VANCOUVER — Vancouver’s tech sector is slated for another boost in jobs as Amazon expands its presence in the city.

The Seattle-based online retail giant posted nearly 100 Vancouver jobs as part of its push onto the Vancouver tech scene — and a major move into the ultra-modern LEED-certified Telus Garden building may be next.

Such a move would greatly expand Amazon’s footprint in the city, which is now confined to a Yaletown development centre, one of just two in Canada.

“Amazon Vancouver anticipates growing quickly,” reads a notice on the development centre’s job site that advises more opportunities may be listed soon.

The technology jobs include roughly 70 software development engineers, a dozen program and product managers, and a handful of other highly skilled positions. The company’s Vancouver office is slated to develop tools and applications for Amazon engineers.

The Vancouver Sun reported earlier this year that Amazon was looking to increase its presence in Vancouver and was considering space in Telus Garden.

Mayor Gregor Robertson tweeted that Amazon’s expansion was “great news for Vancouver.”

“@amazon coming to @TELUSgarden with space for 1,000 jobs!” he tweeted Tuesday afternoon.

Robertson told The Sun in an emailed statement that the hiring spree was another strong example of how Vancouver was emerging as “an innovation powerhouse.”

“Amazon creating such an impressive number of new jobs represents a major boost to Vancouver’s economy and our city’s fast-growing technology sector,” he said.

The addition of another 100 tech positions would put the Fortune 500 company among the 70 largest tech employers in B.C., according to a 2013 ranking by Business in Vancouver newspaper. For perspective, Electronic Arts lists 1,300 local employees, and Microsoft has 450.

Last week, Amazon held a hiring fair to fill an undisclosed number of positions at its Delta warehouse. The jobs were listed as paying up to $12.25 per hour.

Tech Vibes, a Canadian technology news site, reported Tuesday that Amazon was planning to open office space with room for as many as 1,000 employees in Telus Garden, a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum tower, citing an associate vice-president at Colliers International.

Amazon would take 91,000 square feet of the building at Georgia and Richards, according to the Colliers executive, with an option on another 156,000 square feet.

Telus spokesman Shawn Hall said he could not comment about future tenants in the Telus Garden building.

The $750-million development consists of a 22-storey office tower, adjoining 44-storey residential tower and supporting retail and commercial space to be completed in 2015.

It is being built by real estate developer Westbank, the same developer working on Calgary’s $400 million Telus Sky high-rise building in that city’s downtown core.

Amazon, which bills itself as “the global leader in ecommerce,” is an online retailing behemoth with $31.8 billion US in sales over the first six months of 2013. At the end of 2012, the company said in its annual report that it had 88,400 employees.

With a file from Derrick Penner.

mattrobinson@postmedia.com