Amazon to open new packing, shipping warehouse in Lachine

Amazon Canadawill be opening its first Quebec-based distribution warehouse in Lachine, it announced Friday.

The company said the new location will create 300 new full-time jobs, and will be in operation before the 2020 holiday season.

Employees at the site will be responsible for packing and shipping items to customers.

Those arejobs the area sorely needs, said Maja Vodanovic, mayor of Montreal's Lachine borough.

"Thirty thousand jobs [used to be there], but it's now like a deserted zone,"Vodanovic said.

Vodanovicoriginally told CBCNews she expects the centre will be located near the St-Pierre Interchange, on Berge du Canal Street.

Montreal had previously pitched the space to Amazon in a failed bid to get the company's second headquarters to relocate to the city.

However, a representative for the borough later said it would likely be in an industrial sector north of Highway 20.

Vodanovic said that no subsidies were offered to Amazon for the warehouse.

Amazon already has similar centres in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. Those jobs reportedly pay $16 per hour.

The company'sdistributionwarehouses have a history of controversy, with workerscomplainingabout the unrelenting pace of the work and the low pay, leading to walkouts.

Amazon Canada itself has been accused of firing workers who attempted to unionize.

Alexandre Gagnon, vice-president of Amazon Canada, said the Lachine site will help to "better serve our customers across Quebec."