Data Centers in Montreal

Montreal – Sustainable Low-Cost Power for AI Scale

Montreal is the premier choice for organizations running high-density AI workloads on a green, hydroelectric grid. By combining some of the lowest power rates in North America with high-performance connectivity to global financial hubs, this market delivers immediate margin improvements for compute-heavy enterprises.

Montreal: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Montreal acts as a pivot point for data moving between the United States, Central Canada, and Europe. The ecosystem is mature and provides reliable redundancy for global enterprises.

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality: Carrier count: 30–35 carriers as of January 2026. This concentration ensures a competitive market with diverse fiber paths to critical financial hubs and resilient infrastructure.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps: Over 11, enabling access to 13 cloud regions as of January 2026. Local on-ramps include AWS, Google Cloud (GCP), Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud, allowing for low-latency hybrid cloud architectures.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs): The Montreal Internet Exchange (QIX) serves as the primary IXP. It facilitates efficient local peering and reduces transit costs for regional traffic.

Bare Metal: High-performance bare metal services are readily available from providers like Hivelocity and Leaseweb. These support rapid deployment for compute-heavy tasks without the overhead of virtualization.

Power Analysis

Montreal offers a rare combination of sustainability and aggressive pricing. If your workloads are power-hungry, this is where you build.

Average Cost Of Power: Industrial electricity in Montreal is exceptionally affordable, typically ranging from $0.05/kWh to $0.07/kWh as of January 2026. These rates provide a massive advantage for AI training and large-scale data processing that would be cost-prohibitive in other Tier 1 markets.

Power Grid Reliability: The grid is well-engineered and relies almost entirely on hydroelectric generation. Redundant substation support is standard within the primary data center corridors, providing a stable foundation for 24/7 operations.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Montreal is a major research hub, particularly for artificial intelligence, making it a strategic choice for proximity to talent and innovation.

Proximity To Key Business Districts: Data centers are positioned near the downtown financial center and the tech corridors. This location is vital for low-latency requirements in finance and AI development.

Regional Market Reach: Montreal serves as an ideal staging ground to reach 40 million people in Canada and the dense population centers of the US Northeast, including New York and Boston.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers: There are no specific tax incentives for data centers in this jurisdiction as of January 2026. However, the low power rates frequently provide better long-term savings than traditional tax breaks, directly lowering the total cost of ownership.

Natural Disaster Risk

Montreal is classified as a Low (2.7/100) risk environment as of January 2026. While the overall profile is stable, specific hazards require site-specific planning.

• River Flood (7.1): The primary natural hazard, requiring planning for sites near the St. Lawrence River.
• Earthquake (4.8): A moderate factor managed through modern seismic building codes.
• Epidemic (3.2): A moderate regional risk factor as of January 2026.
• Tropical Cyclone (2.3): A minor risk, usually involving indirect storm activity.

Other factors like drought and severe weather are minor. Coastal flooding and tsunami risks are not material for this inland location. All hazards are documented as of January 2026.