Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled the province’s fresh data centre framework on Thursday, emphasizing the importance of keeping Canadians’ data within Canada. The framework is built upon three main pillars: economic development, data protection and sovereignty, and community investment with a focus on public confidence.
Ford, speaking in Guelph during the announcement, highlighted that the new playbook aims to bolster the economy by fostering billions in economic growth, boosting tax revenues, and generating thousands of new jobs. The framework mandates that data centres cover the full cost of their electricity consumption, encouraging them to develop their own power generation infrastructure. Moreover, a distinct rate class will be established for large new data centres, ensuring they pay higher rates compared to existing industrial users without passing on costs to Ontario families.
The premier emphasized that the province will not provide financial incentives to attract investments. Ontario anticipates that the framework will play a crucial role in supporting its artificial intelligence (AI) strategy, projecting significant economic growth of $122 billion by 2035 and the creation of 17,000 new jobs annually.
Meanwhile, municipalities across the province are deliberating on data centre moratoriums, with Oakville recently enacting a one-year moratorium and Mississauga set to vote on a similar measure in September.
Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner, who called for a pause on data centre approvals, expressed concerns about the environmental impact of data centres and their heavy water usage. Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s minister of economic development, assured that the province will prioritize data centres using closed-loop systems to reduce water consumption.
Schreiner criticized the new playbook for lacking specific regulations to address environmental concerns, stressing the need for strong protections before approving new data centres. He emphasized the importance of community control over data centre developments to prevent undue influence by tech corporations.
In response to increasing concerns, Coun. Colleen James of Waterloo recently tabled a motion for an information report to inform officials about data centre development and its impacts. The report, expected to be completed next year, aims to address economic and environmental impacts associated with data centre expansions in the region.