The federal government is looking to build a data centre in the national capital region to support Canada\u2019s cyber spy agency, saying it will focus on the \u201cmid to long-term objectives\u201d of government operations, security and technology.<\/p>\n
Defence Construction Canada issued an advance procurement notice for the data centre last week, saying it is informing \u201cdesign-builders of an upcoming contract located\u201d in the Ottawa area.<\/p>\n
The estimated cost of the project is $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion, with the tender expected to be issued in 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo increase its capacity in supporting the mid to long-term objectives related to operations, security, and technology modernization, the Government of Canada is planning to design and construction a data centre facility within the national capital region,\u201d said the notice issued on the federal government\u2019s website.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis data center of 60 MW will enable the onboarding of next-generation capabilities with tailored mechanical and electrical configurations to meet distinct technology requirements throughout the facility.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSE) says the proposed data centre would provide \u201cadditional secure computing capacity\u201d to support its \u201ccurrent and future operational requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is part of the Government of Canada\u2019s broader defence investments, including investments through CSE to modernize the secure infrastructure and capabilities needed to respond to evolving threats and support Canada\u2019s national security and defence priorities,\u201d CSE said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.<\/p>\n
\u201cProject planning and site selection activities remain ongoing. Additional information will be shared as decisions are finalized and appropriate to disclose. To protect national security and the integrity of its operations, CSE does not disclose specific operational or technical requirements beyond what is publicly available.\u201d<\/p>\n
The federal government launched Canada\u2019s Responsible Data Centre Development Principles in September, outlining how Canada builds the data centre capacity it needs.<\/p>\n
According to the government, the principles \u201csets five clear expectations\u201d for data centre projects: <\/p>\n
Data centres must create lasting local benefits.Data centres must not shift electricity costs to Canadians.Data centres must minimize water use and environmental impacts.Data centres must be transparent about local impacts.Data centres must bring strategic value to Canada.<\/p>\n
The government\u2019s proposed data centre facility for CSE would include a \u201csmall office space and a shipping and receiving area,\u201d according to the notice. It also notes the federal government has not approved proceeding with the new data centre at this time.<\/p>\n
Data centres have \u201ctremendous appetite for power\u201d<\/p>\n
In August, Ottawa city council passed a motion directing city staff to develop a framework for assessing data centre proposals. The study will look at assessing data centres based on their size and impact, including environmental and industrial standards, community benefits and possible amendments to the official plan.<\/p>\n
Hydro Ottawa\u2019s CEO Bryce Conrad told council in June that the utility had received 34 requests in the past two years for \u201clarge load customers,\u201d which would require nearly 90 per cent of the average amount of power used by the City of Ottawa in 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are prospective customers who need a significant amount of electricity, think of government, national defence, hospitals, university campuses, and yes, data centres,\u201d Conrad said, noting data centres accounted for 653 megawatts of the 1,075 megawatts requested to Hydro Ottawa. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s no secret that there\u2019s a lot of tension these days around data centres, AI technologies, and their tremendous appetite for power.\u201d<\/p>\n
During an interview with Newstalk 580 CFRA in August, Conrad said Hydro Ottawa is working to build capacity to meet the demand for data centres and large-load customers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re probably being asked to build in the next two or three years, that which has taken us about 110 years to build.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The federal government is looking to build a data centre in the national capital region to support Canada\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":934528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[712,49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-934527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934527","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=934527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/934528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=934527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=934527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=934527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}