To: Ottawa City Council
Stop AI Data Centres Ottawa
1. Pause the data centre buildout. No approvals, rezoning, public subsidies, including taxpayer dollars, or utility commitments in Ottawa until the steps below are done.
2. Understand the impacts. Independent, public assessment of water, electricity, land, climate and cost impacts.
3. Consult, and get consent. A real public process with a real ability to say no, and free, prior and informed consent for Indigenous communities.
4. Make corporations pay for what they use. Require full cost recovery for power, water and infrastructure, with no costs shifted to households or taxpayers. Publish all contracts and public subsidies.
Why is this important?
Governments across Canada are racing to attract AI data centres by offering up electricity, water, land, infrastructure and public money. Big Tech captures the profits while communities pay the price. This includes strain on the energy grid, infrastructure costs, the damaging impacts on water and land and potentially higher energy bills.
The federal government announced that it plans to construct a data centre within the Ottawa Region. The project would use 60 megawatts, enough energy to power at least 30,000 homes.
Before anything is committed, we are calling on the Ottawa City Council to pass a data centre moratorium, understand the impacts of what data centres will do to Ottawans, and consult community before going forward.
Ottawans won't pay the price for Big Tech's Data Centre.
The federal government announced that it plans to construct a data centre within the Ottawa Region. The project would use 60 megawatts, enough energy to power at least 30,000 homes.
Before anything is committed, we are calling on the Ottawa City Council to pass a data centre moratorium, understand the impacts of what data centres will do to Ottawans, and consult community before going forward.
Ottawans won't pay the price for Big Tech's Data Centre.