{"id":754866,"date":"2026-06-23T02:23:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T02:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/754866\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T02:23:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T02:23:19","slug":"protest-march-to-stop-vancouver-ai-data-centres-to-impact-weekend-traffic-daily-hive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/754866\/","title":{"rendered":"Protest march to stop Vancouver AI data centres to impact weekend traffic | Daily Hive"},"content":{"rendered":"

A second large-scale demonstration against the proposed cluster of AI data centres in Vancouver is slated for Saturday, June 27, and traffic will be impacted throughout downtown and Fairview.<\/p>\n

Organizers @no.ai.vancouver, which formed shortly after Telus announced it was moving ahead with plans to build a major sovereign artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure<\/a> network in B.C., said that its \u201ccollective protest\u201d was to raise awareness of several vital concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rampant, unregulated deployment of AI in recent years is the result of the blatant theft and distribution of countless copyrighted works, negatively impacting thousands of artists, writers, filmmakers, and other creators across Canada,\u201d said No AI Vancouver in a release.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe development of this technology, especially in Vancouver [which is]\u00a0home to some of Canada\u2019s most creative industries, raises significant red flags. There are also open questions about the centres\u2019 impact on the electrical grid and local water supplies, which is of particular concern given Vancouver\u2019s\u00a0current Stage 3 water restrictions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AI<\/p>\n

No AI Vancouver<\/p>\n

The demonstration on Saturday, June 27, will begin at the Vancouver Art Gallery at 1 p.m.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of protestors are expected to turn out for the afternoon march from downtown to Vancouver City Hall at the intersection of Cambie Street and West 12th Avenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not just a one-day thing,\u201d said Torin Larocque, founder of No AI Vancouver. \u201cKeep protesting online [and] in person. Do what you can to help stop this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Protesters who march to\u00a0Vancouver City Hall will hear from speakers including B.C. Green Party Leader Emily Lowan, Vancouver municipal election candidates Solomon Yi-Kieran and Stephanie Allen, union representative and digital artist Eddy Pedreira, and more.<\/p>\n

The group has also shared a link to a petition calling for a stop to the Vancouver AI Data Centre<\/a>, which has garnered nearly 14,000 signatures as of press time.<\/p>\n

Daily Hive Urbanized has reached out to the VPD for more information regarding any road closures for the protest march and will update this story.<\/p>\n

\"telus<\/p>\n

2026 concept of the 10-storey Telus AI data centre at 150 West Georgia St., Vancouver. (Westbank\/Telus)<\/p>\n

On May 11, Telus announced that it is working with the Government of Canada and Westbank on a proposed cluster of AI-focused data centres. The project forms part of the federal government\u2019s Enabling Large-Scale Sovereign AI Data Centres initiative, aimed at strengthening Canada\u2019s domestic AI infrastructure.<\/p>\n

The Vancouver-based company noted the three-site B.C. network will eventually scale to more than 60,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) and 150 megawatts of computing capacity by 2032. One of the facilities is planned for Kamloops, which is expected to launch later this year.<\/p>\n

Telus contacted Daily Hive after the first demonstration in May, which drew hundreds of people throughout the streets of Vancouver<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AI<\/p>\n

No AI Vancouver<\/p>\n

\u201cWe view our investment in Canada\u2019s sovereign AI backbone as a critical national asset \u2013 for Canadians, by Canadians \u2013 estimated to inject $9 billion into the Canadian economy and safeguarding our nation\u2019s most sensitive data,\u201d said a Telus representative.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have applied our core sustainability principles to our AI Factories, because we believe Canada should lead the AI revolution without compromising on its climate leadership. Designed to be the world\u2019s most sustainable sovereign AI data centres, our Vancouver facilities will set a new global standard for sustainable AI infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The telecommunications company added that it will be 80 per cent more energy-efficient than a traditional data centre and consumes 90 per cent less water, equal to an estimated 300 million litres saved each year.<\/p>\n

However, a Mount Pleasant resident who supports No AI Vancouver\u2019s goal of halting construction of both data centres isn\u2019t so sure that the data centre can be environmentally friendly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m strongly opposed to the proposed data centre on 5th Avenue because it would put our vibrant community at risk of chemical and noise pollution,\u201d said Sarah Foot in a release.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fear the strain on our water supply, while we are already in stage 3 restrictions, could do damage to Vancouver as a whole. Mt Pleasant is a densely populated community with daycares, schools, and community centres, whose resources should be used to contribute to the community, not extract profit from it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A second large-scale demonstration against the proposed cluster of AI data centres in Vancouver is slated for Saturday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":754867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[62,276,277,49,48,61],"class_list":["post-754866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=754866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/754867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}