Whether or not you care for it, artificial intelligence is here and it may be coming to Vancouver.
Under a planned partnership between the federal government and Telus, Vancouver and Kamloops are slated to become the sites of data centre clusters. It’s expected to expand on Telus’ Kamloops facility, including two new AI data centres to be built in Vancouver via the government’s Enabling large-scale soverign AI data centres plan.
But not everyone is happy to see these AI data centres, with them attracting both global and local criticism.
AI Data Centres in Vancouver: Protests From Locals
Since the announcement of the AI data centres, multiple demonstrations have taken place in Vancouver throughout late May and June. Hundreds took to the streets to protest the AI data centres as they called for the partnership to be halted, citing concerns about water usage, environmental impacts, and strains on the local electric grid.
View this post on Instagram
The first AI data centre is planned to be built at the former Hootsuite headquarters in Mount Pleasant, which will come later in 2026. The following facility will be located at 150 West Georgia Street. Reportedly, the project will start with an 85 megawatt power draw, and it will scale up to 150 megawatts by 2032.
According to B.C. Premier David Eby, the environmental impacts of these AI data centres is part of the calculations. He said, “That’s a concern of mine as well, which is why ensuring these data centres are not mass consumers of water is a key interest… I just want to reassure people that we have those regulations in place and that is key for British Columbia in terms of any centres going forward.”
Online and Global Skepticism
Online, people have voiced their concerns about the planned AI data centres, as well. In a Reddit thread, a commenter said that “It makes zero sense to build in the most densely populated area of BC when there are lots of viable cheaper alternatives.”
Another wrote, “Conventional data centres? Yes, those are fine. AI data centres? No, those are a blight. Just research the community reactions to nearly any place these job, soul and environment killers have been built.”
What do you think about Vancouver’s potential AI data centres?
