REGINA, Sask. — While there is a lot of buzz about AI data centre development in Canada, a new Angus Reid poll shows most Canadians are still not sold on the idea.
A new poll of more than 4,000 respondents released this week by the Angus Reid Institute reports that 64 per cent — almost two-thirds — say their provincial governments should limit the development of large data centres. That compares with only 18 per cent who would encourage more.
Support for limits is high across Canada, and it is even higher in Saskatchewan at 70 per cent. The highest levels are in Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces, both coming in at 72 per cent.
Among those who would limit data centres, Angus Reid reports that just over half, 51 per cent, cite high water use, while 38 per cent worry about higher electricity costs for households and businesses and 34 per cent worry that the benefits would flow mainly to large technology companies instead of local communities.
Of those who would encourage development, Angus Reid says 47 per cent cite new investment and economic growth, 33 per cent point to strengthening Canada’s competitiveness in AI and other emerging technologies and 30 per cent cite job creation.
Angus Reid points to the above factors as being in line with the federal government’s national framework called Canada’s Responsible Data Centre Development Principles. Among the framework’s requirements cited by Angus Reid are that data centres should not shift energy infrastructure or electricity rate increases to Canadian households and businesses and should minimize water consumption and environmental impacts.
In Saskatchewan, construction is well underway for the much talked-about Bell AI Data Centre project located south of Regina in the RM of Sherwood. Recently, and to much fanfare at an announcement at the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto, it was announced that the project would be expanded from 300 megawatts to 1.2 gigawatts.
The Saskatchewan government has also released its own framework for AI data centre development. It prioritizes Canadian ownership, contributions to Canadian data and AI sovereignty, as well as a “bring your own power” model.
The government and Bell Canada have also touted job creation from the project, citing impacts that could create 3,000 additional jobs in the province.
Jon Roe, analyst and senior research assistant, says AI data centre development has become a major issue, being pushed by “a lot of provincial governments saying, you know, this is a good way to grow the economy — we can bring in some jobs and bring in some money to the economy by, by opening up development of these data centres.”
“But so far from our polling, we've seen quite a bit of pushback from Canadians saying… there's not a lot of trust in AI. That Canadians don't believe it's a force for good. They worry about the impacts these data centres are having.”
That question of whether people “believe that artificial intelligence is a force for good” seems to be the sticking point, according to Roe.
“The reasons that they're citing is that high water use, and a concern about higher electricity costs. And we have seen that with some of those developments that have been blocked in Saskatchewan so far, is that that electric cost, the potential impact on consumers and businesses of the electricity use of these data centres, is the reason the government has said… ‘we're not going to allow some of these data centres.’”
Roe, who is based in Calgary, said they have seen similar concerns in Alberta, where there has also been a major push for data centre developments. There, the government has stepped in to set down its own requirements for such builds.
“Some of these data centres are coming in and the province is saying that ‘okay, well, when we allow these developments, we're asking them to bring their own power usage, build their own power plants in order to power these things.’ And they've approved these developments, but oftentimes or on some of these developments, the power isn't coming in until after the data centre is built.
“So I think there is a concern and we've seen it play out from the provincial government side, but also from consumers in Canada saying ‘yeah, well, I'm worried that this was going to cost me something because it's going to increase the cost of my own power usage.’”
Roe believes these types of guidelines that are coming in at the federal and provincial levels are mollifying the concerns to some extent, but not all.
“I think it doesn't address some of those other concerns that Canadians are having. And one of them is high water usage, which is, I think, it's a belief that's really persistent among Canadians in their opposition to data centres, that they're saying that they use a lot of water. They're concerned about the effects on the water table and the water usage across the province that… these data centres potentially cause.”
There is also concern, Roe says, that even though these are big economic developments, “Canadians in those communities are not necessarily going to see those economic benefits.”
In Saskatchewan, there have been some attempts to try to mollify concerns about water usage at the Bell AI Data Centre. John Watson, Bell Canada group president, said in August that the system to be used at its RM of Sherwood facility will not use groundwater.
“It's a closed-loop system. It's technical water. Zero consumption. Zero, zero, zero. We've just got to get that message out,” he said.
But Roe said that even though a number of provinces have been trying to say that water usage isn't that big of a concern and that data centres do not use as much water as people say, those worries still persist.
“That really has been a persistent thing that Canadians are saying ‘yeah, you know what, we're still really worried about that,’ despite the fact there has been a lot of pushback saying ‘yeah, you know what, actually that water use issue isn't as big as people think it is.’”
Roe said that from a policy perspective, while governments can point to the economic benefits from AI data centres, they will still need to address these other key concerns, such as water usage and electricity.
“So some way, somehow, they have to come out and really mollify Canadians and say … ‘these issues have been addressed,’” said Roe. “And so far that messaging hasn't really affected the opposition, which is really strong especially in these two provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan, where there has been this big push.”
