Validus Power to create more than 50 jobs in Iroquois Falls

Iroquois Falls is welcoming a major job creator to the community for the first time since its paper mill closed in 2015.

Following Validus Power's purchase of the town's power plant from Northland Power last month, the company announced that it will be using the plant to power two, 55,000 square-foot data centres currently in development.

The project is expected to bring more than 50 jobs to the area, to the excitement of the town's mayor, Tory Delaurier.

"Any job development is awesome for our community," Delaurier said.

Great for northern Ontario

"It's a great thing for northern Ontario and local residents and bringing new people into our community. Tax base and everything too, this is going to be great."

Validus' president and CEO, Todd Shortt, said that as a former worker at the town's old paper mill and Englehart native, he recognized the untapped potential in the north to add to the tech industry.

The data centres will be used for the cryptocurrency market, he said, as well as other processing needs for tech clients.

This comes as the company's North Bay data centres are set to come online this week, with the Iroquois Falls facility aiming to be completed and operational by the end of the year.

"We have a lot of demand for these high-processing computer systems and, therefore, we need the power," Shortt said.

"These power plants are perfect for that. The low annual temperature (in the north) ... it's great for data centres. We have a very highly skilled workforce, we have great internet connectivity. Everything that you need for a good data centre, (it's) here in northern Ontario."