Amazon is opening its first robotics delivery center in Calgary

Online retail giant Amazon is set to open another fulfillment center in Calgary on Friday, but it will be the first to focus on robotics.

The 2.8 million-square-foot facility opens May 24; it will be Amazon's largest facility in Canada.

A robotics facility means that storing and retrieving customer orders is done automatically using robots.

Amazon's 11th site in Alberta will feature “innovative new logistics technology” and is expected to employ approximately 1,500 employees.

It is one of five fulfillment centers in Alberta and the expected employees will join an already existing workforce of 6,000.

The grand opening will see Mayor Jyoti Gondek and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

It comes as Amazon says it plans to hire 6,000 Canadians by September 2023. It also announced it will invest more than $70 million in pay increases for fulfillment and transportation workers, whose average hourly wages will increase from $17 to $21 in 2018.

Under the new compensation plan, hourly full-time and part-time employees will receive a raise every six months until their 24-month anniversary and another increase at the 36th month.

Amazon operates more than 60 operational sites in Canada, including 21 fulfillment centers, more than 30 fulfillment stations and six sorting centers.