Supported by the data centre, cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), and technology sectors, the federal government launched Canada’s responsible data centre development principles, a common national framework for how the country adds data centre capacity.
The announcement came from Evan Solomon, Canada’s minister of AI and digital innovation and minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, and Tim Tierney, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM).
Amid the rising demand for AI, Tierney described the national framework as “an important first step in helping municipalities better understand and assess projects being proposed in their regions.”
“No two data centre projects are alike, nor will they have the same impact,” Tierney said in a news release from Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada (ISED). “Municipal leaders need clear and complete information to make informed decisions.”
Five expectations for data centre projects
Under the national framework, the Canadian government expects data centre projects to:
- Create lasting local benefits
- Refrain from shifting electricity costs to Canadians
- Minimize water use and environmental impacts
- Be transparent about local impacts
- Bring strategic value to the country
In its news release, ISED explained that the data centre development principles aim to:
- Complement the current provincial, territorial, municipal, and Indigenous regulatory processes
- Give municipalities and communities more clarity and certainty
- Set a nationally recognized baseline for communities considering major projects
- Help municipalities assess projects and make informed local decisions
- Promote responsible investment
- Help build digital infrastructure
- Advance Canada’s national AI strategy, “AI for All”
“Data centres must protect ratepayers, respect water and energy resources, and create lasting benefits for the communities that host them,” Solomon said. “These principles set a clear national standard: If you build in Canada, you must build responsibly and transparently and you must build for Canadians.”
Signatories so far
ISED’s news release listed the following signatories:
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Anthropic
- Beacon Data Centers
- Bell Canada (BCE)
- BUZZ High Performance Computing (BUZZ HPC)
- Cohere
- Cologix
- Denvr Dataworks
- Equinix
- eStruxture
- Hypertec Group
- Meta
- Micrologic
- Microsoft
- OpenAI
- OVHcloud
- Prologis
- QScale
- Sovereign Digital Infrastructure
- TELUS
- ThinkOn
- Urbacon Data Centre Solutions
ISED noted that the commitments of signatories will assist in responsibly building digital infrastructure across Canada and adopting a consistent, community-focused approach to developing data centres in the country.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the federal government and industry to improve transparency, strengthen accountability and provide municipalities with the resources they need to protect local interests,” Tierney said on FCM’s behalf.
More news on data centres
Here are some other recent news stories involving data centres in Canada.
Released on Aug. 27, Saskatchewan’s data centre framework focuses on six principles: Canadian ownership, support for the country’s data and AI sovereignty, the creation of Saskatchewan jobs and partnerships, industry experience, self-supplied power generation, and a centralized provincial intake process.
On Jan. 30, the British Columbia government announced the launch of a competitive selection process for clean electricity in emerging sectors with high demand, with BC Hydro calling for data centres and AI projects aimed at enabling data sovereignty and AI adoption.
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