Shopify is set to expand its presence in Vancouver, with plans to move into a new office space and hire 1,000 employees.
The Ottawa-founded e-commerce company announced on Tuesday that it plans to open what will be its first permanent office in the city. The plan for its office represents a major commitment to Vancouver, with Shopify noting that it sees the city as “a hub for great talent and potential for continued growth.” Shopify currently has a team of around 150 employees in Vancouver, according to LinkedIn.
“We see a lot of growth happening in Vancouver, but we believe we can offer something different.”
Shopify will be taking over office space in downtown Vancouver, located at the Bentall Centre. The company will occupy four floors, spanning more than 70,000 square feet. The new location will house a “cross-disciplinary team” focused on software development.
The e-commerce giant, noting that in 2018 its research and development spending increased by 70 percent, is looking to hire backend developers, data engineers, mobile developers, web developers, product designers, and product managers.
Shopify’s new office will be led by Lynsey Thornton, vice president of UX, who was Shopify’s first employee in Vancouver. Thorton has been with the company since 2013 and started out as a UX research lead.
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“We see a lot of growth happening in Vancouver, but we believe we can offer something different,” said Thorton. “What’s unique about our announcement, is that we’re committing to building a top tier RnD [sic] team. This won’t be an office where career growth is limited. It’s our intention to build the best RnD [sic] team in the city.”
Shopify has a number of offices around the world, with the Vancouver hub representing its fifth permanent Canadian location. The company’s presence in the West Coast city is part of a long term growth strategy for expanding that Canadian presence.
In 2018, Shopify committed $500 million to expand its presence in Toronto and opened one of its multiple Toronto spaces last year.
The Vancouver office is set to open in late 2020.