Toronto city council is set to consider two members' motions this week concerning proposed data centre projects in Scarborough and Etobicoke North — but neither motion includes the moratorium that thousands of residents across the city have been demanding.
The calls for a pause have intensified in recent weeks as heat waves driven by climate change and heavy smoke from wildfires have pressed on the region, according to Met Radio.
Roughly 40 protesters gathered at City Hall on Wednesday, urging councillors to halt the developments until the costs to residents, ecosystems, resources and the climate can be properly measured. Their pushback joins a broader chorus of Canadians across the country who are raising concerns about new power-intensive facilities.
Ottawa weighs in
The office of Evan Solomon, the federal Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, said in a statement to Met Radio that data centres are an important part of the infrastructure supporting Canada's digital economy and AI ecosystem, and should be handled responsibly.
Municipalities have an important role in determining how proposed developments fit within their communities," Solomon said. "The questions being raised about electricity, water, land use and local impacts are legitimate.
The minister's office did not indicate whether Ottawa plans any action of its own on the issue.
"Municipalities are not well-equipped"
Shion Guha, an assistant professor of information and computer science at the University of Toronto, told Local Journalist Mia Johnson that municipalities are not well-equipped to handle the AI boom that is driving a massive wave of large-scale data centre proposals and applications now rippling through Canada.
Guha directs the human-centered data science lab at the University of Toronto, where he studies how governments use AI to allocate public resources and builds the methods and tools used to govern those systems.
The two motions before council target projects in Scarborough and Etobicoke North, areas where residents have been among the most vocal in raising questions about the local impact of new facilities.
The debate comes as the City of Toronto, like municipalities across the country, faces pressure to balance the growth of Canada's digital economy against concerns about electricity use, water consumption, land use and climate impacts — the very questions Solomon acknowledged as legitimate.
