Story summary
Mark Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of England, has been facing backlash over his efforts to promote the development of data centres in Canada. As part of his push, he suggested that Ontario could build its own data centres and keep Canadian data within the country, rather than sending it to the United States under President Trump's jurisdiction. However, several communities in Canada have expressed concerns about the potential impact of these large-scale facilities on their local environment and infrastructure.
In Oakville, Ontario, a one-year moratorium on data centre developments has been implemented, while another municipality in Alberta has also imposed a similar ban. Additionally, a proposed data centre project in Manitoba was vetoed by the provincial government, citing concerns over its drawbacks. The backlash is part of a broader trend in Canada, mirroring skepticism towards data centres in the United States, where hundreds of local bans have been implemented and several states have imposed moratoriums.
In response to these growing concerns, Evan Solomon, the federal AI minister, has announced five broad principles for building data centres in Canada. These principles aim to minimize environmental effects, ensure transparency about local impacts, and provide lasting benefits to communities. The move has seen over 20 major AI companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic PBC, sign on to a new federal framework for data-centre development.
Written for “Canadian Data Centre Debate” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
More than 20 artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic PBC, have signed on to a new federal framework for data-centre development, as local opposition to these facilities grows.
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opposition → include → facilities
Federal AI minister Evan Solomon announced five broad principles for building data centres on Thursday at an event in Markham, Ont.
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Solomon → announce → Markham
Developers must minimize water use and other environmental effects, be transparent about the impact on the local area, and not shift electricity costs on to Canadians.
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Developers → minimize → Canadians
Developers must also create lasting local benefits and bring “strategic value” to the country, the minister said.
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minister → create → country
The government said the principles are meant to “complement existing provincial, territorial, municipal and Indigenous regulatory processes by setting a national recognized baseline,” according to a news release.
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principles → say → release
American cloud providers Amazon Web Services Inc. AMZN-Q, Microsoft Corp. MSFT-Q and Google GOOGL-Q have signed on, along with Meta Platforms Inc. META-Q, which is building a $13-billion data centre complex in Alberta.
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which → sign → Alberta
Some regions of Canada have seen an influx of data-centre proposals as demand for AI continues to skyrocket.
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demand → see → AI
Opposition has mounted at the same time, with some Canadians concerned about electricity costs, water consumption, noise and the loss of land.
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Canadians → mount → land
Data centres have also become a focal point for general anxieties about AI and the dominance of massive technology companies.
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centres → become → companies
According to a Leger poll published in July, 42 per cent of the 1,505 Canadians surveyed oppose data centre development in their own province, while 44 per cent support it.
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cent → accord → it
Albertans were the most likely to strongly oppose development.
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Albertans → oppose → development
Provinces such as Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia have already been taking steps to prevent runaway data-centre development, particularly when it comes to allotting electrical capacity.
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it → take → capacity
The Ontario government put forward a development playbook in August, proposing to charge data centres a higher electricity rate.
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government → put → rate
That follows provincial legislation last year requiring that data centres meet certain criteria related to local economic benefits and digital sovereignty in order to connect to the electrical grid.
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centres → follow → grid
Municipalities have taken action as well.
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Municipalities → take → action
Oakville, Ont., introduced a one-year moratorium in August, while council in Mississauga will vote on a similar proposal later this month.
“I’m not trying to fight with councillors and cities who have real questions.
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who → introduce → questions
Today is literally about saying, those are good questions,” Mr. Solomon said in an interview.
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Solomon → say → interview
“Maybe some city councillors haven’t had a good assurance that there’s an answer, and so then they’re like, ‘Let’s have a moratorium.’”
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’s → have → moratorium
Ottawa’s new data centre principles were developed with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, with input from other levels of government, industry and Indigenous and environmental groups.
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principles → develop → government
The framework is not legally binding, but Mr. Solomon said the fact that companies have committed to the principles publicly is still meaningful.
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companies → bind → principles
“There can be demands that then the municipality and the province can hold them accountable for,” he said at the event.
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he → hold → event
Under the framework, local benefits could include job creation, skills training and research partnerships, while limiting environmental effects could involve closed-loop cooling systems to reduce water use, low-emission energy sources and waste heat recovery.
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limiting → include → use
Companies will be expected to provide information about power, water use, noise levels and emissions, Mr. Solomon said.
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Solomon → expect → power
Ottawa has been encouraging data-centre development for the past couple of years, particularly as a way to strengthen digital sovereignty and ensure that Canada has more control over AI and cloud computing infrastructure, along with the data that is housed at these facilities.
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that → encourage → facilities
A recent Nanos poll conducted for The Globe and Mail found that the digital sovereignty message is not strongly resonating with Canadians, however.
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message → conduct → Canadians
Only 8.2 per cent of respondents listed data sovereignty as a top benefit, while 6.5 per cent cited national control over infrastructure as an advantage.
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cent → list → advantage
The public backlash to AI data centres could also prove to be a political vulnerability for some elected officials, and an opportunity for others.
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backlash → prove → others
Federal NDP Leader Avi Lewis, for one, has seized on public sentiment and called for a pause on new construction of these facilities.
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Lewis → seize → facilities
AI has become a flashpoint in some U.S. elections.
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AI → become → elections
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro issued an executive order in August to block “speculative, irresponsible” developments, while his opponent for re-election, Stacy Garrity, said it was “damage control” after “rolling out the red carpet” for developers.
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it → issue → developers
Alberta’s government has courted data centres, in part because the province has abundant supplies of natural gas to produce electricity.
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province → court → electricity
As part of Meta’s efforts to engender goodwill in the province during its data-centre build-out, the social media giant is spending $60-million on infrastructure upgrades and providing grants to local non-profits.
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giant → engender → profits
Anthropic, the San Francisco-based AI giant behind the Claude chatbot, could also have its eye on Alberta.
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Anthropic → base → Alberta
Anthropic recently posted a job for someone to lead the company’s compute strategy in Canada and ultimately bring “gigawatts of compute online” in the country.
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Anthropic → post → country
It’s also hiring for a data centre community engagement manager based in Alberta to make the company “a trusted, visible, and valued neighbour.”
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company → hire → Alberta
