Background
The Canadian data center market is worth over $5 billion and forecast to grow over 10%, yearly, according to IDC Canada. Mark Kindrachuk, President of Intermarket Properties, brings a strong background to the data centre field through his previous employment at IBM Real Estate in which he planned and constructed data centres and as an Asset Manager at CN Real Estate for 151 Front Street – which is now the pre-eminent data centre in Toronto.
Why Waterloo Region and IP Park?
Extensive analysis has been completed with respect to the key criteria for data centres and Waterloo Region is an ideal location as:
- Energy + (Cambridge Hydro), the municipally-owned electrical utility, is constructing a new transformer station on the IP Park site that will have a capacity of over 138 MW.
- Multiple sources of fibre from major carriers are located adjacent to the site.
- Waterloo Region is “Canada’s Technology Triangle” with great access to Information Technology (IT) professionals as over 700 IT firms are located in the area.
- Waterloo Region is home to industry-leading companies in technology, financial services and advanced manufacturing; and is one of the fastest-growing areas in Canada.
- Major post-secondary schools; such as the University of Waterloo (cloud computing research), Wilfrid Laurier University and Conestoga College are located in Waterloo Region.
- North America is a preferred area for data centers and Southern Ontario has the added benefit of being a low-risk region for natural disasters.
- Canada has the added benefits of colder ambient temperatures to lower cooling requirements in order to reduce operating costs.
- Canada has enhanced data privacy laws through the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)
Figure 1: Location in Phase 1A
Figure 2: Conceptual floor plan
Figure 3: Rendering
Figure 4: Elevations