News Releases
BMO Financial Group today announced that construction of its 325,000 square feet data centre in Barrie, Ontario is now underway.
The Barrie facility is scheduled to be completed by April 2006. Approximately 250 to 300 full-time employees will begin working in the facility as of June 2006. Most employees will be relocating to the Barrie site from other BMO facilities. Once complete, the centre will have the capacity to accommodate up to 600 employees to satisfy business continuity requirements.
"We are very pleased to be breaking ground, on schedule, to build this state-of-the-art facility that will provide us with a highly-efficient processing infrastructure to support BMO's customers," said Mark Saunders, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Infrastructure, BMO Financial Group. "The timelines for this project are very aggressive and the collaboration between the City of Barrie and BMO teams has been outstanding. Their work has facilitated the timely completion of planning and building requirements, enabling us to remain on track for occupancy in June 2006."
The Barrie Computer Centre will be situated on 24 acres of land in the Mapleview West Business Park. BMO received approval from City of Barrie Council in January for an option on an additional 6.7 acres of land adjacent to the computer centre site.
"I am thrilled to see the progress at the new BMO Computer Centre," said Mayor Rob Hamilton. "City Council meant business when we made economic development initiatives one of our top ten strategic priorities. We look forward to continuing our relationship with BMO to ensure they, and other businesses interested in locating to Barrie, have the resources they need to ensure a timely, efficient and smooth project schedule."
"Barrie is a thriving community that provides BMO with an excellent location for our new centre," said Bruce Williams, Vice President, York-Simcoe District, BMO Bank of Montreal. "BMO has a strong presence in Barrie, operating four bank branches and one BMO Nesbitt Burns office, serving the financial needs of both retail and business banking clientele in the city. Our employees are also involved in the local community, demonstrated by their leadership in the annual fundraising for Royal Victoria Hospital, helping to raise close to $750,000 over the past six years."
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