Discussions over artificial intelligence and data centres were front and centre around the regional horseshoe, with both councillors and delegates alike getting the opportunity to speak on the growing local topic.
The conversation follows a motion that was brought to the Region of Waterloo’s Sustainability, Infrastructure, and Development Committee.
It asks staff to prepare a report looking at the possible impacts of those AI data centres, from the economic and environmental side, to the overall transparency and accountability of those who run them.
The motion states that “Council should understand how data centre development may affect infrastructure capacity, environmental sustainability, and economic development,” saying that various municipalities are already beginning to assess the “opportunities, risks, and policy issues related to data centres.”
Various delegates were in attendance at the meeting, many of whom voiced their displeasure with the data centres as a whole, including Megan Jesso, who worked to shine a light on a similar situation in Hamilton.
“My concern is that there’s not enough transparency around these issues,” Jesso stated.
It’s really unfortunate that job opportunities and economic growth go before environmental impacts.”
Another delegate, Thomas Gillert, simply asked why the region should focus its time on integrating and encouraging further data centres, alongside their required water usage, when the region is already facing an ongoing water shortage.
“We have water restrictions in Wellesley; we’re supplied from the Waterloo Region,” said Gillert.
“Where are we getting this water from for AI when I already have water restrictions where I live?”
The motion looked to target a number of key areas that could be impacted by those data centres, including:
- Economic opportunities
- Infrastructure needs
- Environmental considerations and best practices
- Fiscal considerations, including servicing needs, capital and operating costs
- Transparency and accountability
- A jurisdictional scan to identify best practices
- Potential advocacy to the Province of Ontario for a consistent regulatory framework
It was developed by Councillor Colleen James, who pressed that there is a lot still to be learned about the overarching impacts and reaches of those data centres, saying that the region has a responsibility to install the proper systems to monitor and learn about them as soon as possible.
“The conversations about expansions of AI and data centres, it’s not going away,” said James.
“I also recognize that there’s a lot that needs to be learned. There’s a lot of evidence base that is out there, yes, but as decision-makers, we need to see this.”
During the meeting, a few amendments and additions were made to the original motion, with councillors pushing that discussions with local First Nations and Indigenous communities were needed to understand the possible impacts to traditional lands, as well as expanding the full scope of what would be covered in the report.
Some of those key additions include diving into the full impacts on groundwater, wastewater, air quality, noise, as well as spills and hazardous waste.
“I think data centres are here to stay. All of these regulatory questions need to be addressed and answered,” said Regional Chair Karen Redman.
“They were about policy, as is the province and the federal government, so this will help form more instructive lobbying efforts and policy as we go forward.”
The committee members ultimately approved the motion unanimously, agreeing to move forward with the possible report. It’ll still need approval from regional council before staff can fully begin getting to work on researching and studying those potential data centre impacts.
If the approval is then given, a full report would be expected ot be brought back to council for discussion in early 2027.
Comments