Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery in Markham for Firms Clients Expect to Stay Open

The ordinary kind, because it’s the most likely. Local power outages, network failures, ransomware and a dead server are what usually stop a Markham business, so a continuity plan should handle a lost afternoon as smoothly as a lost week.

On August 13, 2026, a vehicle collision near McCowan Road and Highway 7 cut power to 6,252 Alectra customers at its peak, across an area stretching south toward Steeles Avenue East between Kennedy and McCowan. No storm, no warning. Just offices that went dark in the middle of a working day.

The grid is being improved. In June 2024, Alectra committed $13 million to Markham grid enhancements, including automated switching for faster response to disturbances. But a faster restore still isn’t zero downtime.

Expectations are rising too, especially for firms that serve banks and insurers. OSFI’s Guideline E-21 on operational risk and resilience, published in August 2024, expects federally regulated institutions to keep critical operations running through disruption, with full adherence expected by September 1, 2026. Their suppliers are increasingly asked the same questions. Our guide to disaster recovery testing covers where most plans fall short.

ACT360 quotes continuity and recovery work in writing after the free IT Readiness Assessment. Cost depends on how much data you hold, how quickly each system must come back and whether clients require documented testing.

ACT360’s published figures put average ransomware recovery at about $200,000 and average data loss at about $180,000. A tested plan costs a small fraction of either, and it’s often what keeps a client relationship intact after an incident.

• Data volume and how often it changes
• Recovery time targets for each system
• Client, insurer or regulatory evidence requirements
• Number of offices and remote staff

For Managed IT clients in Markham, backup monitoring and testing are part of the $80 to $150 CAD per user per month fee. See how often you should test your backups.