delta and New Westminster, but this marks the first time the company will open a distribution facility on First Nation land.
The new facility, which will operate 24 hours per day on 10-hour shifts, will be the company’s 10th in Canada. Amazon also employs 1,500 people at its tech hub in Vancouver.
Delta iPort is an industrial park developed by GWL Realty Advisors on behalf of project owner, the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan. TFN and HOOPP signed a 60-year lease agreement on the 23.3 acre parcel. It was noted the close proximity of TFN’s industrial lands to Deltaport and major arterials will provide Amazon, as well as all current and future TFN tenants, with “a critical logistics solution for the Metro Vancouver market.”
Steve Stark, an executive council member of TFN, said the First Nation is strategically setting itself up for global markets and is actively looking for more partnerships.
Prior to the media tour Wednesday, Amazon officials announced a $10,000 donation to the Reach Child and Youth Development Society.
Here's a few more photos showing the scale of the new Amazon facility....
