Petition to the Government of Ontario: Require Public Approval for Major Data Centres
Residents of Scarborough Southwest
Major data centres should not be treated like routine development applications.
The proposed expansion at 3650 Danforth Avenue would add major new digital infrastructure beside established Scarborough neighbourhoods. Projects of this scale can affect the electricity system, noise, backup generation, infrastructure, emergency planning, employment lands, ratepayers and community benefits.
Yet under the current planning framework, a major data-centre expansion can move through a delegated site-plan process without the kind of public meeting and final vote residents would reasonably expect for infrastructure of this scale.
Ontario is now writing new rules for major data centres. Those rules should apply to major new capacity that has not yet been energized, including expansions already moving through the planning process.
Scarborough residents deserve a real say before major new infrastructure is approved.
Petition by
To:
Residents of Scarborough Southwest
From:
[Your Name]
We, the undersigned, call on the Government of Ontario to require meaningful public scrutiny and approval for major new data centres and major expansions of existing data centres.
We ask Ontario to:
require site-specific rezoning, public notice and meaningful community consultation for major data centres and major expansions;
require approval by the elected municipal council before projects of this scale proceed;
apply new provincial data-centre rules to major new capacity that has not yet been energized, including expansions whose planning applications are already underway;
require host municipalities to have a meaningful role before significant new electricity capacity is allocated; and
ensure major data centres bear the costs they impose on the electricity system and demonstrate clear community benefit.
At 3650 Danforth Avenue, the issue is the proposed expansion. Major new capacity that has not yet been energized should be required to meet the stronger rules Ontario is now developing.
We urge the Government of Ontario to establish these protections as part of its emerging data-centre framework.