New ABB Canada HQ opens in Montreal

May 24, 2017 – Today ABB officially inaugurated its new $90-million Canadian headquarters and Customer Innovation Center, which will serve 700 employees who were previously spread across six locations in Greater Montreal, Que.

Home of ABB’s Customer Innovation Center, the Saint-Laurent campus also showcases the company’s digital offering, ABB Ability. It also houses the company’s research and development, manufacturing, assembly and testing for its energy value chain in Quebec.
 
“The new campus allows greater collaboration with our business partners and with the academic and research sectors,” said Nathalie Pilon, ABB Canada president. “The latest technology from ABB is driving energy efficiency and powering Canada’s innovation ecosystem in so many ways. In addition to showing what ABB Ability can do, the headquarters is also home to our new ABB North American Centre of Excellence in E-Mobility.”

“The new headquarters reaffirms ABB’s commitment to Canada as a growth market and an important customer base,” continued ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer. “It strengthens our capacity to provide our leading offering to our customers and support them with the digital transformation of their operations. We are in the midst of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and this site has been designed to enable our workforce to unlock value for Canadian enterprises.”
 
The ABB North American Centre of Excellence in E-Mobility was created to share expertise with Canadian customers and stakeholders in the field of electric-powered transportation technologies, explains the company. It will support the development of environmentally friendly, energy-efficient transport networks, including electric buses and trains, and will bring together transit operators, power utilities and engineering experts to address challenges related to building smart cities and sustainable mobility solutions for Canada.
 
With the opening of the new campus, employees will have improved access to public transport and will be able to enjoy a selection of services and facilities, such as charging stations for electric vehicles. The building is expected to be LEED-certified Silver for its sustainable design, construction and operation.
 
In another development, ABB was named the key technical supplier for the electrification of Nemaska Lithium’s new mine, now being developed near James Bay. ABB will provide overall project management for the complete electrification and automation of the site.
 
In addition, ABB has announced that it will provide an integrated substation for an important data center operated by Hypertec in Quebec. To meet growing demand, the new substation will increase the facility’s existing power supply from 25 to 120 kilovolts.