Canada has quickly proven itself as the best place for cryptocurrency miners. For many reasons, including political, climate and technological, the great white north provides all sorts of advantages to mining operations.
The first and most decisive reason miners chose Canada is for its low electricity costs. As cryptomining can be a very energy intensive process, having low cost, clean, renewable sources of energy is a key factor for miners, who need to keep this part of their budget under control as they scale their efforts. Canada has some of the cheapest electricity in the world, largely coming from environmentally friendly sources.
Quebec, for example, gets all of its electricity from environmentally friendly hydroelectricity. It has so much of it, that it consistently has some of the cheapest energy costs in North America. Manitoba also offers cheap hydro, and have attracted cryptominers as a result. Alberta similarly competes with cheap natural gas electricity, bringing in plenty of operations.
It’s also comparatively inexpensive to import Chinese manufactured mining equipment in Canada, as a typical 27.5% import duty does not apply. Getting an operation started with a lower start-up cost could make a big difference to short term profits.
As a cold weather country, Canada helps to solve one of the most consistent issues a mining operation can face: overheating. Cold Canadian winters, and summers that don’t get too hot, help reduce the cooling costs associated with crypto mining, which can run quite high with the temperatures that a mining rig can achieve.
It should be noted though that Canada is a big country, and the climate can vary wildly. Southern Quebec, for example, can get very hot and humid in the summer, and doesn’t offer much of an advantage when it comes to keeping equipment cool.
Finally, Canada’s governments have taken a mature, considered approach to cryptocurrency mining. As opposed to other countries that have proven to turn on a dime with their policies, Canada’s approach has been to allow development, and broadcast their intended changes in policy well in advance. Those that they have seriously considered are intended to protect the people and fight real crime, like anti-money laundering laws proposed in November 2018.
Squire, a publicly listed company, is constantly reviewing hosting opportunities, both in Canada and in stable jurisdictions around the world, as it maintains its growing fleet.
When it comes to cryptocurrency mining, Canada has provided a great combination of factors to run a mining operation. Energy is cheap, the climate is preferable, and governments are supportive. That’s a tough combination for most countries to compete with.
