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Mississauga, Ont. approves 1-year data centre moratorium

Click to play video: 'Mississauga city council votes unanimously in favour of one- year pause on data centre development'
Mississauga city council votes unanimously in favour of one- year pause on data centre development
WATCH: Mississauga city council votes unanimously in favour of one-year pause on data centre development

Mississauga city council has voted unanimously to put a one-year freeze on new data centre projects.

The moratorium is framed as a chance for the city to study what guardrails to place around those projects as the artificial intelligence boom fuels demand for larger, more energy-intensive facilities.

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Mississauga joins neighbouring Oakville, which last month passed the province’s first moratorium, as local lawmakers grapple with how to respond to the possible energy, water and noise concerns tied to the new wave of data centres.

The pause applies to data centres with energy demands over 10 megawatts, or enough electricity to power roughly 10,000 homes.

The vote appears to put in limbo a 40-megawatt data centre project in a business park in the city’s northwest pursued by Prologis, a major U.S.-headquartered firm.

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In a statement, the company says it’s disappointed by the vote and was considering its next steps, but it remains committed to Mississauga.

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