Ottawa’s e-commerce darling is expanding its presence elsewhere in Canada, announcing today that it plans to triple the size of its workforce in Waterloo.
That means an additional 300 to 500 jobs over the next three years and a second office in the city. New positions will go towards the development of Shopify Plus, which is already the focus of the Waterloo outpost.
As of last March, Shopify had 170 employees in its Waterloo office. In 2015 the firm moved to a new location with the capacity for 300 employees. Roughly a year ago, the firm bolstered its presence in the city through its acquisition of product design firm Boltmade.
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The firm’s new office in the city, slated to open in the first quarter of 2018, will double its existing physical footprint.
The latest investment in the city’s tech sector reflects the emerging relevance of the Toronto-Waterloo corridor as a regional technology hub, according to Shopify Plus general manager and vice-president Loren Padelford.
“We believe that The Corridor is anchoring the next great wave of technology and we’re excited to play a big role in providing talent a home in our community,” Mr. Padelford said in a statement. He added that the firm’s growth in the area has “outpaced and exceeded” initial expectations.
On the other end of the corridor, Shopify is preparing to move into a new space as the anchor tenant at the King-Portland Centre, still under development. Roughly 300 people work for Shopify in Toronto, but this location will have a capacity of 1,100.
The firm is also hiring in Ottawa, looking to fill 325,000 square feet of space on Laurier Avenue with 2,500 employees. That building should be ready for occupancy by early 2018 according to our interview with Shopify’s director of internal operations Greg Scorsone in March.
