Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled the province’s fresh data center framework on Thursday, emphasizing the importance of keeping Canadians’ data within the country. The framework is anchored on three core principles: economic development, data protection and sovereignty, and community investment alongside public trust.
During the announcement in Guelph, Ford highlighted that the new data center playbook aims to foster the economy of the future by generating substantial economic growth, boosting tax revenues, and fostering job creation. The framework mandates that data centers cover the entirety of their electricity consumption costs, promoting projects to establish their power generation and setting a distinct rate category for large new data centers higher than the current industrial rate programs for significant electricity consumers.
Moreover, Ford emphasized that the province will not provide financial incentives to attract investments. The framework is envisioned to be a crucial facilitator of the artificial intelligence (AI) strategy, anticipating economic benefits totaling $122 billion in growth by 2035 and the annual creation of 17,000 new jobs.
The announcement coincides with deliberations by municipalities across Ontario regarding moratoriums on data centers. Oakville recently voted to enforce a one-year moratorium, while Mississauga is set to deliberate on its own moratorium in September.
Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner recently advocated for a halt on data centers, expressing concerns about corporations benefiting from local resources instead of the community. He was joined by Ilham Abdulkadir from Wellington Water Watchers, highlighting the resource-intensive nature of data center infrastructure.
Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s economic development minister, assured that the province will prioritize data centers utilizing a closed-loop system, akin to a car radiator that recycles water to minimize consumption. Ford echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the preference for builds with closed-loop systems that minimize water usage.
Although acknowledging the significance of data protection and sovereignty, Schreiner criticized the playbook for lacking specific regulations to ensure environmental sustainability. He emphasized the need for stringent safeguards before endorsing new data center projects, underscoring community control over tech corporations.
In light of these developments, Coun. Colleen James from the Waterloo region proposed an informational report to educate elected officials about data center development and its impacts. The report is slated for completion early next year to address concerns about the increasing presence of data centers in the region.