Are Data Centres Taking Over? | The Rundown

The federal government has unveiled a two-billion-dollar AI strategy aimed at boosting jobs, skills training, and business growth, alongside plans to build large-scale AI data centres powered by clean energy. But as these projects move into communities, opposition is mounting. Recent protests in Hamilton and an Angus Reid poll showing 68 per cent of Canadians would oppose a data centre near their home raise questions about public buy-in. With roughly 100 data centres already in Ontario, do more bring opportunity or risk? We examine the concerns and separate fact from fiction with Kathleen Kauth of the Advanced Energy Centre at MaRS, Craig Tavares of BUZZ HPC, and Mark Winfield of York University. 00:00 Intro 0:52 Are the concerns about data centers justified? 1:04 How many data centers are in Ontario? 2:33 How big are data centers getting in Canada? 4:04 What are “hyperscalers” and AI data centers? 6:51 What are the biggest environmental concerns? 8:28 How are data center locations chosen? 10:29 Do Canadians support data centers near them? 11:27 Where should data centers actually be built? 14:05 Why are communities skeptical of AI projects? 18:31 Is this about sovereignty, jobs, or control? 20:24 Are governments ready to regulate this growth? 22:34 Could AI demand derail climate goals? 25:06 Is the AI data center boom a bubble? 27:22 Would you accept a data center near you? About The Rundown: The Rundown is your nightly half-hour deep dive into just one headline. With host Jeyan Jeganathan, we’ll cover everything from housing and health care to climate and AI. We’ll break down why each topic matters, who’s living it, and what’s being done to make things better – starting right here in Ontario. Slow down. Tune in. Make sense of the moment. And tell us what you think. Follow on social media: Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/therundowntvo Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/TheRundownTVO X- https://twitter.com/therundowntvo Bluesky- https://bsky.app/profile/therundowntvo.bsky.social Subscribe to TVO Today to watch more content like this: https://www.youtube.com/@tvotoday Listen to the podcast: https://www.tvo.org/podcasts/the-rundown-audio Check out the rest of the TVO ecosystem TVO Docs - https://www.youtube.com/@tvo TVO Kids - https://www.youtube.com/@TVOkids TVO Learn - https://www.youtube.com/@tvolearn Download the TVO Today App Apple - https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/tvo-today/id1616182112 Available on: Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung, LG, Amazon Fire TV Enjoying this content and want to make a meaningful impact? Consider donating today! https://support.tvo.org/site/Donation2?mfc_pref=T&idb=599945504&df_id=16843&16843.donation=form1&DONATION_LEVEL_ID_SELECTED=1661&mfc_pref=T