Sarnia's mayor wants Lambton County to be prepared to deal with any potential impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) related data centre developments in the area.
Mike Bradley's comments come in light of Premier Doug Ford's recent announcement of Ontario's Data Centre Playbook and the anticipated growth in AI-related investment.
According to the province, the framework will "help the province attract the best data centre investments that drive economic growth, ensure Canadians’ data remains in Canada and deliver significant and meaningful benefits to local communities."
While there are currently no centres operating locally, Bradley said it's imperative for the county to layout a policy framework.
"It's become a huge issue across the province and there are people pro and con, but we don't have a lot of guidance from the province," said Bradley. "There has been some interest expressed about AI centres. It hasn't moved forward at this point but I'd rather be prepared up front to deal with them as they come through. I want to see what the job creation is, see what the impact is on the environment as it relates to water and other issues that come from that and then we'll have a much better understanding."
Bradley admits he has some concerns.
"There's a huge amount of electrical power needed which could displace other opportunities we're working on that need power," he said. "The water issue is a significant one and how it's going to be used in recycling. Some of the industry seems to be moving forward to deal with those issues. We have these mega AI centers developing in places like Alberta and the reality is they're going to be here. The question is how do you control them? How do you make the right judgment on which ones are the right ones for Sarnia-Lambton and also for the province?"
Bradley notes the county can't impose a moratorium on the projects, that can only come at the lower-tier level.
"So, this is just futuristic thinking to say this is a reality what's happening not just in Canada, but around the world," said Bradley. "Let's be prepared to deal with it."
He said the province's "playbook" is advocating for the AI centres.
"I think they've taken some steps to say look we're going to bring some control," he said. "They are critical to this because they control the power supply and these centres can be huge consumers of power with little jobs resulting from them, in some cases. I was just with the energy minister a few weeks ago and at that point Hamilton and other communities were looking to pass moratoriums. Hamilton did not, but other cities are looking to do that. We should take a proactive approach and understand what the issues are and then start to make judgments about whether we should proceed or not."
Bradley's motion will be discussed at Lambton County Council's next meeting on September 2.
Should it pass, the staff report would be presented to the new council in early 2027.
