Data Centers in Montreal

Montreal – North American Hub for Power & Connectivity

Montreal is a premier North American market for businesses requiring high-density compute, thanks to its abundant, low-cost hydroelectric power. Its rich connectivity ecosystem provides low-latency access to major Canadian and U.S. East Coast markets, making it a strategic hub for cloud, AI, and enterprise workloads that demand both performance and cost efficiency.

Montreal: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Montreal's network infrastructure is one of the most developed in Canada, offering excellent options for redundancy and low-latency performance. The market serves as a key interconnection point between Toronto and major U.S. markets like New York and Boston.

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality: Montreal supports a dense and competitive environment with over 30 data center providers and more than 40 unique network carriers, as of September 2025. The strong presence of carrier-neutral facilities ensures competitive pricing and diverse routing options.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps: With over 11 dedicated cloud on-ramps, as of September 2025, the market provides direct, private access to 13 global cloud regions. Major public clouds with a dedicated presence include:

• AWS
• Google Cloud (GCP)
• Microsoft Azure
• Oracle Cloud

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs): The primary exchange is the Montreal Internet Exchange (QIX), which facilitates efficient local traffic peering, reducing latency and transit costs for connected members. Most significant peering occurs within major data center facilities.

Bare Metal: Bare metal server options are widely available from multiple providers. Global suppliers like OVHcloud and Hivelocity offer dedicated server solutions in the Montreal market, meeting demands for single-tenant, high-performance computing.

Power Analysis

Montreal is globally recognized for its advantageous power profile, which combines low costs with high reliability and sustainability.

Average Cost Of Power: Industrial electricity rates typically range from C$0.06 to C$0.09 per kWh, as of September 2025. This positions Montreal as one of the most cost-effective locations for power-intensive operations in North America. The grid mix is dominated by hydroelectric power, offering price stability and a green energy source.

Power Grid Reliability: The power grid, managed by Hydro-Québec, is exceptionally reliable and well-engineered. Data center corridors are supported by redundant substations and robust transmission infrastructure, ensuring high levels of uptime for critical facilities.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Montreal provides a strategic location for reaching both Canadian and U.S. markets, supported by a strong business environment.

Proximity To Key Business Districts: Data centers are located with easy access to downtown Montreal, the city's financial and commercial hub. The region is also a center for AI research, visual effects, and gaming industries, making local colocation ideal for performance-sensitive applications.

Regional Market Reach: From Montreal, organizations can effectively serve over 100 million people within a 10-millisecond network latency radius. This reach extends across Quebec, Ontario, and the entire U.S. Northeast, including Boston and New York.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers: While no specific data center tax incentives are promoted, the overall business operating costs in Quebec are lower than in many other major North American tech hubs. The provincial tax system and available R&D credits can provide significant financial benefits for qualifying technology companies.

Natural Disaster Risk

Montreal has a very low risk profile for natural disasters, ensuring high operational resilience for data centers.

Based on the INFORM Risk Index, the region has an overall risk score of 2.7 out of 10, placing it in the "Low Risk" category, as of September 2025. Key individual risk factors are minimal and primarily relate to potential flooding in specific areas.

• River Flood: 7.1/10
• Tsunami: 5.7/10 (Considered negligible due to inland location)
• Coastal Flood: 5.4/10 (Considered negligible due to inland location)
• Earthquake: 4.8/10
• Tropical Cyclone: 2.3/10