LOCAL KNOWLEDGE. INFORMED DECISIONS.
Ground Rules:
Ensuring Canada’s Data Centre Development Happens on Local Terms
Data Centres are arriving in Canada’s communities faster than ever: nearly 200 already operate, and more than 140 new facilities underway. Without proper consultation and involvement, municipalities can face data centre neighbours who lack transparency, and overuse water and electricity, leading to negative outcomes for other businesses and community members.
Ground Rules supports local elected leaders in navigating data centre projects by providing practical tools to assess proposals and ensure communities’ needs and voices are heard.
Resources
These resources provide local elected leaders and staff with key information about understanding the consequences of data centres for your community, and how to navigate important decisions when assessing their development.
Explore Resources By Topic
Land Use Planning & Design
Questions local elected leaders can ask
How are data centres in your community zoned (i.e. light industrial, heavy industrial, commercial, mixed-use etc.)?
Are data centres defined within the zoning bylaw?
Are overlay districts in place to designate appropriate areas for data centres?
Can proposed projects be located on ecologically-significant or agricultural lands?
Are there any best-practice design codes or guidelines for data centres recommended by the municipality?
Are there buffer zones or minimum setbacks from other land use that apply to data centres?
Has your community discussed end-of-life-cycle processes or responsibilities, including brownfield remediation, in the context of data centres?
Resource Impacts: Electricity, Water, Air Quality, Noise
Questions local elected leaders can ask
Energy Use & Air Quality
What actions will the local government take to assess or limit energy use risks from data centres?
Are proponents required to make commitments around disclosure of energy use?
Will this information be publicly available?
What ‘Behind-the-meter’ power sources, if any, does the project include (i.e. natural gas plant, diesel generator, renewable energy and battery storage, etc.)?
Will air quality monitoring be required near the site?
Will this information be publicly available?
If applicable, how often will diesel generators be used or tested?
Will any actions be taken to limit air pollution as a result of Behind-the-meter power generation?
Water Use
What actions will the local government take to assess or limit water use risks from data centres?
Are proponents required to make commitments around disclosure of water use and wastewater discharge?
Will this information be publicly available?
Are proponents required to identify water use needs?
If so, do they identify average annual usage, peak demand hours, or both?
Has the proponent identified the cooling technology the data centre will use (i.e. evaporative or closed-loop)?
Has the proponent identified the source of water (i.e. municipal, aquifer etc.)?
Is there a maximum water use in place for data centres, and is there meaningful recourse if the proponent goes beyond the limit?
Noise
Is the proponent required to make any commitments around noise mitigation or monitoring?
Is your community’s noise bylaw sufficient to address data centre noise concerns?
Are there meaningful penalties in place if the proponent goes beyond set noise standards?
Economic Development & Community Investment
Questions local elected leaders can ask
Would the proponent receive any tax abatements, exemptions or financial incentives from the municipality?
What is the added municipal tax revenue of a proposed data centre?
What is the anticipated number of employment opportunities a proposed data centre would create?
Is there a heat waste capture and reuse element to a proposed project?
Does a proposed data centre have any on-site renewable energy generation or storage?
Is there potential for the community to participate in a community-owned and operated data centre?
Would the community receive any other community amenity contributions from a data centre?
Community Engagement & Advocacy
Questions local elected leaders can ask
Would the proponent conduct any voluntary community engagement?
Is a public hearing required as part of the zoning or permitting process?
Is there a forum for the public to express their concerns and opinions on a proposed data centre?
Would regional governments, planning groups or associations be consulted, especially in regards to regional water, air quality and energy risks?
Can the proponent demonstrate that they are meeting their duty-to-consult requirements with Indigenous communities?
Sample Motions and Resolutions
Motions and resolutions from other communities, organised by type of resource.
Zoning Amendments
4 resources
Zoning Bylaw amendment considerations for regulating data centres.
Amended to define data centres as a site specific use in 2023.
Rezoning Application for Data 200,000 square metre data centre.
Amended Land Use Bylaw to define data centres as a discretionary use.
Staff Directive for Policy Exploration
6 resources
Staff to prepare a memo to council regarding data centres in Oakville
Policy Framework for Municipal Decision-Making regarding the Deployment of Data Centres in Burlington
Maintaining Toronto’s Climate and Energy Priorities Through the Review Process for Artificial Intelligence Data Centre Proposals
Addressing the Risks of Digital Infrastructure
Municipal Framework and Interim Control By-law for Major Digital Infrastructure and Artificial Intelligence Data Centres
Staff directive to undertake review in relation to artificial intelligence data centres
Motions for Data Centre Moratoria
3 resources
Delegations respecting Municipal Framework regarding the Development of Data Centers in Hamilton
Amendment to The Interim Development Control Bylaw No. 10200 to Incorporate Data Centres
Bylaw Number 2026-129: Interim Control By-law to prohibit the use of land, buildings or structures for the purpose of new data centres and similar facilities
Motions for Support from Higher Levels of Government
1 resource
FCM to advocate for a federal framework
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Why It Matters
It’s crucial that local communities lead on decisions that affect their residents. The consequences are significant — for our towns and for our country.
