Google intends to acquire property in Beauharnois, Québec to build a proposed $735 million CAD data center. The company opened its first downtown Montréal office and only three employees in 2004. Nearly two decades later, its new Viger office space will have the capacity to welcome up to 1000 employees when construction is complete.
To reach sustainability goals at Quebec
Google Canada has been a long-time partner in the world-leading artificial intelligence ecosystem in Montréal. They renewed their relationship with Mila – the research institute with the largest concentration of deep learning academic researchers in the world, in 2020.
By 2030, the company aims to run its entire business on clean electricity every hour of every day. Québec is an important region for helping us achieve this ambitious sustainability goal.
Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of Economy and Innovation, said,
“I am very proud to announce today a future major project for the region. Here, in Beauharnois, once the proposed project commences, it is estimated to generate well-paid jobs, both during construction and in the operation of the future data center. The growth of a company the scale of Google in Québec confirms our status as one of the world’s most dynamic and greenest technology hubs.”
Once construction begins on a data center, that construction phase at its peak can provide work for 300-500 people and ultimately an operational data center can employ dozens of people, at least 20-30 in skilled roles.