Toronto is the primary data centre market for Canada and the eighth-largest market in North America, with a total of 223 MW of commissioned power as at 1Q 2022. Toronto is in the midst of a transition from a retail colocation market to competing for enterprise and hyperscale requirements. Before 2019, Toronto averaged 8-10 MW of absorption annually, whereas the Toronto market currently averages approximately 40 MW a year. Vacancy rates across the Toronto Multi-Customer Data Centre Market stands at 5.4% as at 1Q 2022 driven by the scarcity of land suitable for data centre development in the region.
Toronto is the largest city in Canada with a population of 2.9 million and the fourth-largest in North America. The Toronto metropolitan statistical area (“MSA”) ranks as the seventh-largest in North America with a population of 6.4 million people. The growth of the Toronto data centre market can be attributed to the area’s business density, central location, strong economy, privacy laws and access to international markets. Power is readily available for most data centre projects at a rate of US$0.07-$0.09/kWh, which is competitive with other major North American markets. Hydro One is the market’s primary power company.
While Ontario does not offer any official data centre incentives, the region is known for favourable corporate tax rates and ease of doing business. Canada’s privacy laws sometimes also play a role in data centre users selecting Toronto over other North American markets. Due to the Patriot Act, some international companies feel a degree of unease around the lack of privacy of their operations in the U.S. and opt instead to place their digital infrastructure in Canada.