Google Canada Opens Office in Downtown Montreal

Google Canada announced on Wednesday the official opening of a new office in downtown Montreal, Quebec, dubbed Google Montreal Viger, located on the edge of Old Port.

“Since our beginnings in 2004 where 3 engineers made up our entire presence, the new office is home to a variety of teams that work on some of the most crucial products and services Google offers worldwide, everything from cybersecurity, to AI research, to Chrome and Cloud,” says Fabrice Jaubert, Montréal Site Lead, Google Canada, in a statement.

Various Google teams working on cybersecurity, AI research, Chrome and Cloud will be located at the new Montreal office.

“The retrofitted historical building pays tribute to Montréal by reflecting the essence of five of the city’s most beloved neighbourhoods – Little Italy, Le Village, Le Plateau, Chinatown and Old Port, it includes carefully curated art from local artists, and is equipped with the latest LEED Gold sustainability standards,” added Jaubert.

Google today also announced $2.75 million towards Québec’s tech ecosystem and digital skills training, such as support for the Mila Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, expanding Google Career Certificate courses and providing Google.org grants to Digital Moment, NPower Canada and other local nonprofits.

Ce qui me frappe des nouveaux bureaux montréalais de Google : il y a une maturité évidente dans le style et le design par rapport aux anciens. C’est à l’image de l’industrie dans son ensemble et de son évolution au cours de la dernière décennie. pic.twitter.com/wcCGFAKxiD

— Maxime Johnson (@maximejohnson) November 2, 2022

To acknowledge the Indigenous land at the site of the office, Google named numerous meeting rooms after local tree species in the Kanienʼkéha (Mohawk) language.

Google first debuted in Quebec back in 2004, when the first employees worked out of shared coworking spaces, before expanding to McGill College, explains Jaubert, who was employee number five in Montreal.