Ontario Greens seek AI data centre moratorium pending rules

By Olivia Hart

Ontario’s Green Party intends to table one private member’s bill this week seeking a moratorium on new and expanded AI data centres until Ontario establishes enforceable rules for electricity prices, water demand, health and environmental effects.

What would the moratorium cover?

The Greens’ sequence is regulation first and development second. They say the Ford government has ignored concerns that the public has raised frequently about electricity prices, health and the environment, and they want enforceable limits before more AI data centre projects proceed.

“We have no guardrails. We have no enforceable regulations,” said Green Leader Mike Schreiner. “If you look at the government’s playbook, there are so many holes in it, you could drive a truck through it. The playbook, quite frankly, has no enforceable scoring system or measurable limits. There’s a lot of weasel words in there.”

Schreiner’s objection targets the substance of the government’s framework, not merely its pace. Without scoring systems or measurable limits, the party says officials cannot apply a consistent test to a project’s effects on power prices, municipal services and local resources. The proposed bill would put a legal brake on development while Ontario writes enforceable rules.

For project developers, “new and expanded” defines the proposed perimeter. The bill targets first-time facilities as well as expansions, holding both until the required safeguards exist. For Ontario municipalities, the pause would cover both the next site and the next phase of an operating facility.

Takeaway: The Greens want enforceable rules first and a legal pause while those rules take shape.

Why does water sit at the centre?

Water is the most concrete operating concern attached to the proposal. AI data centres give off substantial heat, and consistent cooling prevents servers from overheating. The Greens’ call provides no consumption figure, cooling standard or site threshold, so it rests on the lack of enforceable limits rather than a published water budget.

“We need legislation that puts environmental protection, water security, and the public interest at the forefront, backed by comprehensive and enforceable regulations,” said Ilham Abdulkadir of Water Watchers. “Until those safeguards are in place, a moratorium on new and expanded AI data center development is necessary.”

Abdulkadir’s concern extends beyond the quantity consumed at a facility. Water Watchers says new demand could pressure local watersheds, municipal water infrastructure and existing water users. That makes water supply a shared constraint, not simply an equipment cost.

The Greens also cite electricity prices as a public concern, alongside health and environmental effects. None of those issues carries a stated numerical trigger in the current proposal. A pause without those tests would leave developers without a measurable route forward.

Takeaway: Water supply and cooling risk form the proposal’s clearest operational case.

Where do Ontario’s AI projects stand?

Most new AI data centres are planned for southern Ontario. In the northwest, Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation received funding last year for a pre-feasibility study of a data centre within its area. That work remains a study, with no operating capacity or construction schedule stated.

Projects have also been considered for other northwestern communities, but none moved beyond the initial planning stages. The distinction matters: the northwestern activity described here remains preliminary, while southern Ontario holds most of the planned pipeline.

Takeaway: Southern Ontario carries most of the planned pipeline; the Wabigoon study and other northwest projects remain preliminary.

What decides the next step?

The immediate milestone is whether the Greens table the bill this week as planned. The next test is whether Ontario adopts rules with measurable limits and enforcement, the two features Schreiner says the current framework lacks. The Greens’ position makes the sequence explicit: safeguards first, new and expanded development only after those safeguards operate.

The proposal gives no regulatory timetable and no numerical trigger for electricity prices, water use or health outcomes. For planned AI capacity, that absence matters as much as the proposed pause. Schreiner’s standard is specific: rules need an enforceable scoring system and measurable limits.

Takeaway: The bill’s introduction this week is the next regulatory checkpoint; measurable limits, not another set of broad principles, will decide whether Ontario’s planned AI data centre capacity can move forward.