Premier Doug Ford and other Ontario ministers gathered in Guelph to unveil the plan for Ontario’s Artificial Intelligence Data Centre Playbook.
The Ontario Government states that this framework aims to draw top data centre investments while ensuring Canadians’ data stays within the country. They also highlighted that data centres are responsible for covering their entire electricity costs, although the government will provide non-financial support to help attract these investments.
In a news release, the playbook is portrayed as an initial step in the government’s strategy to harness artificial intelligence for potential economic benefits. They expressed hope that this initiative could lead to $122 billion in economic growth by 2035 and create over 17,000 jobs each year.
Ford expressed confidence in the newly introduced framework for the Data Centre Playbook.
“Through our new Data Centre Playbook, our government is choosing to build the economy of the future to generate billions in economic growth and create thousands of new jobs, while ensuring new data centres play by the right rules and pay the full cost of electricity. Any data centre investment will need to invest significantly in local communities and pay more for electricity so no energy costs are passed on to hardworking families.”
The three key pillars are:
Advance economic development Protect data and security and digital sovereignty Invest in communities and earn public confidence
A major focus of this framework is on how data centres affect electrical systems. According to the government’s release, these facilities are accountable for their impacts.
The government encourages interested data centres to establish their own power generation methods. Their approach includes creating a separate rate class specifically for large new data centres.
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Region Examines AI Data Centres’ Community Impact
This announcement comes just a day after regional councillors unanimously voted on a motion requesting staff create a report investigating how these centres could influence the community. The report is expected to be presented back to council early next year. It will also outline ways to hold data centre developers accountable and ensure transparency regarding energy consumption, water usage, cooling systems, and environmental effects. A day earlier, Mike Schreiner, Leader of Ontario’s Green Party and Guelph MPP, called for a halt on new AI data centres across the province. “There are serious concerns with AI data centres, including the risks they pose to our air and water, the amount of energy they consume and their economic impact on our communities,” Schreiner said. He urged the Ford government to assess these centres’ effects on health, environment, energy use, and job creation. Page 5 of Ontario’s newly released Data Centre Playbook outlines its three main pillars. Courtesy of the Government of Ontario. The provincial government seeks public feedback. Interested individuals can share their thoughts via the Environmental Registry of Ontario or the Ontario Regulatory Registry over the next 30 days. The province states that input received through these platforms will be utilized to enhance the proposed framework. Following community feedback, Ontario plans to publish its final Data Centre Playbook. You can find information about the Data Centre Playbook’s framework here.Keep it Factual
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