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Montreal (AFP)

Amazon announced Friday that it will double its workforce in Canada's western metropolis of Vancouver, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of its Seattle headquarters, to 2,000.

The company said in a statement it would open a new office in downtown Vancouver in 2020 to accomodate the new staff, which will bring its total number of its employees across Canada to 6,000.

"We are among the largest employers of software engineers in Canada and look forward to continuing to create new job opportunities for Canadians," said Alexandre Gagnon, vice president of Amazon Canada and Mexico.

The plan is unrelated to Amazon's search -- announced in September -- for a second headquarters, which attracted 238 bids from 43 US states, as well as Washington DC and Puerto Rico, six Canadian provinces, and three Mexican states.

The second headquarters would bring 50,000 jobs to the selected city, said Amazon, also promising to spend US $5 billion on its construction.

Last month, the company also announced the creation of 750 jobs and a new 600,000 square foot distribution center near Calgary, Alberta.

© 2017 AFP