What you need to know about the proposed AI data centre in Hamilton

Concerns about the impacts of artificial intelligence have turned a Hamilton planning meeting into the hottest ticket at city hall. 

As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 1,200 people have submitted comments to Thursday’s Committee of Adjustment hearing. City staff say that might be a record. Dozens are planning to show up in person to the meeting, which starts at 9:30 a.m.

The committee will be making an administrative decision about a plot of land on which a developer is considering building a data centre. 

Throughout North America, the growth of AI has accelerated the development of the physical places that store, process and run data and software. This boom has also sparked concerns, including around the amount of water and energy such sites can use.  

What is being proposed in Hamilton?

Slate Asset Management is the real estate and infrastructure investment company behind Steelport, a mixed-use development pitched on a former steel mill site by the harbour.

On its website, the company says it is “exploring data centre uses” for a portion of the roughly 324-hectare site, as part of a “national hub for AI innovation.” 

However, the company says it has not made any final decisions, confirmed any data centre tenants or any tenants for the site at all. 

On Wednesday, Slate told CBC Hamilton it is participating in a proposal by the Digital Research Alliance of Canada (DRAC) to the federal government’s AI Sovereign Compute Infrastructure Program. 

Slate said the proposal is not about training AI, but about ensuring Canada has data storage capacity and access to high-performance computing. 

According to the government website, part of that program is an “open call for applications to build a large-scale sovereign public AI supercomputer for Canadian researchers and innovators.”

In May, DRAC spokesperson Vanessa Nelson told CBC that because applications to the infrastructure program are competitive, the organization would not share details. 

She said the federally funded alliance, which supports digital research infrastructure, was confident it would present a “strong, nationally supported proposal.” 

Why are some residents worried?

Jesse Whattam, who lives near the Steelport site, created a petition calling for greater public consultation around the proposed centre.

“Hamilton is now being dragged into the frenzy of AI data centre construction fuelled by the shortsighted greed of tech billionaires,” she said in the petition.

Speaking to CBC Hamilton, Whattam said there’s been frustratingly little information available to members of the public who are concerned about issues including water and energy use. 

CBC News has reported data centres can require upwards of 100 megawatts of power and millions of litres of water annually for their cooling systems.

Whattam said she worries about a data centre heating up her neighbourhood at a time when it can already feel unsafe to take her young daughter outside in the summer. 

“I want a say in how AI shows up,” Whattam said, adding that currently, it feels everyday people don’t have a say in AI regulation or development.

“People want the ability to collectively dictate if we’re going to have clean air, water, wildlife, and enough food,” Adeola Egbeyemi, a Hamilton resident and environmental advocate, told CBC Hamilton.

Egbeyemi has been using social media to share videos about the Steelport proposal. 

She said she’s skeptical if similar projects will really benefit average communities rather than the “Canadian elite.”

How does Slate respond to community concerns?

The company says its entire Steelport project would bring over $10 billion in private investment and over 30,000 jobs to the region, about half of which would be on site. It says its proposed hub “is expected to generate broad community benefits across employment, education, local procurement, clean energy, and regional economic development.”

Slate told CBC Hamilton it doesn’t think the same environmental concerns apply on the former Stelco land.

It says the former steel mill site has “robust infrastructure, including a heavy industrial power grid,” meaning “any new development at Steelport will have minimal impacts on public infrastructure.”

It says there would be no impact on local electricity prices.

Slate says a data centre would be able to use “non-evaporative” cooling with water from the bay, preserving more water than other methods might. 

“The total volume of water consumed would be a fraction of what Stelco consumed during its peak operations, and critically, no municipal water will be used for cooling systems,” Slate said.

Slate added it’s exploring whether “waste heat” generated by future data centres could be recaptured and used as a “cheap source of decarbonized waste heat for Steelport tenants” and Hamilton’s downtown.

Whattam says she needs more than Slate’s word and would like to see evidence backing up what it says about water and energy. “An FAQ on their website saying ‘Don’t worry about it,’ doesn’t assuage my worries at all.”

Slate told CBC Hamilton it will continue to meet with its community advisory committee and engage with the public about such worries.

Does data sovereignty factor in?

The government of Canada said its sovereign AI infrastructure program will improve access to advanced computing for researchers, supporting scientific discoveries. 

It will also “enhance Canadian sovereignty and resilience,” Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada said. 

Hamilton Coun. Tammy Hwang (Ward 4) sits on the board for telecom and energy provider Hamilton Community Enterprises, which is supporting the DRAC-Slate proposal.

She told CBC Hamilton there’s value in securing Canadian data to protect it from potential access by American actors and she currently sees that as a gap in our digital infrastructure.

The former steel mill site could be well-suited for a data centre, Hwang said.

“[We hear] that AI is going to take our jobs and burn the planet,” Hwang said. “We can do better if we understand the very real environmental concerns and listen to fellow Canadians.”

What rules govern data centres?

Hwang and Slate both note the company already has the right to build a data centre because its industrial zoning permits them. 

Shion Guha, a University of Toronto professor in that school’s Faculty of Information, told CBC Hamilton the government’s data centre strategy hinges on giving public money to private companies and that with that, come important questions including who will have access to data, and what foreign software and physical components might be key to their construction.  

Guha, whose research includes the economic and societal implications of expanding Canadian data centres, said Canada is building AI infrastructure at the same time as it figures out how to govern it. Governance specifically around data centre water use is also currently lacking, Guha said.

He cited Abacus Data polling that found 82 per cent of respondents to a March survey agree governments should “strictly regulate” AI data centres. The survey of 1,931 Canadians had a margin of error of 2.2 per cent, 19 times out of 20. 

Unlike for other infrastructure, Guha said Canada’s draft AI strategy is “remarkably silent on community involvement.” 

The Steelport development is in Hamilton’s Ward 3. In a May 27 public statement, area councillor Nrinder Nann called on the federal government to “begin a very serious conversation” about consultation, engagement and ensuring public benefits are actualized. She has also asked for public feedback on local standards for data centres.

CBC Hamilton asked Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada about Nann’s call and whether the new federal AI strategy will include guidance for data centre development. A spokesperson said the department would not be able to respond before publication. 

What happens this week?

Thursday, the city’s committee of adjustment is scheduled to hear an application from Slate requesting the ability to split the Steelport lands into two separate lots. One 76-hectare parcel would contain the potential data centre. Splitting the land makes it easier to develop the project in stages, the company says.

Along with her petition, Whattam used Instagram account No AI Greed in Hamilton to share information about Steelport, and how people could submit written feedback or comment on the lot severance application in person.

Both Whattam and Egbeyemi say they will be among those who are planning to protest in front of city hall before Thursday’s meeting.

Slate says it looks forward to hearing from residents. It adds its next steps for Steelport include figuring out who some of the tenants will be and that the community can expect to hear from them more frequently.