IBM is launching a multizone cloud region in Montreal, Canada.

The region will have three availability zones in the city in the south of Quebec.

Big Blue says the facility will be designed to help Canadian enterprises address their evolving data sovereignty requirements and leverage technology such as generative AI.

AI-optimized infrastructure and bare metal and virtual server GPU options are part of the company’s offering. Canadian enterprises will have access to IBM Power Virtual Server, VMware as a service, SAP, and HPC as a service.

The company said the region is also set to be supplied with 100 percent renewable energy.

The Montreal multizone cloud region will be IBM’s second in Canada and is expected to launch in the first half of 2025. This comes four years after IBM launched its multizone cloud region in Toronto in 2021.

In total IBM says it operates 60 data centers and has multizone cloud regions in Toronto, Canada; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Frankfurt, Germany; London, UK; Tokyo & Osaka, Japan; Sydney, Australia; Ashburn, Virginia; and Dallas, Texas.

Deb Pimentel, general manager of technology at IBM Canada, said: “The new Cloud multizone region will serve as a catalyst for transformative advancements, empowering businesses to harness the full potential of hybrid cloud and AI.”

She added: “By offering a trusted, locally based Cloud infrastructure, we will be providing businesses in Quebec and across Canada with the peace of mind they need to innovate and grow while adhering to stringent data privacy and sovereignty requirements.”

The multizone region has been designed to enable Canadian enterprises to deploy AI and mission-critical workloads with high levels of security. In particular, IBM says it will work with clients to demonstrate compliance regarding Canadian security levels for sensitive information and assets (Protected B Medium Profile).