The case for Amazon HQ2 in Toronto gets stronger amid Trump attacks and tech boom

Amid a steady drumbeat of attacks from President Trump that probably don’t make Amazon feel particularly loyal to the leader of the United States, new statistics have emerged that paint Toronto as an attractive candidate for the company’s second headquarters.

A new report from real estate services company CBRE ranks Toronto as No. 4 for tech talent out of 50 cities in the U.S. and Canada. The only city in the running for HQ2 that outranks Toronto is Washington, D.C., which is seen as a frontrunner in the race for Amazon’s $5 billion second headquarters. San Francisco is ranked first and Seattle, Amazon’s hometown, is second.

Over 240,000 workers comprise Toronto’s tech talent pool, a 51 percent increase since 2012, according to the report. The Canadian city is No. 1 when it comes to “brain gain” according to CBRE. In other words, tech workers educated in Toronto tend to stay there after graduating.