Baie-d’Urfé a ‘cool’ place for new computer data centres

In the highly competitive world of Internet technology, Toronto may be hot, but Baie-d’Urfé is cooler.

Three data centres have recently come to the West Island and all three are steadily expanding. ROOT Data Centre is the new kid on the block. It just opened a 175,000-square-foot facility in Baie-d’Urfé’s industrial park, located off Highway 40.

The company organized a cocktail party last week and Mayor Maria Tutino was on hand to welcome the neighbours.

“It’s heady,” she said the day after. “When companies (like ROOT Data Centre) come to Baie-d’Urfé the town’s industrial park becomes a destination. Our name is being circulated outside Quebec and outside the country. Once these companies install facilities, they stay and they grow. Baie-d’Urfé will grow with them.”

ROOT Data Centre, which also has a facility in LaSalle, is a co-location company which means it rents space to clients who want to store data. The company offers the services of on-site experts to customdesign and maintain operations.

Companies that store data and manage cloud computing require a stable source of electricity and consistently cool temperatures to prevent equipment from overheating.

Hydro-Québec offers the second-lowest rates in North America, after Winnipeg.

And Montreal’s winter weather is perfect. On average in January, Montreal is six degrees cooler than Toronto.

Attractive tax credits from the Quebec government also help attract new IT businesses.

Attracting new data centres to the greater Montreal area is a priority for Hydro- Québec. Senior trade commissioner Eric Lafrance said the combination of cool climate and clean, cheap and stable hydro energy can save a company millions of dollars in operating costs.

“We are searching for new companies to connect to the grid — companies that use five megawatts or more,” Lafrance said. (The Bell Centre is an example of a facility that uses five megawatts of electricity.)

Lafrance said the West Island and Montreal have much to offer. The area isn’t prone to natural disasters, the dominant winds blow in a direction that cools rather than heats, land is available for expansion and the region’s five universities produce bilingual brainpower.

Tutino said the arrival of ROOT Data Centre is also great news for the town’s finances. The 66 businesses in Baie-d’Urfé’s industrial park contribute 70 per cent of the taxes that help pay the town’s operational costs and its contribution to the Montreal Agglomeration Council.

Other data centres in the process of expanding their facilities in the West Island are Cogeco in Kirkland and Hypertech in PointeClaire. Hypertech is one of the biggest computer assemblers in North America. Off-island, Swedish company Ericsson spent over $1 billion to build a 215,000-sq.-ft. data centre in Vaudreuil-Dorion last year.

“As the companies expand, their consumption of electricity increases,” Lafrance said. “That offers us a stable revenue year-round. In the winter months, people heat their homes. In the summer months, data centres cool their facilities. It’s a win-win situation.”

“It’s a good-news story for the West Island,” West Island of Montreal Chamber of Commerce executive director Joseph Huza said of the growing number of data centres in the region.

“The West Island offers easy access. We have Highway 20 and Highway 40 and we’re near the airport and the Ontario and U.S. borders. And soon we will have the REM (light-rail system) to bring in labour, making it easier for companies with two or three shifts.”

Once these companies install facilities, they stay and they grow. Baie-d’Urfé will grow with them.