Data centres in Ontario would pay for all of their electricity costs and be charged a higher rate than other industrial users under a new provincial proposal. Premier Doug Ford’s government says it has also ruled out using financial incentives to try to lure new data centre projects. The government released the outline of its data centre framework today. It says approvals for new large data centres will be anchored in three pillars: economic development, data protection and digital sovereignty, and community investment and public confidence. The proposal comes as a number of Ontario municipalities, including Toronto and Hamilton, have pressed the province for clearer guidelines to assess new data centres powering the artificial intelligence boom. Oakville became the first municipality in the province to enact a one-year data centre moratorium this week, with Mississauga set to vote on its own pause next month. Competition among large tech companies has fuelled a surge in demand for energy hungry data centres, facilities lined with powerful computer chips used to train and operate increasingly complex AI models. There’s been a spike in requests this year from data centre projects that want to connect to Ontario’s grid. As of last month, there were around 7,000 megawatts of data centre-related requests in the queue, double what was reported in March, the Independent Electricity System Operator said. The electricity demand for the entire city of Ottawa is around 1,000 megawatts. Most of the projects are in early stages and figures can fluctuate as projects withdraw, pause or advance, the IESO has said. Ontario passed a law last year giving the energy minster power to prioritize and approve connections requests from large data centres. --- Jordan Omstead, The Canadian Press This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2026.
