Mississauga freezes new data centre projects amid AI boom
· Toronto Sun
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Following the lead of other centres in the region, the City of Mississauga has placed a moratorium on new data centre projects.
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“This (interim control by-law) places a moratorium on data centres larger than 10 megawatts,” Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish said in a statement to the Toronto Sun on Wednesday. “This is the right approach to address this issue: All governments working in partnership listening to people.”
An interim control by-law (IBL) is a temporary “freeze” that a local council can place on land use or development in a specific area.
The moratorium goes into effect on Wednesday and will be enforced for exactly one year.
The temporary halt gives the city a chance to study what limits need to be placed around projects as the AI boom increases demand for larger, more energy-intensive facilities.
And while every city or region in the Greater Toronto Area may not be affected by every issue on this list, the most pressing concerns for municipalities revolve around water consumption, heat generation, power systems, air emissions, infrastructure upgrades, servicing capacity, environmental impacts, public health impacts, economic influences and climate effects.
What the others are doing
Toronto city council directed staff back in July to review the city’s planning policies around data centres. Staff were also directed to alert city councillors about any large data centre applications.
A notice of motion to study the issue was put forward by Coun. Rachel Chernos Lin and seconded by Coun. Dianne Saxe in March.
“There are good data sovereignty reasons to want Canadian data managed in Canada, and the many data-reliant Canadian businesses headquartered in Toronto have good reasons to want their data managed here,” Lin said. “At the same time, AI data centres may put a significant strain on power grids, driving up the cost of electricity for all users, displacing other valued uses of electricity, and increasing climate pollution from electricity generation.”
In Oakville, plans for a data centre caught fire on social media in July. On Aug. 11, the city enacted a one-year moratorium on new data centres.
Vancouver-based Hive Digital Technologies Ltd. had planned a 320-megawatt AI facility on land it purchased earlier this year.
The vote on the moratorium was unanimous.
“Council took decisive action to make sure Oakville has the right safeguards in place before any proposals come forward,” Oakville Coun. Tom Adams said at a council meeting on Aug. 11. “Data centres can have significant impacts on land use, infrastructure, energy and water, and we need to understand those implications fully.”
Burlington, Milton and Hamilton all voted down an IBL, electing to study the issue further.