Some Toronto residents are demanding a one-year moratorium on two proposed data centre projects, as a neighbouring city has voted to block any such new developments for a year.
Councillors in Mississauga, Ont., voted Wednesday in favour of a data centre moratorium while the city studies their impact and how they would be regulated. The city will also consult residents, Indigenous Peoples and the industry.
On the same day, protesters gathered outside Toronto City Hall ahead of a multi-day council meeting that’s expected to weigh motions seeking a closer look at the impacts of two data centre projects in the city’s Etobicoke and Scarborough areas.
Chanting and holding up signs, demonstrators emphasized the climate implications of the proposed data centre projects, especially as Toronto has been enduring climate change-driven heat waves and heavy smoke from wildfires in recent weeks.
Lubaba Gemma said temperatures were scorching the day she attended a community meeting for the east Toronto project, and the company didn’t show up to answer residents’ questions.
“We don’t have any clarity on whether there are any economic benefits,” Gemma said. “Rather, we’ve seen a private developer can come in and make a private contract with the city without consultation from the community.”
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Another protester, Diane Holmlund, said she wasn’t familiar with how data centres operate until development began in her Scarborough neighbourhood. Now, Holmlund said she has grown increasingly concerned about the energy implications of a data centre expansion.
“It’s inexcusable with no consultation from the community,” said Holmlund, a retired therapist. “Nobody knows anything about how they will impact people.”
Coun. Parthi Kandavel, who represents Scarborough Southwest, is asking the city to consider the possible environmental and noise impacts of the proposed STACK Infrastructure data centre expansion on Danforth Avenue.
More than 100 residents turned up to a community meeting about the expansion, Kandavel said in his submission to city council, adding he wants clarity about the local jobs and tax benefits expected to come with the project.
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Kandavel is also asking the city who would own the computing equipment, where data systems would be located and whether Canadian institutions would have guaranteed access, noting STACK is based in the United States and owned by an American asset manager.
Ottawa has emphasized that Canadians should have sovereignty over critical AI infrastructure, and sensitive data should fall under Canadian jurisdiction, he added.
Coun. Vincent Crisanti, who represents Etobicoke North, is similarly asking the city to weigh environmental, noise and water consumption concerns that could come with Microsoft’s proposed data centre at 48 Lowe’s Place.
Crisanti said in his submission that stronger oversight is needed as more data centres are constructed in the city, urging municipal staff to look into additional strategies to mitigate residents’ concerns.
Earlier this month, city councillors in Hamilton rejected a temporary pause on new data centres, as municipal leaders suggested it could threaten new investments in the city’s industrial sector and jeopardize smaller data centre proposals with research components.
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Hamilton would have been the first city in Canada to pass a data centre moratorium as lawmakers across the country wrestle with the noise, energy and water concerns surrounding the new wave of facilities powering AI services.
Hamilton officials heard similar concerns from residents about possible environmental impacts, and the moratorium debate also became a forum for broader concerns about the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, from workforce disruptions to misinformation.
Erin Mackey, a downtown Toronto resident, said she is concerned about whether large data centres could increase utility costs for residents.
“People are already struggling to get by,” she said.
Mackey added it is encouraging that Torontonians are writing to city council to demand a moratorium, and noted that New York just imposed a moratorium on massive new data centres.
“I’m really heartened by the amount of people who are standing up and saying no.”
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