Internet Speed: 11.9 Mbps downlink; 15 Mbps uplink

Population: 36 million

Internet Coverage: 82% of residents

Main Types of Access to the Internet: Dial-up, Cable Internet, DSL Internet, Triple Play

Internet Censorship: Lenient; not strictly regulated by the Canadian government

Colocation Datacenters: 158

Colocation Market: Developed

Web Hosting Market: Developed

According to Akamai’s Q3 2015 rankings, the average downlink Internet speed in Canada is 11.9 Mbps and the average uplink speed is 15 Mbps.

Population & Internet Availability

The current population of Canada is approximately 36 million. Over 82% of residents have access to the Internet, especially broadband connections.

Main Types of Access to the Internet

Canadian residents can access the following types of Internet services:

– Dial-up Internet (very rare service, mostly used in remote areas)
– Cable Internet
– DSL Internet
– Triple Play

Internet Access – Dial-up Internet

Dial-up services are being replaced by broadband connections at a fast pace, but they do remain somewhat popular among Canadian residents due to lack of other options in certain remote areas (see: in the countryside). When neither dial-up nor broadband services are available, customers make use of diverse wireless options to access the web, such as Satellite Internet.

Internet Access – Cable Internet

Cable Internet services are relatively popular among Canadian customers. For cable offerings, DOCSIS-based equipment is used. Prominent cable providers include Shaw Communications and Rogers Cable, offering speeds of up to as high as 1000 Mbps.

Internet Access – DSL Internet

DSL Internet is very popular among Canadian subscribers. This service is provided by a wide array of regional ISPs, such as Start Communications, Manitoba Telecom, Vmedia, in addition to SaskTel, which was the first ISP to roll out DSL services in early 1996.

Internet Access – Triple Play

Triple Play stands for a service that combines internet, television, and telephony services for a single payment each month. This service is preferred by the great majority of Canadians due to inherently lower costs.

Internet Censorship in Canada

Internet content is not specifically regulated in Canada, and is generally free of governmental restrictions within legal bounds. The constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. However, local laws do apply to websites hosted in Canada, as well as to residents who host sites on servers situated in other jurisdictions. One of the only recorded events of censorship attempts in Canada was the 2015 legislation put forth by the province of Quebec, which would require unlicensed online gambling websites, as defined by Loto-Quebec, to be blocked by ISPs. However, the law was heavily criticized for the possible precedents that it would set, and thus was cancelled.

According to datacentermap.com, there are currently 158 colocation datacenters established in Canada. Most datacenters are concentrated in Montreal (29), closely followed by Vancouver (21), then Calgary (10). The remainder of datacenters are distributed across various smaller cities, such as Mississauga (7), Edmonton (3), Kamloops (3), etc.

Prominent Colocation Providers

In Montreal, prominent colocation providers consist of the following:

– Cologix
– Kolotek
– ROOT Datacenters
– iWeb Technologies
– Metro Optic
– Colo-D

Prominent Colocation Providers – Cologix

One of the most important companies that serve the Montreal region is Cologix. This provider operates a total of 7 datacenters located either in Montreal or in close proximity to the city. One of the most important facilities owned and managed by Cologix is the MTL 4 Datacenter.

The datacenter specialises in providing the following colocation services:

– rental of suites, cages, rack cabinets, footprints, and diverse enclosures

Amenities found at this location include:

– superior redundancy, with three generators and upgraded uninterruptible power systems (UPS)
– state-of-the-art cooling system
– rapid power deployments for efficient scalability
– carrier-neutrality, with direct interconnection to 10+ unique networks in the on-site MMR (Meet-Me-Room), and over 75 networks across Cologix’s Montreal facilities

Prominent Colocation Providers – Kolotek

Another popular provider located in Montreal is Kolotek. This provider owns and operates a Tier III datacenter facility, the only of its kind located on the South Shore of Montreal. The datacenter is an ideal choice for customers looking either for colocation services, or diverse disaster recovery and business continuity solutions.

Colocation services provided at this location consist of:

– leasing of suites, cages, rack cabinets, footprints, and diverse enclosures

According to the facility description, the following amenities may be found at this datacenter:

– 2N dual electrical feeds
– diverse fiber entry points into the building
– diverse N+1 air conditioning units
– fire protection
– carrier neutrality, with on-site access to the following ISPs and carrier hotels: Telus Communications, Videotron, MTO Telecom, Cogeco, ZeroFail, Teraspan, RISQ, along with many others

Colocation Industry in Canada

Canada is one of the most developed colocation markets in the Americas, and current trends indicate that this country will maintain its current position for the foreseeable future, if private investments keep the same fast pace. While facilities are being built in most regions of the country, the great majority of them are concentrated in Western Canada, notably Vancouver and Calgary, exceeded only by Montreal in Eastern Canada. Supply for colocation space has been increasing dramatically across Montreal, and we expect that this trend will continue, while Vancouver and Calgary have been relatively stagnant in comparison with preceding years, due to lack of investments generated by diverse economic issues. Demand for colocation services is predominantly driven by cloud providers and technology firms, with additional secondary activity from gaming, insurance, financial, and healthcare sectors.

Advantages for Colocation

– great technical infrastructure where clusters of colocation providers are concentrated
– relatively low risk for natural disasters, but somewhat higher than the US
– numerous datacenter tax breaks incentives to boost investments
– numerous submarine cables which span the ocean to establish connection to Alaska, and the US mainland

Canada is renowned internationally for its great hosting services, which are known to be more affordable and reliable than US-based web hosting providers. Prominent web hosting companies include but are not limited to the following:

– Dynaworx
– Fullhost
– Blacksun.ca
– Hostcentric.com
– Hosterbox.com

All the web hosting providers that we reviewed provide core hosting services, such as Shared, VPS, and/or Dedicated Hosting, in addition to other auxiliary services. It should also be mentioned that a great number of companies also operate their own datacenters, and may provide colocation services upon request. The remainder either deploy servers in facilities operated by other companies, or resell hosting services. In most cases, this aspect is mentioned in the company description.