Data centres: Opposing them and developing them are not the only two choices

When a nurse in Thunder Bay opens a patient’s chart or a shopper in Halifax taps a bank card, the request travels somewhere physical — a building humming with servers, storage, network equipment, backup power and cooling systems.

Data centres are not mythical “AI factories” or innocuous warehouses, but industrial infrastructure with real appetites for electricity, water and land.

Current debate about data centres seems to offer a false binary: stop these facilities or accept them unconditionally.

There is a better option.

We need to develop projects that are transparent, low-carbon, grid-responsible, respectful of Indigenous rights and that leave durable public value where they stand.

A baseline, not a permit On Sept.

3, the federal government and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities unveiled Canada’s Responsible Data Centre Development Principles , backed by 23 industry signatories.

The principles say projects should: Create lasting local benefits.

Avoid shifting project-driven electricity costs onto households and existing businesses.

Minimize freshwater use and environmental impacts.

Provide transparent, independently verifiable information on local impacts and commitments.

Deliver lasting strategic value for Canada.

The principles are a common national framework, a baseline of expectations that complement provincial, territorial, municipal and Indigenous processes.

They are not binding federal law, a permit or an approval.