Data Center Real Estate Canada
Acquisition, disposition, leasing — the specialized expertise these assets demand.
Jeremy Soares is one of Canada's only real estate brokers specializing in digital infrastructure assets — data centers, colocation facilities, and high-capacity power-served land. OACIQ H2731.
Canada's data center market is projected to exceed $10 billion by 2028, driven by generative AI compute demand, cloud migration, and data sovereignty requirements. Yet virtually all real estate transaction activity in this sector runs through institutional groups — CBRE, JLL, WiredRE — serving only hyperscalers and infrastructure funds.
The mid-market — 2 to 50 MW facilities, regional data centers, colocation assets for sale or lease — is chronically underserved. That is exactly where Jeremy Soares operates. Institutional-grade capability. Direct broker access. Coverage across both markets.
$10B+
Market by 2028
~4¢
kWh Montreal
1.2–1.3
Avg QC PUE
18%
Annual growth
Hydroelectric power. Cheapest in North America.
Quebec generates over 95% of its electricity from renewable hydroelectric sources. Hydro-Québec industrial rates run approximately 4¢/kWh — compared to 8–14¢/kWh across most US markets. For a 10 MW data center, that differential represents millions of dollars in annual operating savings that flow directly to NOI.
Cold climate. Natural free cooling.
Canada holds a massive climatic advantage for data center cooling. Cold ambient temperatures enable natural free cooling for the majority of the year, dramatically reducing mechanical cooling system consumption and improving PUE to levels warm-climate markets cannot replicate at scale.
Political and legal stability.
Canada offers a predictable legal framework, robust property rights protections, and political stability that few global markets can match. For long-duration infrastructure investors, this stability translates directly into valuation premiums and reduced cost of capital compared to emerging markets.
Proximity to US markets.
Montreal and Toronto are connected to New York, Boston, and Chicago via ultra-low-latency fiber networks. Operators can serve US clients from Canadian infrastructure — capturing cost advantages without compromising performance. Cross-border fiber routes are mature, redundant, and expanding.
Data sovereignty. A growing argument.
Data sovereignty regulation is pushing organizations to locate infrastructure in Canada rather than the US — while maintaining low latency to North American markets. Quebec's Law 25 and federal privacy frameworks are strengthening this trend, creating durable demand from regulated sectors: finance, healthcare, government.
Acquisition
Identification of on-market and off-market assets — operating data centers, high-capacity power-served land, convertible industrial buildings. Full technical analysis (available MW, Tier classification, PUE, fiber connectivity) before any offer is structured.
Disposition
Positioning and marketing of data center assets to institutional acquirers, infrastructure funds, and strategic operators. Confidentiality maintained throughout. Access to a qualified buyer network that does not exist on public listing platforms.
Leasing & Colocation
Lease structuring for anchor tenants (banks, government, cloud operators) and colocation operators. Negotiation of terms — SLA, redundancy, reserved capacity — aligned to your operational requirements and investment thesis.
Investment Analysis
Return modeling on digital infrastructure assets: NOI, cap rate, 10-year IRR, energy price sensitivity analysis. Integrated with tools.jeremysoares.com calculators for precise underwriting of power costs, operating expenses, and exit assumptions.
Access financial toolsDue Diligence Advisory
Technical and commercial verification before acquisition: actual power capacity, infrastructure condition, existing contracts, regulatory compliance, environmental risk. Coordinated with legal counsel and technical specialists as required.
Montreal
Canada's data center capital.
Hydro-Québec electricity is among the cheapest in North America — routinely under 4¢/kWh. The cold climate enables free cooling for a significant portion of the year, pushing PUE ratings to 1.2–1.3. Transatlantic fiber landing points sit within reach. A growing AI and tech ecosystem sustains institutional demand.
~4¢
Power rate (¢/kWh)
1.2–1.3
Avg PUE
Toronto
The financial and colocation hub.
Toronto concentrates Canada's strongest institutional demand — banks, insurers, regional cloud operators. Colocation markets are mature with occupancy consistently above 90%. The acquisition market is competitive, but long-hold fundamentals remain strong driven by sustained enterprise demand.
Mature
Colo market
>90%
Occupancy
Calgary
Affordable energy. Growing market.
Driven by the oil & gas sector's digital transformation, Calgary is seeing a new generation of high-capacity data center developments. Energy is affordable, land is available, and institutional demand is accelerating. One of the fastest-growing data center markets in the country.
