Sometime this year, as Amazon opens its announced locations in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C., its Canadian distribution network will reach nearly 26 million square feet, roughly the equivalent of some 1,500 NHL hockey rinks.

The e-commerce giant has committed to opening about 4.8 million sq. ft. of warehouse space in the country just this year, according to data from MWPVL International, a Montreal-based supply chain, logistics and distribution consulting firm that tracks Amazon’s global distribution network.

The ongoing expansion suggests Amazon has mostly spared its Canadian operations from the wrenching cycle of growth and contractions seen in the United States, where the company aggressively grew its footprint during the pandemic, only to abandon or delay many of its planned projects. Though its Canadian workforce is no longer growing at the same pace as its physical space here, Amazon is still building capacity to serve key population centres while covering the country’s vast delivery distances.

“I don’t see them curtailing or cutting back in the Canadian market the way they have been in the U.S.,” said Marc Wulfraat, founder and president of MWPVL. South of the border, Amazon “went on a real spending spree” during the first two years of the pandemic, he said. “They just put the pedal to the floor and they overdid it.”

In an email to The Logic, Amazon spokesperson Kristin Gable repeated the company’s past assertion that MWPVL’s data is inaccurate. However, The Logic independently verified the Canadian locations through public documents, including Amazon press releases, media reports, and government and developer websites. Two facilities run by third-party operators and included in MWPVL’s data were subtracted from our calculations.

In 2020 and 2021, as customers turned to online ordering in droves, Amazon hustled to expand its global distribution network—mostly made up of large fulfilment centres and smaller delivery stations, as well as sortation centres, which are midway points for packages between fulfilment and delivery.

“Despite lapping 2020’s extraordinary sales growth,” said Brian Olsavsky, chief financial officer, in a conference call with analysts about Amazon’s fourth quarter of 2021, “we continue to see an increase in customer demand and sales.” The company doubled its fulfilment network from pre-pandemic days, finishing 2021 with more than 1,600 locations worldwide. 

But not long after Olsavsky’s comment, the tone changed. That rapid expansion resulted in “too much space,” he said on the next quarterly conference call. CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement that Amazon would shift its focus from “chasing physical” space to “improving productivity and cost efficiencies” in fulfilment. Soon after, The Information reported Amazon would scrap tens of millions of square feet in planned U.S. expansion. By March, the company had cancelled, closed or delayed opening 99 facilities in the country, according to MWPVL.

“In Canada, I think they took a much more prudent approach and it was steady as she goes,” said Wulfraat. Of the dozens of buildings it has opened since its first fulfilment centre in Mississauga, Ont., in 2011, Amazon has closed three: a fulfillment centre in Milton, Ont., and delivery stations in Burnaby, B.C., and Calgary. (Gable avoided the word closed in the latter two cases, saying the company moved the Calgary operations to another station in the city and that the Burnaby location “is not currently operational.”) Amazon also changed the site of one Ontario delivery station before it opened, from Oakville to Mississauga.

In Canada, Amazon didn’t have excess space to shutter when the pandemic-driven e-commerce bump corrected, said Wulfraat. Indeed, it was just getting to the point where it had enough to serve Canada’s spread-out population. It currently has 36 delivery stations, 17 fulfilment centres and six sortation centres.

Although its growth slowed in 2022, the company was on track to open at least 14 facilities before 2025, according to MWPVL. That includes seven fulfilment centres across Alberta, B.C. and Ontario; a sortation centre in Ontario; and five delivery stations in B.C. and Ontario. It will also open its first location in Saskatchewan, according to MWPVL.

Over the two years, these future openings would add roughly 7.6-million sq. ft. to Amazon’s Canadian presence, bringing it to nearly 28.3 million sq. ft. Gable confirmed 11 of the upcoming 14 facilities, but noted they “do not have a confirmed launch date.”

The three she would not confirm are slated for Regina, North York, Ont., and Pitt Meadows, B.C. Public documents show Amazon has either purchased or leased land in those areas, but Gable did not respond to questions about the status of those prospective locations.

With its anticipated openings, Amazon’s Canadian network will be mostly made up of smaller delivery stations—43—along with 24 fulfilment centres, and seven sortation centres.

Like other tech companies, Amazon cut the size of its workforce as the global economy slowed and consumption habits changed. Some of the layoffs reportedly affected Canadian employees, though the company has declined to provide details. In late 2022, Amazon had 41,000 full- and part-time staff here, according to its annual impact report—1,500 more than the previous year.

As far as warehouse space goes, Wulfraat believes Amazon is now “over capacity” in Canada. His comparison of the company’s existing square footage to sales volume here suggests it has enough space for the next four or five years. Amazon may expand anyway in Winnipeg or Halifax, he said—good-sized cities whose distance from other urban centres makes shipping expensive.