Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled the province’s latest data center framework on Thursday, emphasizing the importance of keeping Canadians’ data within Canada. The framework is centered on three key principles: promoting economic growth, safeguarding data, ensuring sovereignty, investing in the community, and enhancing public trust.
Ford, speaking in Guelph during the announcement, highlighted the significance of the new data center playbook in fostering economic growth, boosting tax revenues, and generating thousands of job opportunities. The framework mandates that data centers cover the full costs of their electricity consumption, encouraging them to develop their power generation and imposing a higher rate class for large new data centers to avoid passing on costs to Ontario residents.
The province clarified that it will not provide financial incentives to attract investments. The framework is expected to play a vital role in supporting Ontario’s artificial intelligence (AI) strategy, projected to deliver substantial economic benefits, including $122 billion in economic growth by 2035 and the creation of 17,000 new jobs annually.
The announcement coincides with discussions in various municipalities across the province regarding moratoriums on data centers. Oakville recently approved a one-year moratorium, while Mississauga is set to vote on a similar measure in September.
Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner recently called for a pause on new data center approvals, expressing concerns about the impact on local water resources and communities. He was joined by Ilham Abdulkadir from Wellington Water Watchers, who highlighted the significant land, energy, and water requirements of data center infrastructure.
In response to environmental concerns, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Vic Fedeli, emphasized prioritizing data centers with closed-loop systems, similar to car radiators, to reduce water consumption. Premier Ford echoed this sentiment, stressing the importance of prioritizing builds with closed-loop systems that have minimal water usage.
While acknowledging the importance of data protection and sovereignty, Schreiner emphasized the need for stronger regulations to ensure community control over data center developments. He advocated for a moratorium until robust measures are in place to safeguard communities from potential negative impacts.
Local authorities in the Waterloo region are also taking steps to assess the economic and environmental implications of data center expansions. Coun. Colleen James proposed a motion for an information report to educate elected officials on data center development and its impacts. The report is anticipated to be finalized early next year.