'We are absolutely confident that we’re going to find 1,000 talented professionals to join our associate base'
Amazon has broken ground on YHZ2, a 2.2-million-square-foot robotics fulfilment centre in Dartmouth, N.S.
The company says the centre will create more than 1,000 full-time jobs and says its the first robotics fulfilment centre in Nova Scotia.
Brooks Barnett, head of economic development for Amazon Canada, told The Canadian Press (CP) it is slated to open in 2029.
The groundbreaking gives HR leaders in Atlantic Canada a long but finite runway. A single employer will soon be recruiting more than 1,000 workers in a sector already struggling to fill jobs.
A 1,000-person hiring push in Atlantic Canada
That labour market is tight. Statistics Canada reported that national job vacancies in transportation and warehousing rose by 6,900, or 29.9%, year over year in August 2026. Nova Scotia’s overall vacancy rate stood at 3.0%.
Barnett is undeterred. “We’re going to need to hire more than 1,000 people just to be able to operate a site of this size, and we are absolutely confident that we’re going to find 1,000 talented professionals to join our associate base,” he told The Chronicle Herald.
Pay will shape that competition. Amazon’s release cites an average Canadian base wage of $26.27 an hour. Benefits include health, dental and vision coverage and a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) with an employer match, all starting on day one. CP reported that Barnett said wages at the Dartmouth site will start at $26.
Officials and labour weigh in
Political leaders framed the project as a vote of confidence.
“Amazon’s investment in Dartmouth is a strong vote of confidence in our region’s economy. More than 1,000 new jobs will create opportunities for residents and support businesses throughout our community,” Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore said in Amazon’s release.
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston stressed that the company will play by local rules. “We have our own laws and regulations and standards here. They know that,” he told The Chronicle Herald.
Labour groups were less celebratory. The same day, Unifor launched an organizing drive at Amazon warehouses across the Greater Toronto Area. It cited data from Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) showing that Amazon’s injury rate in 2025 was more than double its 2020 rate.
“Amazon workers want and deserve better working conditions, safer jobs, fairer pay, dignity and respect,” Unifor national president Lana Payne said in a news release.
Quebec closures shadow expansion
That union push lands against a contested history. In January 2025, Amazon announced it would close all seven of its Quebec facilities, cutting 1,700 permanent and 250 temporary jobs.
Amazon denied any link to the May 2024 unionization of about 240 workers in Laval. The Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) disputed that in a formal complaint against Amazon over Quebec closures.
CP asked Barnett whether the Nova Scotia site would replace lost Quebec capacity, and he declined to say.
“All I’ll say is that we respect our employees’ right to have their voice heard and to make whatever decisions they want around unionization. But today we’re really talking about a new investment here in this region,” he said.
What HR leaders should watch
Amazon raised its average base wage for Canadian operations workers by $1 to $26.27 an hour in September 2026, a 4% year-over-year increase that took effect Sept. 27, according to CP. Unifor said at the time that the company was “feeling the heat” from a first contract pending at its unionized British Columbia warehouse.
The Dartmouth roles will also differ from conventional warehouse jobs. Barnett told The Chronicle Herald the robotics system brings inventory to employees at their stations, cutting down on walking and heavy lifting. That shift in job design is a theme HRD Canada has tracked in its coverage of how Amazon’s AI worker robot reshapes warehouse job architecture.
Amazon’s labour relations elsewhere in Canada remain unsettled. On Aug. 5, 2026, the B.C. Labour Relations Board ordered Amazon and Unifor into binding arbitration to settle a first contract at the company’s Delta, B.C., warehouse, Business Examiner reported. Amazon has appealed. Spokesperson Sam Stephenson told Business in Vancouver the company wants the arbitration paused until sealed decertification votes from employees are counted.
