Amazon (AMZN-Q) is continuing to expand its network of last-mile delivery hubs in smaller Canadian cities and towns, with the announcement this morning of new facilities in Lethbridge, Alta., and the Ontario city of Owen Sound.

Both facilities are being operated by local, independent business owners under contract with Amazon. The local owners have built and will operate the delivery services.

In a release this morning, Amazon calls the centres part of a “newer business model” for the company. Amazon sorts customer orders at its larger delivery hubs, then transports them to the smaller facilities where they are then handled by the “last-mile” contractors.

The new model is intended to further speed up the delivery of goods to its customers.

“Amazon is committed to offering the fastest delivery speeds for our customers, and we are constantly innovating and investing in our local network, including in smaller cities and communities,” Jasmin Begagic, director, AMZL Canada, said in the announcement. “We’re proud to work directly with our local delivery service partners to introduce two new facilities that help us serve more customers more efficiently.”

Amazon's two new facilities

The new 20,000-square-foot Lethbridge facility is in the Churchill Industrial Park, and is operated by RHAY Logistics. The company is based in Calgary, and owned by Aminat Popoola.

The facility in Owen Sound measures more than 7,500 square feet and is located in the city’s industrial park. 

The new facilities follow similar launches in three Ontario cities: Sarnia and Cornwall in 2025; and Kingston in 2023. However, there are no immediate plans for more facilities.

"There are no current confirmed plans for any future delivery service partner hubs but we are always looking for opportunities to better serve customers," an Amazon spokesperson wrote in response to questions from RENX.

Amazon states the company achieved its fastest delivery speeds for Prime members in Canada during 2025, with more than 450 million items delivered on the same day or the next day.

To accomplish this, it has been refining and expanding a network of almost 70 facilities across the country. The sites range from its largest, highly automated fulfillment centres comprising two million or more square feet of distribution space - including buildings in Ottawa, Toronto and Edmonton - to the smaller local hubs. 

More than 4,500 Canadian cities and towns are eligible for Prime free one-day delivery – now including both Owen Sound and Lethbridge.

Amazon has acquired some of its Canadian real estate, but leases the majority of its space.

Large facility growth, and a delay in Ottawa

The company has also been growing its large facility network, opening an 825,000-square-foot distribution centre in Pitt Meadows, in Metro Vancouver, last summer.

It is also developing a 3.1-million-square-foot, multilevel facility in Ottawa and a 200,000-square-foot facility in Brant County, in southern Ontario.

Opening of the Ottawa facility, however, is likely to be delayed. 

"We have begun to dissemble portions of the existing structure and intend to rebuild in a manner that ensures that the building’s design meets future requirements," the Amazon spokesperson wrote in response to another RENX query. "Amazon constantly explores opportunities to optimize its designs to better serve customers."

Amazon did not respond to followup questions about the Ottawa facility, which is being developed by Montreal firm Broccolini. The original design was for a building with five levels of state-of-the-art distribution space on the 75-acre property in the city's Barrhaven neighbourhood.

Broccolini has developed several major distribution centres for Amazon, including both its other major Ottawa buildings, which together comprise about 3.8 million square feet of distribution space. The city has become a major hub for Amazon, with a million-square-foot facility in the city's east end, and another facility of approximately 2.8 million square feet in the south end.

Both of those facilities are fully operational.