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\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\nFor decades, the facility at 3650 Danforth Ave. in Scarborough housed\u00a0a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant. But since 2023,\u00a0it\u2019s been an\u00a08 megawatt data centre operated by Stack Infrastructure.\u00a0It\u2019s one of many across the GTA that have caught the attention of at least one environmental group.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re concerned about the\u00a0noise and emission levels produced by this data center,\u201d explains Anna Hardy with Climate Fast. \u201cWe know that they have self-reported noise and pollution levels that they\u2019ve already provided to the Ministry of Environment,\u00a0Conservation and Parks, but we don\u2019t know if they\u2019ll actually follow them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those with Climate Fast believe the public should know where these rapidly growing data centres in Ontario are located and how they\u2019re affecting\u00a0neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo a data center is basically a building\u00a0that holds a collection of very large computers,\u201d says Daniel Gruner, the CTO of SciNet High Performance Computing Consortium. \u201cIn the case of the new AI boom,\u00a0it means computers that are very power hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hosts your\u00a0Instagram posts, your chats through WhatsApp \u2013 everything runs through a data center that is\u00a0internet-based. And importantly, running a data center is not only expensive, it consumes quite a\u00a0bit of resources,\u201d added Viet Vu, the manager of economics research at the Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University.<\/p>\n
These facilities\u00a0have drawn\u00a0concern from communities across North America over\u00a0issues relating to emissions, water usage to cool the machines, and electricity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stack Infrastructure is currently an 8 megawatt data centre with plans to expand the capacity to 56 megawatts. For context, that\u2019s enough to power about 56,000 homes. But experts say there\u2019s no need to worry about strain on the power grid.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe nice thing is\u00a0at least in Canada and Toronto, there is ample amount of clean and abundant energy and water for it to be used, unlike some other locations around the world,\u201d says Vu.<\/p>\n
But there is also the noise. Videos posted to social media have captured the sound that some data centres can generate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe City of\u00a0Toronto does actually include such noise in their noise bylaws, which provides,\u00a0I think, a good venue for legislators and policymakers to continuously monitor the impact of these\u00a0data centers are having on local communities,\u201d says Vu.<\/p>\n
But as the industry expands, activists want tighter reins on it. Groups like Climate Fast\u00a0are calling for a moratorium on development and\u00a0more transparency in the approval process.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to make sure that each data center that is trying to get built has public input and has the community involved,\u201d says Hardy. \u201cAs taxpayers and rate payers, we don\u2019t want to be bearing the brunt of these AI data\u00a0centers, so it\u2019s so important for there to be public consultation, which does not exist at all in Ontario at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
CityNews reached out to Stack Infrastructure to learn more about their operations, but has yet to receive a response.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\tExterior view of Stack Infrastructure building in Scarborough. CITYNEWS <\/p>\n
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