Four councillors and the mayor have signed on to an upcoming motion that could see Calgary halt data centre applications until an appropriate framework is in place.

The motion, called Addressing Large-Scale Data Centre Impacts on Municipal Resources, is scheduled for technical review at the Nov. 3 Executive Committee meeting, and seeks a report on defining data centres, finding appropriate land uses for them, along with examining the environmental and municipal utility servicing impacts they may have on Calgary and the surrounding region.

The issue comes amid a mounting opposition to large-scale data centres in Alberta and across the country, including ones near Grande Prairie, north of Calgary in Olds,  and another proposed large-scale operation near Little Bow Resort, southeast of Calgary.

It also comes as a new land-use redesignation (LOC2026-0156) is under review in northeast Calgary, on the northeasternmost boundary of the city. It’s calling for a redesignation from Special Purpose – Future Urban Development to Direct Control – Industrial General for the purpose of building a data centre and subsequent power generation.

Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal brought the current application up in Question Period at Tuesday’s regular meeting of Calgary city council. Dhaliwal said that it came as a surprise to residents.

“It came to residents as a surprise, since the area is just outside of Redstone on the other side of Stoney (Trail); there was one board there saying, ‘If you want to provide your feedback, you have till October 20,’” Dhaliwal said.

“Nobody really goes out there until a media outlet highlighted that this is happening, and residents were not happy because they wanted more time to submit their feedback.”

He asked about the process for the application and whether there will be any technical studies needed. 

City admin said that once they received the application, they circulate it, review it, and provide an analysis before a recommendation is made. The initial comment period is closed; however, comments can continue to be sent to the file manager, according to city admin.

“Insofar as technical studies, there’s a range of technical studies that we ask for depending on the type of application,” said Deborah Hamilton, general manager of planning and development services with the City of Calgary.  

“Some of the regular ones are transport or transportation impact assessment. We’ve also asked for an environmental site assessment on this one. There may be some others.”

Open for biz, but not to be taken advantage of: Mayor Farkas

The Alberta government put forward its plan earlier this year to make the province a global data centre leader due to its abundance of natural resources and power generation capabilities.

Ward 6 Coun. John Pantazopoulos, who is a co-sponsor of the Notice of Motion, told LWC that there needs to be a balanced, common-sense approach to data centre development around Calgary. That’s why he’s supporting the moratorium — so more information on their impact can be unearthed.

He said that while adding data centres to the Calgary region creates a huge opportunity for jobs, economic growth, and an expanded tax base, many questions remain unanswered about water consumption, electricity use, stormwater and wastewater needs, and related infrastructure. It may even provide the opportunity to create a blueprint for a ‘yes’ vote that could include financial support for much-needed infrastructure.

“That is exactly why we’re hitting pause, a moratorium. We have to fully understand that long-term needs from a human perspective, the growth as Calgary heads towards 2 million and beyond, and the long-term needs for industry,” he said.

“I think if we give the businesses certainty, we give them a clear path, and there’s a clear understanding, and there’s acceptance by citizens and the business as to what those rules are, how we’re going to develop this. That certainty in business goes a long way.”

Pantazopoulos said that having a 12-month pause on new land-use redesignations to review data centres means that they’ll be able to move forward in a direction that can be a win for both the industry and for Calgarians.

“If people bring business to Calgary, it’s a higher job market, it’s an expanded tax base, it’s expanded opportunities. Exactly what Calgarians want,” he said.

“Calgarians also want fresh water, sewers that work, and a system and a city that works for them.”

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas posted a message on social media Tuesday evening, saying that Calgary is encouraging economic development, but on their terms.

He noted in the post that as much as 80 per cent of data centre capacity is planned for Alberta, which could mean billions in economic investment for the area.

“But these massive facilities also use huge amounts of water and electricity. There are also concerns about pollution and noise. Some estimates suggest that even one large data center could increase Alberta’s utility bills by hundreds of dollars a year,” he said.

“We cannot keep adding new demands to our infrastructure without making sure that we have the capacity to handle them, and our water crisis, that we still haven’t emerged from, has made that painfully clear.”

The Notice of Motion calls for a report to come in March 2027 on potential land use bylaw amendments for data centres, and a further report on the impact of data centres to come in Q4 2027.