Amazon says it will create 600 new jobs in Toronto

Employees work at the Amazon fulfillment centre in Brampton, Ont. on Monday, November 26, 2018. (THE CANADIAN PRESS / Chris Young)

TORONTO -- Amazon says it plans to create 600 new tech jobs in Toronto.

The online retail behemoth says the jobs will be in fields including software development, machine learning and cloud computing.

The announcement comes as Amazon is set to open an expanded office in Toronto's downtown core.

The city was on the shortlist to host the company's highly coveted second headquarters, but eventually lost out to New York City and Arlington, Va.

Had the Toronto region won that bid, it would have landed 50,000 Amazon jobs.

Amazon says it currently has more than 800 corporate employees in Toronto.