Vancouver council squashes motion to regulate AI data centres

The motion, advanced by One City Coun. Lucy Maloney, was overwhelmingly defeated in a 7-3 vote, following the majority held by Mayor Ken Sim’s political party, ABC.

Vancouver City Council has voted against regulating AI data centres after hearing over twenty residents voice concerns about energy, water and land use. The motion, debated on July 16, was introduced by Coun. Lucy Maloney.

It called for a deeper review of environmental and social impacts before approving new data centres in Vancouver. “Our job as municipal councillors is to make land use decisions to make sure that the interests and the visibility of our neighbourhoods are protected,” said Maloney. “And to do that, we need the right information.”

Maloney’s motion looked to implement a requirement for a third-party assessment for water, greenhouse gas emissions, air contamination, noise and heat impacts before rezoning and permitting. “Proponents of AI data centres may make promises... but we have to have a mechanism for holding them to that,” said Maloney. The motion was overwhelmingly defeated, in a 7-3 vote, following the majority held by Mayor Ken Sim’s political party, ABC.

“By taking some of the measures that are outlined in Councillor Maloney's motion, we have the risk of creating unnecessary red tape,” explained ABC Coun. Mike Klassen, adding the motion would change rules mid-process for projects that have already been greenlit. Klassen added there is no evidence Vancouver’s current rezoning process was inadequate.

Residents, union organizers, trade reps and neighbour organizations spoke at the council meeting against Vancouver opening its doors to investment in AI infrastructure. Some speakers already lived near the 100,000-square-foot data centre projected to fire up in Mount Pleasant at the end of 2026, which is designed to use 26 megawatts of electricity. Others were opposed to a second 400,000-square-foot data centre planned next to BC Place, requiring up to 100 megawatts of electricity after coming online in 2029.

Familiar criticisms of AI were all present — but brought into sharp focus in Vancouver’s context. Water usage was at the top of the list, with many residents reminding councillors that the city was, at the time of the meeting, in stage 3 water restrictions. Vancouver’s notoriously limited and expensive real estate was also an issue, with residents calling for affordable housing and meaningful jobs lasting beyond the construction of the data centres.

The list of residents’ concerns went on with surveillance, cognitive decay and the limited lifespan of AI chips, along with the foreign companies that benefit most from data centre expansion. "There's a lot of doom and gloom sometimes around the sort of, I would call it the ‘Terminator narrative’ on AI,” said Rob Goehring, Executive Director of the AI Network of BC. “But the thing that people don't really get — or it's not really talked about a lot — are the incredible positive advancements that are happening, in medical science, material science, biotech, software engineering.”

Telus says Vancouver’s data centres will use a closed-loop cooling system that requires 80 per cent less water by cycling cooling liquid through chips. Heat distributed by the data centres will also be sent through underground pipes to heat nearby buildings by Vancouver company Creative Energy, which has also proposed collecting rainwater from BC Place for cooling. “Any AI projects still cause horrible damage to the environment, whether you say it's a closed-loop system or that it uses 80 per cent less water than the average data centre,” countered No AI Vancouver’s founder Torin Laroque.

“How much water is that still taking up? How are you flushing the toxins or any debris or impurities in the water that is keeping the centres cool?” While Maloney and Laroque were both disappointed by the decision, Maloney sees opportunity for further discussion at upcoming city rezoning sessions — and Laroque at future protests, as well as through organising with an international network protesting against AI.