~18%
Annual growth
Competitive
Energy cost
Vancouver
The Asia-Pacific gateway.
Vancouver connects North American data center operators to Asia-Pacific markets via strategic submarine cable networks. Low-latency demand from Tokyo, Seoul, and Hong Kong is generating growing interest from Asian hyperscalers and colocation operators. A premium market with significant land constraints.
Trans-Pacific
Cable connections
Premium
Market tier
Data centers are complex assets whose valuation extends far beyond price per square foot. Available power capacity (MW), Tier classification, PUE efficiency, existing colocation contracts, and fiber connectivity collectively determine real value — and potentially a significant gap between asking price and fundamental value.
Our approach integrates full financial modeling — NOI, cap rate, 10-year IRR, energy price sensitivity analysis — with the calculators available at tools.jeremysoares.com. Every acquisition is subjected to rigorous underwriting before any offer is structured.
Underwriting parameters
Available power capacity (MW)
Tier classification (I–IV) and redundancy infrastructure
Current PUE and improvement potential
Colocation contracts — term, rate, escalation
Fiber connectivity (carrier count, latency to key markets)
Land rights and expansion capacity
Regulatory compliance and environmental risk
Institutional groups
WiredRE, CBRE Data Centers, JLL Technologies — excellent platforms for hyperscalers and multi-billion infrastructure funds. If you need 200 MW in Toronto for an Azure deployment, they can help.
If your project is below that threshold — 5 MW in Montreal, a regional data center for sale, a colocation facility to acquire — you are not their target client. Your call goes into a queue.
Jeremy Soares — OACIQ H2731
Licensed real estate broker with deep technical knowledge of digital infrastructure assets. Direct access — no account manager in between. Capacity to structure mid-market transactions that institutional groups decline to look at.
Off-market buyers. Sellers who need discretion. Investors who require rigorous analysis before deploying capital. That is the segment we serve — and the one no one else truly covers.
What are the main advantages of Canada for data center real estate?
Canada offers some of the cheapest electricity in North America through hydroelectric generation, a naturally cool climate that dramatically reduces cooling costs and improves PUE, political and legal stability, proximity to US markets with cross-border fiber, and a highly skilled technical workforce. Quebec's electricity rates are among the lowest on the continent.
Which Canadian cities have the strongest data center markets?
Montreal is Canada's data center capital — low-cost hydroelectric power, transatlantic fiber landing points, and a growing AI ecosystem. Toronto is the financial hub with the highest institutional tenant demand. Calgary is one of the fastest-growing markets driven by energy sector digitization. Vancouver connects to Asia-Pacific via submarine cable networks.
What is PUE and why does it matter for data center valuation?
Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) measures energy efficiency. A perfect PUE is 1.0. Quebec data centers routinely achieve 1.2–1.3 through natural free cooling, versus 1.5+ in warm-climate regions. Lower PUE means lower operating costs, which directly improves NOI and asset valuation multiples — a critical underwriting input.
How is a data center valued differently from standard commercial real estate?
Data centers are valued primarily on power capacity (available MW), Tier classification (I–IV), existing colocation agreements (NOI from tenants), fiber connectivity (carriers, latency), PUE efficiency, and land rights for expansion. We analyze all technical and financial parameters as part of every engagement, not just comparable sales.
What is the difference between a Tier I and Tier IV data center?
Tier I provides basic infrastructure with 99.671% uptime. Tier IV is fully fault-tolerant with 99.995% uptime. Tier III and IV assets command significant valuation premiums and attract institutional tenants — banks, cloud operators, government agencies. Tier classification is one of the first due diligence filters in any acquisition analysis.
Does Jeremy Soares serve clients outside of Montreal?
Yes. While headquartered in Montreal, we work with clients across Canada — Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver — as well as American and international investors seeking to acquire or disposition digital infrastructure assets in Canada. Cross-border mandates are a core part of the practice.
How do I get started on a data center transaction?
Call 514-519-8177 directly, email JeremySoares@icloud.com, or use the contact form. A 15-minute conversation is typically enough to scope the mandate — whether buying, selling, or exploring a lease — and define the next steps.
Acquisition, disposition, leasing, or preliminary analysis — a 15-minute first conversation is enough to scope the mandate and define next steps. Direct access. No account manager.