The Québec Computing Corporation

Study. October 2026. Author. Jean-François Hotte, technology consultant.

This study takes up, develops and documents the September 2026 proposal on the Québec Computing Corporation, drawing on public documents from Hydro-Québec, the Régie de l'énergie, the governments of Quebec and Canada and regulatory bodies, as well as the most recent international data. Every factual data point refers to a numbered reference at the end of the document. The author's estimates are identified as such, and their method is described in section 13.

Version française. La Société québécoise du calcul.

Summary

Quebec produces electricity that is 99% renewable, has a cold climate for much of the year and is home to one of the most renowned artificial intelligence research hubs in the world [1][2]. Yet it has no large-scale public computing infrastructure. In 2025, the twenty data centres of 5 megawatts or more served by Hydro-Québec consumed 1,270 gigawatt-hours, with a peak of 187 megawatts [3]. A single American campus under construction, the one in Abilene, Texas, is targeting 1.2 gigawatts by the end of 2026 [4].

This study proposes the creation of a Crown corporation, the Québec Computing Corporation (Société québécoise du calcul), responsible for building, owning and operating computing campuses powered by Quebec electricity. It examines global demand, the situation in Quebec, the economics of a megawatt depending on how it is used, the sovereignty of public data, energy supply, heat recovery, the budget, revenues, governance and risks.

• 187 MW, 2025 peak of Quebec's twenty large data centres
• 13 cents, average price of the proposed rate CD, compared with 6.82 cents today
• 20 billion, initial investment from 2027 to 2033
• 2.1 billion, annual balance after chip renewal in 2050

In February 2026, Hydro-Québec asked the Régie de l'énergie, Quebec's energy regulator, for a new rate, rate CD, for data centres of 5 megawatts or more, at an average price of about 13 cents per kilowatt-hour, because that is the cost of its new supply. These centres currently pay an average of 6.82 cents [3]. The hearing began on October 1, 2026, and will resume in December [5][6]. At this rate, the electricity sold to a data centre covers its cost, with no margin. The same megawatt, in a campus owned by Quebec, also brings in about 2 million dollars per year in infrastructure rent, and about 13 million if it is sold as computing power.

The proposal rests on three pillars. Hydro-Québec supplies the electricity and takes on the dedicated generation, including small modular reactors at the Gentilly site. The Corporation owns and operates two 200-megawatt campuses, equips 60 megawatts for public data and research, and leases the rest to partners who bring their own chips, which are installed and operated by its own engineers. Agriculture Québec recovers heat from the campuses for greenhouses and supplies a network of public grocery stores intended for low-income households.

The initial investment is 20 billion dollars over seven years, from 2027 to 2033. When the first phase reaches maturity, the Corporation generates about 1.2 billion in revenue, 895 million in operating cash flow and 415 million after the full renewal of its chips. At 2,000 megawatts in 2050, this balance exceeds 2.1 billion per year, an amount comparable to the 2.2 billion dividend paid by Hydro-Québec for 2025 [7]. The Corporation's dividends are paid into the Generations Fund (Fonds des générations). Over 25 years, the plan represents about 107 billion, including 20 billion from the government budget, 28 billion in reactors at Hydro-Québec repaid through electricity sales, and the remainder financed by revenues, shareholders and lease-backed debt. An incorporating statute protects the entire arrangement. The infrastructure is inalienable, public data are hosted in Quebec, and dissolution requires a two-thirds vote of the National Assembly.