Local Democracy In Jeopardy
For many communities, data centres are being proposed—and built—faster than local leadership can evaluate them. The pace of development vastly outmatches the already stretched internal resources amongst staff and councils, especially for rural communities where the majority of industry’s ambitions lie.
Pollution Threats
In Alberta alone, plans to attract 6,500 MW of data centre loads powered by off-grid natural gas would roughly double the province’s GHG emissions[1]. Data centres across the country are also using natural gas, including some of the biggest proposed data centres: Meta’s Sturgeon County Campus, and the Wonder Valley campus in Grande Prairie. This not only increases our risk of growing climate impacts, but can significantly impact air quality for residents. In the US, the annual public health burden of data centres is expected to be more than $20 billion by 2028 due to the growing demand for AI[2].
Core Resource Consumption
The scale of resource consumption required for data centres is enormous. A Microsoft data centre in Etobicoke is approved to use up to 1.2 billion litres of water a year, or equivalent to 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools[3]. A Meta data centre coming to Sturgeon County, Alberta is estimated to require "enough electricity to power a city two-thirds the size of Calgary,"[4] and the recently announced expansion of a Bell data centre outside Regina will quadruple its capacity using ‘behind-the-meter’ power. Alberta’s Wonder Valley project has been forecast to be “one of the largest single-site heat sources on the planet.” This matters because such electricity demand—whether it comes from the grid or self-generated power—can push up costs for local residents.
Sovereign Priorities
Ownership and use of existing data centre infrastructure in Canada has been characterized as “highly international”, with significant ties to US-headquartered users and financiers. Our communities’ voices must be heard amidst foreign investment.
Potential Win-Win
If data centres are an increasing priority for the business and tech community, there is still opportunity for them to be good neighbours to Canadian citizens. Ireland requires new data centres to use 80 percent renewable[5], domestically produced energy; Stockholm uses waste heat from a data centre to heat 30,000 apartments[6]. Australia announced in Summer 2026 a streamlined national framework which evaluates the “economic, social, national security and environmental issues stemming from AI” as part of its data centre approval process[7]. We can do the same here in Canada, and develop our own innovative approaches to solutions.
Federal Asks
Data centres are being constructed in communities across the world before local leadership has the opportunity to properly undertake evaluations or understand their repercussions. To reduce friction while increasing chances of successful outcomes for both communities and project proponents, the federal government has a role to play to ensure that data centres in Canada are sustainable over the long term, and respectful of communities’ capacity to make informed decisions about their land use planning and economic development.
We are calling on the federal government to:
Set national efficiency, water management, and renewable energy standards for new data centres to ensure they do not create artificial and sustained demand for additional fossil fuel (including “behind the meter”) or water use.
Establish and implement federal disclosure criteria and requirements on water, energy and other resource consumption. This data should be reported to an independent body that has the power to conduct its own investigations, evaluate and report publicly on its findings before Parliament.
Create new funding—or establish eligibility within existing funding—for local governments to revise bylaws, zoning, official community plans and policies surrounding water and energy use, as well as community benefit agreements. It should also be used to determine potential co-benefits for communities, including beneficial recovery and reuse of waste heat, and should establish clear processes for future industry-funded environmental remediation of data centre sites.
Invite local government and public engagement on Canada’s Responsible Data Centre Development Principles. Establish clear oversight responsibility to ensure industry compliance with these principles.
If you are a local elected leader who would like to work with us on this, please get in touch.
About
About Urban Climate Leadership
A project of MakeWay, Urban Climate Leadership is dedicated to dismantling obstacles to equitable climate action by local governments. In acknowledging the distinctive challenges faced by Canadian small and large cities, the initiative assembles a diverse array of stakeholders to collaboratively propel systems-changing solutions.
About Climate Caucus
Climate Caucus is a non-partisan, national non-profit working at the intersection of two essential pillars of shared prosperity: local democracy and climate policy. As the largest network of climate-forward local elected leaders in Canada, we develop, launch and scale beneficial climate policies for communities and the country.
Contact Us
Have a question about data centre development in your community? Get in touch with the Ground Rules team.